I’m going to start sounding repetitive as there are many places for which I could say this, but FlatPlanet on Great Marlborough Street is somewhere that I’ve walked past a lot and even checked out the menu but never tried.
The atmosphere in the restaurant is pleasant and a bench is provided where people can sit and wait for their takeaway orders. The service itself is a little perfunctory but not rude and there are some very pleasant aromas from the fresh coffee and dough.
The flatbread was served flat in a pizza box which made it a bit awkward to carry back to the office. I think I may have been biased by all previous flatbread-based lunches having been of a format where toppings were put on the flatbread before the flatbread was rolled and wrapped for easy carrying and eating.
FlatPlanet menu behind the counter
I went for the Moroccan Chicken as the description on the menu looked lovely…. “Chicken seasoned with Moroccan spices on a bed of houmous, labneh, rose harissa, tomatoes and basil. Topped with fresh mint”. In reality the houmous was a smear and the labneh was a couple of artful dollops. Although flat the bread had been ready sliced for eating but this is not a delicate process and eating at my desk was a mistake.
FlatPlanet Moroccan Chicken
All of the elements tasted pleasant both separately or together and there was a pleasant level of warmth from the spices.
FlatPlanet Moroccan Chicken close up
However, I think the word “artful” probably highlights my issue with this lunch – it looked very pretty but it didn’t fill me up. In the afternoon and ended up nipping to Pret to get some supplies to keep the hunger pangs at bay as it was getting to the stage where I couldn’t concentrate on my work. Not the desired result for a lunch that is on the more expensive side.
FlatPlanet oil from rose harissa
My final complaint was the amount of oil that seemed to be flooding around and under my flatbread. I can only assume that this came from the rose harissa that had been liberally dolloped around the dish. Trying to eat the flatbread by hand resulted in oily fingers, oily mouth and potentially oily laptop (as I said it was a mistake to eat this at my desk).
Overall impressions – OK food, if oily, but not filling enough to support an afternoon of work.
- Price – £6.50
- Service & atmosphere – 7/10
- Taste – 8/10
- Distance from office – a short 5 minute walk
- Satiety – 4/10 (was hungry)
- Likelihood to return when back in Soho – Unlikely
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