Really don’t want to trash this place as it has the potential to be a great spot especially as the weather gets better and customers are in search of places to eat and hang out in Hampstead. This restaurant is at the bottom of the High St on Rosslyn Hill. I think the problems are easily fixed with a better manager and a few small tweaks.
There’s a reason this place wasn’t packed and we got in without a reservation on a really sunny busy weekend.
A visit to Poppy and Oak in Hampstead for lunch wasn’t all I hoped for or frankly expected.
Let’s start with the positives. We got a table.
We’d already tried to get into Ottolenghi down the road and told without a reservation the best they could do was put us on a wait list, take our number and give a call when something turned up.
We were hungry after a busy morning and fancied a leisurely lunch and a cocktail or two so declined and went in search of an alternative.
Poppy and Oak looks super inviting from the outside, big black framed windows against creamy sandstone building with cafe tables bustling with life. The food being served looked good too on gorgeous colourful earthenware I immediately noticed.
Inside it looked pretty dead so getting a table we didn’t anticipate a problem.
The hostess asked us immediately where we’d like to sit, at the front of the restaurant or towards the back. We picked the front, not so far to walk and she immediately told us she had reservations and we had to give the table back in one hour. We didn’t get it as it wasn’t packed but went for it anyway.
The positives, we got lunch. The crockery was beautiful.
The negatives began to stack up the minute we sat down.
The tables are too close together for a start. When a couple sat down at the table next to us we felt like we were lunching together.
The place was very noisy. The kind of acoustics where every bang and clatter bounces off the walls and no background music. It felt like we were in a badly run canteen with people running around, very frenetic and yet surprisingly not busy. I dread to think what it would have been like at full capacity.
The menu was OK, but it took a while for us to actually order. We opted for the quinoa salad with Asian dressing at £16, the crudities at £17, basically hummus and aubergine babaganoush with raw veggies when it arrived and a portion of fries £7 and decided to split as we had less than hour. When we didn’t order drinks just water because of time constraints the waitress flashed us a look like “oh no more people who don’t order a drink.” It was palpable. “So just water then?” She said like she’d just smelled something unpleasant. I wanted to remind her we now only had 44 minutes left of the hour allocated and didn’t want to chug cocktails and wine. I didn’t. When the water arrived I felt like we were being punished, rationed, the smallest tumblers, we drank slowly. Didn’t want to make a fuss and ask for any more.
There was a mezze sharing plater £26 with halloumi fries, olives, hummus, falafel, babaganoush which did sound good but thought it was a lot for appetizers, we saw it arrive as the people next to us ordered it and there was a lot of food to be fair.
Even though it took a while to order, the food came out at break neck speed, like it was all made ahead of time and the waitress was able to just go in the kitchen, pick up the plates and bring them out to the table. It was weirdly quick.
And when we tasted the food you could tell that was the system. The crudities were two pots of dip, one hummus, one aubergine and a pile of dry tasteless vegetables, the carrots were white liked they’d been chopped the day before.
The salad was completely tasteless, most quinoa, a few edamame beans, I found one bead of pomegranate in the whole salad, a highlight.
We were going to have a cocktail, but with the time constraints, the noise and the most uncomfortable restaurant chairs I think I’ve ever sat on, we decided to down the food as quickly as possible and get the hell out of there.
Neither of us complained about the chairs while we were eating but when we got outside we both simultaneously mentioned about headaches, aching backs and questioned what we’d just experienced.
If you like clatter, disorganisation, and tables on top of each other with only OK food for the price and really uncomfortable seats you may enjoy this restaurant.
On a gorgeous day the tables outside would be better for sure.
Not the best lunch I’ve had which was a shame because I can see so much potential for the restaurant with a bit of love and passion. I think the main thing missing was soul.