EAT: PIX, SOHO

You there. Londoner. Stop what you’re doing. Put that knife and fork down. For nothing you are going to eat in the near future will be as good as what I am about to suggest. I mean it.
Situated just around the corner from buzzing Wardour & Dean Street in Soho, PIX is a tapas restaurant with a twist (apologies for hurling cliches at you). All the food is laid out at the bar, buffet style, with little sticks to indicate price (£1.95/£2.75). Grab a plate and get picking- the food is beautifully arranged and tastes fantastic. It was all I could do not to ditch the dish and just take a running jump at the display with my mouth open- although innumerable protruding sticks may have hindered the success of that particular ‘all-you-can-eat’ long-jump approach.

My wonderful friend and unofficial photography assistant Gemma and I struggled to find the appropriate balance between nibbling (stuffing) and penning down everything from the tapas menu to the music and general ‘ambience’ (really fancying myself as a restaurant critic at this stage) of the place. Here are some of our observations:

FOOD goats cheese & pine nut stuffed pepper, iberico ham & quails egg on toast, seared tuna bruschetta, gazpacho martini, confit pork belly & apple sauce, crab & cod croquette, serrano ham on tomato bread, patatas bravas, spicy diabolo meatballs, churros & chocolate, summer berry compote w chantilly cream, espresso chocolate fondant…

DRINK strawberry mojito, dark & stormy, elderflower bellini, passion fruit margarita (all £8)

Feast on those little beauties in this candlelit cavern while serenaded by a truly smile-provoking and eclectic playlist. Jamiroquai, the Specials, Baby Bird, Eric Clapton, Primal Scream & Rod Stewart were those we felt compelled to acknowledge. Looking back I realise your music tastes may be a little different to ours but we were a bottle down and over-excited by this stage…

So, if I haven’t sold it to you by this point, apologies. Pick your knife & fork back up. Enjoy that now surely soulless bowl of penne. Good day to you.

The rest of you: head to PIX
16 Bateman St, Soho W1D 3AH, 02074370377 OR
63 Neal St, Covent Garden, WC2H 9PJ, 02078369779

Open midday till late, advisable to book for bigger parties (although we arrived at 6.30pm and there were spaces. It filled up sharpish after that.) A bottle of cava, 8 big and 2 small sticks + tip came to £50- fantastic value for the evening we had. Thumbs up.