Kid Chef Sertaç Dirik at the pass
Hold on, isn't this the restaurant that quite literally everyone is talking about?
Yes, we'll admit we just didn't want to use 'kidding around' 'new kid on the block' 'here's looking at you kid' and all the other lame headings that are already starting to surface as part of the London food scene's reaction to the arrival of Kid in Soho. Because, after Impala, there probably hasn't been another London restaurant that's been so feverishly anticipated as the opening of Kid.
Most of that is down to the two men behind it. Dave Carter is the guy who brought us Smokestak, Manteca and Oma and Agora. Each of those were, and continue to be, huge hits. His partner in crime here is Sertaç Dirik, the hugely talented second-gen Turkish chef who took his family restaurant Mangal 2 to new heights of culinary fame. Together they present a formidable team of talent.
Where do we find it?
You'll find it on the corner of Frith and Bateman Street in the heart of Soho. The restaurant's glass corner looks very much like the entrance but you actually need to head up Bateman Street to the large concrete door to gain access to the restaurant. Top tip, get one of the tables in that corner part of the restaurant, and you can spend a happy hour or two watching discombobulated diners trying to find the entrance.
Where should we meet friends for a drink first?
There is a pub right across the street, the Dog and Duck, but frankly you could do a lot better than that. There's nearby Swift for very well made cocktails, and if a beer is what you're after, then we'd suggest you head to The French House.
Where's a good place to sit?
If you fancy being up close with the chefs there are a handful of counter dining seats. The restaurant wraps around in an L shape, and we rather liked being in the second dining room, closest to Frith Street.
This is the front dining room as you come in
What kind of menu are we talking about?
The easy (lazy) description would be modern Turkish, but while there's a distinct influence that Sertaç draws on from his heritage and his previous restaurant, he's also drawing in inspiration from significant time spent in Copenhagen too. The result is a restaurant that defies easy buttonholing, much in the way Impala did. What we can tell you is that the menu starts really small with snacks and pide before branching out to meze and small dishes and then a series of mains and sharing options.
We gave it a pretty good going over, having decided in advance not to order the titular dish of kid baked with fig leaf and freekeh. We're sure that's great, but it's more of a dish for a larger group, and we wanted to try as much of the menu as possible. So here's what we had.
These first two dishes were part of the snacks section. They're pretty small, but we still managed to share them between two.
Bluefin ezme, kapya pepper (£6)
Courgette flower, Tulum goat's cheese, atom honey (£7) - the lovely fiery kick to that honey is the perfect foil to the goat's cheese, which oozes out when you cut into the courgette.
Tombik pide (£5.50) - there are two pide on the menu, but we'd say this is the best.
Humus with fried chickpeas (£6) - a silky humus topped with shards of crispy fried chickpeas.
İçli köfte with aged beef and yoğurt (£13) - a cricket ball sized dumpling stuffed with beef that's a great sharing starter for two.
Grilled quail with ezme (£14) - having embarrassingly never made it to Mangal 2, we hear that there's a similar take on this dish on the menu there.
XL Cornish scallop, coco bean fasülye (£14) - we almost didn't order this, having had XL scallops a fair bit recently. But that would have been a mistake, mainly because of how delicious those stewed white beans were.
Adana köfte on lavaş with grilled tomatoes and onions (£26) - the kind of kebab that ruins other kebabs for you. So good.
Room for dessert?
Most of the reviews you'll see of Kid are going to be of the mastic ice soft serve topped with mint oil. But as neither of us are big mint-lovers, we were able to explore the other compelling options on the desserts list.
Mountain tea rice pudding with orange blossom (£9) - a very glutinous rice pudding (and all the better for it) with a bruleed top.
Baklava with cardamom, cherry and almond (£10)
What's on the drinks list?
The wine list takes the same approach as the one at Trivet, grouping wines by the longevity of the area's history of wine making. So there's a distinct focus on Georgian, Turkish and Greek wines. The cocktail list is more loosely influenced, and we're pleased to see that the return of the Cosmo continues here with a particularly good example.
Left to right: Nar Cosmopolitan (£11) made with pomegranate, orange wine and vodka; and a Pembe Gimlet (£12) with pink grapefruit, rosé and gin.
Overall thoughts:
There's always a niggle of worry before visiting a restaurant that's been as hyped up as much as Kid has been. Will it, or even could it, live up to such dizzyingly high expectations? But showing that lightning does indeed strike twice, it looks as though London has been blessed this year with two huge openings that have done just that. First we had Impala, and now Kid, both of whom have shown what it is to be a truly modern London restaurant.
Here at Kid, Dave and Sertaç bolstered by a bright and enthusiastic team, are serving up food that thrills and excites but also warms and nourishes. Come on your own, or with a gaggle of friends, just make sure you book your table fast.
More about KID
Where is it? 55 Frith Street, London W1D 4SJ
How to book: book online.
Find out more: Visit their website or follow them on Instagram @kid_soho
Hot Dinners dined as guests of Kid. Prices correct at time of publication.
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