Disclaimer: We received a three course meal for two with a bottle of wine at Coppa Club in Sonning, in exchange for this review. Words and pictures are my own (unless credited).
Coppa Club is a small chain of bars and restaurants in the South East and South West, and there are two locally to Reading; one in Sonning (where George and Amal Clooney live, apparently) and one in Streatley.
We visited the original Coppa Club in Sonning, to see if we could spot George, and try out the menu in their private dining igloo pods.
The Food Menu at Coppa Club
The Igloo menu 
The main menu at Coppa Club – click to enlarge
When dining in the igloos, you can choose from the main Coppa Club menu which has a wide selection including pizza, salads, steak, pasta, fish… All tastes and dietary requirements are catered for.
There is also a special Igloo menu which features special Laurent Perrier cocktails, a starter, mains and desserts which can only be ordered by customers using the pods.
Starters
Calamari is my absolute favourite as a starter – if it’s on the menu, I’ll get it unless there’s something truly spectacular I just have to try. I reckon that I’m now a world expert on eating calamari, and this was good calamari. Five stars.
Not chewy at all, the batter was light and fluffy, had a bit of crunch to it and then melted in your mouth. It even came with a choice of dips; sriracha mayo or a spicy one.
The salmon ceviche was just as good. So fresh tasting, with a caper and lemon dressing, and not a stingy portion either. A really promising start to the meal!
Main courses
For the main course we both decided to eat from the igloo specials menu; one truffled wagyu burger with truffle fries and one halibut kiev with swiss chard and new potatoes.
The burger was huge, stuffed with bacon, cheese and a Portobello mushroom. The fries were delicious, but sadly they were a little cold. It was the only criticism we had of the food and everything else was served hot; perhaps the walk to the outside dining area had chilled them as it was fairly nippy out!
The halibut kiev was my choice of main.
The halibut was a lightly battered, chunky piece of fish and was cooked perfectly. However I do feel like it could have done with more of the garlic sauce – I’m a big garlic lover and I like to be able to taste the garlic. For me, the joy of a kiev is stabbing your fork in to have it spill out all over the place, but this wasn’t the case. The sauce was very subtle; it certainly wasn’t overpowering. The cost of the halibut kiev would have been £25, which made it one of the more expensive items on the menu. I wouldn’t say it was disappointing, but I would probably opt for a different main meal next time.
The flavours of the Swiss chard and potatoes were lovely and worked very well together, and completely rescued the meal – I think on its own the not-particularly-garlicky halibut may have been slightly too bland for my garlic-loving tastes.
Desserts
I’m not usually big on desserts – but who could resist a pecan pie and a chocolate fondant, both served with delicious ice cream?
They were good sized portions and a lovely way to finish off the meal. No complaints at all from me here, and empty plates all round. With a point knocked off for chilly chips and lack of garlic sauce, I’d give the meal a four out of five for taste.
Drinks at Coppa Club
Coppa Club has a good wine list and a decent but fairly small selection of nine alcoholic cocktails and five low and non-alcoholic alternatives.
Before our meal, I tried a garden spritz and my partner had a coppa sour – complete with amoretti biscuit. They were both delicious and went down very well indeed; the garden spritz is one I will certainly try to recreate at home!
In the igloo, we splashed out on two of the pricier igloo-only Laurent Perrier champagne cocktails to finish off our meal.
The Igloos
There are four private dining igloos in the garden at Coppa Club, each one seating up to eight guests. They’re beautifully presented with fake flowers and origami decorations inside and there is music pumped in through a speaker; not loud enough to get in the way of conversation but to provide a nice background and a bit of ambience.
They would be the perfect location for a family get together, a birthday with friends or other significant celebration; they allow you to chat without disruption from other tables or – perhaps – without worrying about being too loud and annoying others!
The igloos are pods made from acrylic, which means they’re sturdy and keep the heat in well, once it gets up to temperature.
Our booking was at 7pm, and it looked like it was probably the first seating of the evening, as when we arrived the heaters were off. Once the heater had kicked in, which took about 20 minutes, it was lovely and warm in the pod and we could take our coats off.
It would have been even better had the heaters been put on prior to our arrival. There were however blankets in the igloo which you could use should you wish to.
In terms of service, the food came very quickly and we were not left waiting for service at all; the staff were very attentive even though we were somewhat cut off from the main restaurant. Opening up the igloo pod doors with a tray of food or drinks is an admirable skill; perhaps a small table outside each one for them to perch their tray on would be a less heart stopping affair?
All in all we really enjoyed our meal and would definitely go back, either for food or just for drinks. The location is beautiful and I can understand why it gets so busy in the summer.
Maybe George and Amal will be there then, you never know.
Current Coppa locations include Tower Bridge, Clifton Village which opened earlier this year, Cobham Village, Henley-On-Thames, Maidenhead, Brighton as well as Streatley-on-Thames and Sonning-On-Thames, which both offer riverside hotel bedrooms. Coppa’s newest site, Putney, opened on 2nd November 2021.
Coppa Club igloos can be reserved in two hours slots, Monday to Sunday, 11am until close for a maximum of eight guests.