Ducksoup

Ducksoup (which serves anything but ducksoup) has only four little tables and a bar, so you have to be lucky to arrive when there’s a free seat.
It’s one of those places that has a changing menu every week and looks out for quality and original dishes. Exactly what I love! Although the restaurant/​bar seems a bit exclusive, the staff is friendly and welcoming.
My escort had the quail (it’s supposed to be pink inside, don’t worry) on a bed of lentils and spinach; I ordered a chanterelle mushroom barley-​risotto which was very oily but exciting and yummy.
There’s a sophisticated wine list and even the ginger beer was distinguished.
I’m defenitely recommending this small eatery to my gourmet friends.

Great wine, friendly staff, and delicious food. If you’re looking for a cozy dinner in soho, this is the place.

All-​in, the food was good and our girls night out yummy and memorable. I have to admit, the company I was in salvaged the evening as it was an otherwise rather neutral experience for me.
The Good: The food was tasty and the environment (we were seated in the basement) was intimate but not too cramped. Wine pairings were also yummy.
The Not-​So-​Good: The service was spotty, our server was not familiar with the wine list (we had miscommunications twice about which bottles we wanted) nor able to make recommendations. One dish was not delivered, and when we prompted the server for it, it took a long time to arrive. The restaurant opted to leave it on our bill instead of taking care of it, which was disappointing (but may be London convention, we weren’t sure).
Taken together, I would go again if someone invited me there for dinner but would be unlikely to organize a gathering there myself.

I love this place for dinner. They have a downstairs section which is really cozy and romantic. Perfect for a deep conversation with your date/​friends around a bottle of wine while eating nibbles.
The food is good, the wine is great, and the atmosphere is fantastic.
Make sure to arrive early though, especially on weekend nights as it gets very busy.

Ducksoup is where we had our very first lunch in London. My wife and I both had salads with drinks and both of our meals were delicious! The mozzarella, tomatoes, and fruit were all very fresh. Wine was tasty and the gin mule or moscow mule that i had was also very tasty and I loved the fresh mint in it. Not a lot of room and kind of pricey considering what you get but definitely worth checking this place out!

Wish I could give zero stars! The food was fine, nothing special, but the service was unfortunately quite horrendous and absolutely ruined what was otherwise a lovely night with friends. One of our servers was attentive enough, but the other was rude and pretentious (she told my friend that /​his/​taste was off when he complained, rightfully, about a bad, overripe, cloudy, apple-​juicy white wine) — and the manager was even worse! We had over two bottles of rose but he refused to give us the bottle price for /​any/​of those many glasses because, in his own VERBATIM words, «we make more money off you when you buy by the glass.» !! I was appalled. This was after a +£200 meal that we happily paid the vast bulk of, we just wanted to be charged fairly for drinks and he would not be at all reasonable about it. He wouldn’t budge even when we declined to pay gratuity, showing his true colors in stiffing his staff for an extra 5 or 10 quid profit! Ridiculous.
TL;DR: awful, rude service, worse prices, and mediocre food to boot; wouldn’t wish it on an enemy!

Gut, voll, klein, hip. Teure (aber passende) Weine. Gute Musik. Cross-​over Küche mit täglich wechselnder (handgeschriebener!) Karte. Ein Geheimtipp (?) in Soho.

Intimate, cosy spot in Soho. I went with a friend but definitely seemed like a good date spot. The menu changes daily and is always full of unrecognizable words. In the past, I’ve like their vegetarian options like polenta and aubergine. Very friendly and nice waitstaff!
Also, be sure to try the orange wine!

I came here with a friend on a Friday night after we couldn’t even put our name down at another restaurant; the weekend restaurant scene in Soho is so aggressive and we were lucky to get two seats at the bar here. It’s a cozy little restaurant with about half the seating on the ground floor at the bar and the other half at small 2 or 3 person tables. The menu changes daily and is written on a whiteboard on one wall of the restaurant. We ordered a cold eggplant starter, some great cheese and cured pork shoulder, which I thought was very unique, and roast lamb and veal for mains. Everyone else in the restaurant had also ordered the lamb and the veal, and it was perfect. The menu has a lot of surprises and our waiter had to explain half the menu but that’s all part of the fun!

