Kapara Restaurant Soho — Restaurant in London

I’d suggested Kapara for my friend’s birthday dinner as I’d previously been there and had an amazing time. Unfortunately this experience couldn’t have been more different.

The restaurant seemed out of control. Drinks took ages to arrive. Dishes arrived at our table, only to be immediately picked up and carried off without explanation. Midway through our main course, the manager rudely told us we had to move tables as they’d mistakenly seated us in an area now needed to accommodate a larger group. When we politely pointed out how disruptive this was whilst we were still eating, he responded passive aggressively, “you can have a round of drinks. Take it or leave it”. We didn’t want to ruin the other group’s evening so agreed to move. But during this process several of our half eaten dishes were taken away from our table - that was the last we saw of them.

We flagged this up to the manager - who, in fairness, admitted he’d been rude and apologised. He said he’d get fresh dishes sent out. They never arrived.

We’d ordered the red snapper large plate. At one point it was placed briefly on our table before being picked up and carried off. We didn’t bother chasing this up as by this point we simply wanted the stressful experience to end. I can only assume the waitress hadn’t heard it being ordered over the excessively loud music.

We reminded the waitress of our shambolic experience and suggested they might apologise by way of a discount. When the bill arrived, they had simply removed the round of drinks that had been originally been barked at us in the first place. But not only had we been charged for the dishes that had disappeared whilst we were still eating them, they’d also charged us for the replacement dishes that hadn’t arrived. And hilariously the full service charge had been added to our bill. It took several attempts to get this fully rectified. We had given up hope of a further discount or any acknowledgment of our awful experience.

Our meal had been ruined by the constant staff interruptions, we were treated highly disrespectfully and left the restaurant hungry as so much of our food had either not turned up or was taken away whilst we were still eating it. What food we did eat was lovely, but an expensive restaurant like this should deliver service to match.

A terrible experience on what was meant to be a friend’s birthday dinner. I feel guilty for having...

I really wanted to like Kapara as I love Bala Baya. However there were a lot of small things that diminished its appeal.

Firstly, the good - the staff were attentive without being overbearing. There was a slight hiccup when two portions of Romana Carpaccio arrived to the table despite only ordering one. The waitress then removed the surplus dish which I thought was a bit miserly considering how much they are charging. In a similar situation, other restaurants would just accept the mistake and let you have the 'free' dish. However, overall the service was good, with very friendly staff.

Now, the food was slightly disappointing, especially considering the price. Everything felt 25% more than it should be and the portions were small. In 2017 this wouldn't have been so bad, but in a post-covid, cost-of-living crisis environment it is hard to justify spending so much for so little.

The best dish on the menu was the charred aubergine heart which was beautifully cooked and had great flavours. The Borekitas were also great, with a lovely peppercorn sauce on top.

I was disappointed by the hummus & offal dish which lacked depth, and the Romana Carpaccio (essentially peppers and goat's cheese) lacked zing.

I also think that charging £7 for a bottle of beer is excessive. I understand that it's a speciality Israeli beer, but other restaurants that sell speciality beer charge significantly less.

Overall I came away feeling slightly disappointed. I had a decent meal that i had paid a lot for. None of the charm of Bala Baya seems to have carried over to Kapara. The interior is lovely and expensive but almost feels a bit devoid of charm. Pumping DJ music in whilst you eat doesn't cover up the lack of ambience in the restaurant which was only 40% full.

It's still early days and I genuinely hope Kapara can fix a few small things as the team behind it are obviously incredibly talented (as demonstrated by Bala Baya). I hope I can come back and have a...

An expensive disappointment, and I hate leaving these types of reviews. Visiting London and have a limited number of meals to experience and I eat in restaurants often. I grew up on Israeli food and literally came for the couscous and oxtail main, only to be told they had run out of couscous on a Friday at 9pm (how?).

Someone that I assume was the manager (charming) offered as an explanation that they were the busiest Israeli restaurant in the city (so maybe order more couscous from your supplier?) and attempted to see what options were available as another table had the oxtail served with hummus. After some back and forth we discussed just getting a diff meat dish that comes with the hummus. After all our other dishes were brought out and a long time had passed we inquired and were notified that it was never punched in. We were eventually brought the oxtail with no hummus. Oxtail was delicious but room temp.

After I explained to the waiter (a nice guy) that we were supposed to get hummus, it was brought out and was, quite honestly the most disappointing hummus I’ve had in memory: cold and dry with zero effort in its presentation (and overly salty). No olive oil, no chick peas (or chefs interesting interpretation of a classic). Quite disappointing for such a staple Israeli dish and what is considered “the busiest restaurant in London”.

Waiter also never punched in our second drink and had to be reminded after 20 minutes. He acknowledged his mistake, which was appreciated.

Some dishes were tasty (prawns were amazing) but the menu itself had too many fried items.

We were never offered a dessert as a make nice and we were charged for the second drink (shame).

I gave 15% (the max on the system) as a gratuity because the server was a nice guy, but it was...