Koha Koha Koha Koha Koha Kameleon
Just time for a quick review of a very funky little Albanian owned place in London’s West end. Hidden behind Wyndham’s Theatre on an alley opposite famous fish resto, J Sheekey, it is a wine focussed place with a short but interesting and not over expensive wine list. It also has a decent looking bistro menu. We stopped for a quick glass on the way to buy show tickets.
On a summer’s day you can sit outside and enjoy a cool glass of Chardonnay “False Bay” 2005 as I did. £4.75 for a glass, £17.95 a bottle. I found the 2006 at Everywine at £5.77 so the markup is probably about right for that part of town.
Freda ordered a mineral water with lime cordial which came in a little jug – nice touch. It gave me the opportunity to check my initial impression of this wine – lime, lime and lime flavours. Fortunately it tasted more like fresh lime than lime cordial. A pretty basic wine, presumably mass produced in South Africa, but nonetheless lovely to drink outside on a warm sunny day.
Meanwhile, inside Koha there is a new basement bar that looks very funky for evening and winter entertainment. I’ll be going back to check this out another time, and I’ll be aiming for the food menu.
The owners apparently left Kosovo for London during the troubles and were students of architecture and interior design. I presume they are reponsible for the design of Koha where they have achieved something smart yet rustic, something funky yet mature, something with great attention to detail that looks at the same time very casual. I really like it.
Koha Restaurant & Bar, 11 St Martin’s Court, London. WC2N 4AJ T: 020 7497 0282 F: 020 7836 5179 E: bookings@cafekoha.com. W: www.cafekoha.com