I came in, had filtered coffee for £2.70 and 8 slices of salami for £4, flicked through their menu (several times), waited for my friends to arrive and left.
This is my Ducksoup experience… I am sure it is different story during warm days, but sitting at a cold restaurant? Not the best of experience. It seemed they don’t even have radiators. I can ensure you, I am one of those people who wears a vest, top, cashmere jumpers, warm socks and shoes with thick soles in winter, but I was cold. Really cold!
Menu-​wise, having a main course with average price of £15 (the calculation includes veggie pasta dish for £11) and a lunch menu in Ducksoup is translated as a bowl of soup and a small glass of house white wine for £10… My only reaction was: ‘Excuse me? You got to be kidding me…’ I mean, I don’t mind paying if there is something worth the money, but this wasn’t the case. In fact, I felt outraged…
Only plus sides:
— tasty salami
— super friendly service
— cute looking place

Loved this cute cozy little spot. Yummy small menu. Perfect music played throughout our visit which is played on the corner turntable. Our waiter was so nice as well as other staff. I could have stayed for hours in this perfectly lit little spot.

Pluses: The ambiance is really nice, the staff are sweet (the one hot waiter who looks like he could be full of himself — was surprisingly efficient and not full of himself). Some of the food is inspired. This is a good place for a date.
Cons: The portions are tiiiny. The wine list is outrageously priced, even by SoHo standards. Some of the food is terrible.
I think the problems with the food stem from the fact that the extensive menu is handwritten. While I’m all for seasonal food, I do think that practice makes perfect, so if the whole menu is changing nightly, this could be a serious problem for quality. Also, there’s a ton of stuff on the menu — most seasonal places focus on a few dishes so they can get them right.
We had the white peach, pecorino and basalmic starter which was an interesting (in a good way) combination. The portion size was decent.
The leg of lamb entrée was the tiniest portion I’d ever seen in my life. It was much smaller than the starter! It was more than £1 per tiny bite, I’m not kidding. But, it was also delicious and tender and juicy and truly inspired.
The fritto misto was terrible. Underseasoned and fried uncrispy. The best thing on the plate was an orange slice that had been (possibly accidentally?) fried.
I thought about getting dessert, but decided that I was too hungry and so went to Pret for a sandwich on the way home. No sense in throwing good money after bad.

Quick glance:
+ cosy environment
+ friendly waiting staff
+ menu changes daily
— menu could be clearer
— poor portion size for the price
— food quality varies
I came here for dinner as a group of four on a Friday night. We met up at 7pm and thankfully there were plenty of free tables, although that might have been in part due to the Olympics. Nevertheless, the place filled up quickly and was full by the time we finished our meal just before 9pm.
The handwritten menu is a great idea, reflecting their changing menus everyday. However, deciphering the handwriting and the actual items led to an entertaining endeavour, as we sometimes couldn’t work out what was written, and other times didn’t know what the dish actually was because the titles only contained the Spanish names and no English explanation. But this gave us the opportunity to quiz the waiter, who was friendly and patient, taking time to explain the items we didn’t understand and giving us time to mull over our food choices.
Instead of calling the dishes starter, main, etc., they were called small dishes, large dishes, etc., which implied a tapas-​style meal, confirmed by our waiter. Unfortunately, the size of the dishes weren’t really made for sharing and made more sense as courses per person.
Although the ingredients were of high quality, I feel the ingredients weren’t used to their full potentials. For example, we had the anchovies and cured meats (under a Spanish name which we previously quizzed the waiter about). Two slices for £8 (or thereabout) seemed extravagant, and I felt that there could have at least been a bit of croûton or bread to complete the dish. Another example: we also had the scallop risotto; it was one of the the best risotto I’ve had in a London restaurant, cooked to perfection, but it was under-​seasoned, the scallops were over powered in flavour, and there was literally only four mouthful to the dish.
I would recommend Ducksoup for a romantic date particularly given the cosy atmosphere, the décor, and quite an intriguing menu, but just not really a restaurant for me!

Went to Duck Soup a few weeks ago in fact my profile pic
is taken there. I liked the fact you could all sit and eat the bar but we opted
for a small table for two which on reflection was a good idea as it rapidly
became very busy and there was not much arm room at the bar (though this did
mean you had to get to know your fellow diners which is always fun) The food
was superb. We both had the same seafood dish and some delicious cocktails.
Even though it was busy and the staff was being run ragged they were on top of
it all at all times and still kept smiling and paying attention to everyone’s
needs. It was a hot night when we went so the large window was completely open
making for great people watching. Prices were fair and would definitely
recommend friends in fact I have done– several times