Caponata was full of surprises from the first moment we stepped inside. At first, it looked just like a normal restaurant with wood panelling and plastic seating. We were welcomed by the very friendly staff, who told us that this level of the restaurant was the informal Osteria, which means bar/inn in Italian. It had a really great aura and atmosphere and we were glad that we had come into this place for coffee.
As we went to the back of the restaurant, that was where we were pleasantly surprised. It opened out into a covered courtyard, where plenty of sunlight was streaming through. As if that wasn’t nice enough, one of the walls was totally covered with plants. It was just perfection and it made us forget that we were actually sitting in a cafe, just off of Camden High Street!
Caponata is a Sicilian restaurant and cafe and the formal restaurant is situated on the upper level. Some of the seats of the restaurant overlooks onto the courtyard.
We opted to go for mochas and we were taken aback when we found out that the coffee actually comes from Camden Coffee shop; one of Caponata’s neighbouring shops! That’s great that they were supporting the local business! The mochas tasted more like lattes than hot chocolate. That made a refreshing change as a lot of cafes make their mochas so you can only taste the chocolate and not the coffee.
To accompany the coffees, we had a selection of fresh biscuits. These were all really yummy! The biscuits that we sampled had various fillings such as fig and almonds. There was also chocolate biscotti and sesame seed biscuits!
As we were chatting to the staff, another surprise was revealed. Adjacent to the courtyard, the wooden wall is just a partition. On the other side of the partition is a music venue called The Forge! On some evenings, this partition is removed, so that the diners at Caponata can enjoy live music whilst enjoying their meal!
Our visit to Caponata was extremely enjoyable and we hope to return to sample a lunch or dinner here, oh and also their homemade ice-cream!
Caponata Osteria and Bar, 3-7 Delancey Street, Camden, London, NW1 7NL
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