El Ta’koy review: the true spirit of Aloha in the heart of Covent Garden

When I suggested to friends that we try a Hawaiian restaurant for a midweek catch up in central London, there were the inevitable remarks about “pineapple on pizza”. Incidentally the Hawaiian pizza doesn’t even come from Hawaii, it was invented in Canada by a Greek immigrant…

Thankfully there’s no pizza on the menu at El Ta’koy, which serves delicious Hawaiian-inspired street food in a quirky little restaurant in the cellar of a townhouse in the heart of Covent Garden. Chef Luis Pous was inspired by his time spent on the small Hawaiian island of Kauai, and has combined the multi-cultural influences and flavours of the island with his own twist, to create a variety of unique appetising dishes.

Atmosphere and drinks

3 Henrietta Street is a beautifully restored five-storey townhouse on the edge of Covent Garden’s buzzy main piazza and is home to three restaurants: Lilly’s Cafe, Pivot British Bar & Bistro by Mark Greenaway, and El Ta’koy. Step inside and you feel like you’ve entered an oasis away from the hustle and bustle of street performers and crowds.

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Head down a narrow flight of stairs and through a door and you enter El Ta’koy’s vibrant green cellar, with foliage hanging from the ceiling, leather banquettes and a Tiki bar with funky oversized rattan pendant lights. It’s like you’ve been transported from cold, damp London to beautiful Polynesia. This is the “kind of place you visit to feel like you’re on holiday”, said Jimmy Rice in Metro. It’s where you “come for cocktails” and “stay for the food”.

We were greeted by the friendly waitresses and we kicked off with a refreshing Tiki cocktail from the cocktail menu, which has a range of different flavoured daquiris, including spiced mango, plus signature Hawaiian cocktails and classics like a piña colada. Let me tell you more about the cocktails at this “fun, flirty little spot”, said Kate Ng in The Independent. They are “dangerously delicious”.

Menu and food

The menu is centred around sharing plates, tacos and small snacks – ideal for a group of friends enjoying a relaxed meal together. It all sounded so good, we weren’t sure where to start, so we were led by the chef and opted for the fantastic eggplant empanadas with black beans, plantain and tofu, and the Kauai nachos topped with mango, cheese and guacamole.

A great start, but the real showstoppers came next in our bento box. There are three bento boxes available – fish, meat or vegan. We went for the fish box, complete with the intriguing shrimp lumpia, which was thankfully far more appetising than it sounds.

Lumpia, we discovered, is a Hawaiian-style spring roll, which we dipped in a zingy green onion mojo sauce, incredible! Also in the box were tuna taquitos – even better than the lumpia – small pieces of raw Ahi tuna with furikake, wasabi mayonnaise and caviar in a crunchy mini taco.

To top it all off, the box also included comforting warm coconut rice and delicately seasoned fresh salmon poke with edamame and seaweed; it was all delicious. We were also recommended the chicken popcorn, and for good reason: Hawaiian fried chicken with a mouth-watering sweet and spicy Filipino glaze and spring onion. My only reservation was if we had room to share a light pudding – I was hoping for a refreshing mango sorbet, or something exotic and fruity – but the only sweet bite on the menu was banana lumpia. I’m sure it would have been a winner, but we just didn’t fancy a heavy pud with hazelnut and chocolate sauce after all the delicious offerings we’d already munched our way through.

The verdict

El Ta’koy embodies the true spirit of Aloha with its warm welcome, tropical ambience, great service, and delicious, vibrant food. Based in the heart of theatreland, it would make a great spot for lunch or dinner before or after a show, or just somewhere for a cosy meal with friends after a spot of shopping in Soho.

Xandie Nutting was a guest of El Ta’koy. Available on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 12-4pm, the Bento Box Brunch costs £35 and comes with a complementary Tiki cocktail. 3 Henrietta Street, London WC23 8LU; el-takoy.com