El Ta’koy Restaurant Covent Garden Review
DISCLOSURE – TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW
Reviewed by Joanna Woodburn
Covent Garden has long established itself as the go-to destination in London for foodies. With such a vast spectrum of dining options, from fine dining through to chain restaurants and cheaper eateries, you can feel rather overwhelmingly spoilt for choice.
We decided to take a break from the usual street level choices and take ourselves off for a two-hour Hawaiian-inspired jaunt at Luis Pous’ El Ta’koy, a tucked away little intimate gem in the heart of Covent Garden.
Aloha! With a warm welcome and great service, El Ta’koy has all the right ingredients for a perfect tropical fun time out! Cutely nestling in the cellar of 3, Henrietta Street, a beautifully restored five floor building, El Ta’koy is a remake of a Tiki bar and restaurant. With award-winning renowned US chef, Luis Pous at the top of his game, the Hawaiian-inspired street food is perfectly complemented by a fusion of flavours from Asia to South America.
Diners can also choose El Ta’koy’s new bottomless cocktail brunching option. Being on our little exotic jolly, it would be rude not to! With an unlimited choice of three extra-large (absolutely huge!!) cocktails – Rum Punch, Blue Hawaii and Melon Ball, we were soon relaxing into the Tiki-bar spirit of things! Our service from Adam was impeccable – friendly, thoughtful, and quick with his outstanding and perfectly balanced cocktails! Served in a huge goldfish bowl of a glass, my sweet and juicy Melon Ball packed a punch without me, I fear, even realising it! My partner started with the embodiment of summer fun, a Blue Hawaiian and announced it to be one of the best cocktails he had ever tasted – although the size may have helped, in this case some things are just right for a reason!
El Ta’koy’s menu reflects a true melting pot of food cultures, with dishes from small bites, tacos, baa buns to poke bowls, ideal for groups of friends relaxing and sharing dishes together. We ordered an array of items to share, our choices led by suggestions from Adam as well as Chef Waleed, who was generous with his time and advice about the dishes.
We kicked off with the amazingly generous and flavoursome, El Ta’koy dipping platter with guacamole, pineapple salsa and lemon cream dips, with delicious chicken annatto as an add on – a great choice all round! Chef Waleed’s recommendation was a showstopping shrimp lumpia, which was a Hawaiian-style spring roll with a green mojo sauce, served like most items on the menu on a banana leaf and just incredible!
My favourite type of dish, Hawaiian chicken popcorn with spring onion, sesame seeds and a delicious sweet spicy Filipino glaze were just to die for! We couldn’t choose between the two types of bao buns – Hawaiian chicken with chilli mayo or pork chicharron with honey miso glaze so ended up naughtily ordering both. They looked and tasted incredible, a symphony of flavours, spicy, tangy and sweet, with each mouthful creating a different experience – street-food inspiration at its finest.
Then on to the next star of the show.. lamb barbacoa tacos, with pineapple chutney and lemon cream, served with all the usual accompaniments, baby gem lettuce, guacamole, picked red cabbage, jalapenos, feta and coriander. Again, most generous portions, with two tacos per serving, with a lavish filling full of fresh flavours.
We were sure we had no room left for any pudding but the banana lumpia convinced us otherwise – crispy fried banana filled with rich chocolate chunks – fun and delight on a plate!
Whether you come for cocktails, food or both, El Ta’koy is the perfect little jaunty oasis to escape to! This quirky, quality restaurant and Tiki bar is a little hidden away but absolutely worth finding – it certainly deserves to be more easily seen and a location on street level would be ideal.
Now back to our XL Never-Ending cocktail brunching (such great value for 90 minutes) – we were well and truly enjoying our last little bit of Hawaiian Tiki sunshine before heading out into the hustle bustle again, smiling and with the spirit of Aloha in our steps.
Rating: 5/5
El Ta’koy is located at 3 Henrietta St, London WC2E 8LU. For more information, visit el-takoy.com.