65 South Audley St, London, W1K 2QU
Harden's survey result
Summary
Billed by Malaysian-born founder Bernard Yeoh as ‘liberated Nanyang [ie South Seas Chinese] cooking’, the well-accoladed cuisine at this Mayfair fixture has impressed diners for more than 30 years, with Adele one of the more recent celebs to sing its praises. High-quality hit dishes include a “definitive wasabi prawns and slow-cooked pork”; and there’s no compromise on the quality of the drinks offering, with a comprehensive selection of teas, cocktails and wines. But... “the prices! £23 for a plate of brocollini tells me the trick is to get someone to take you there!” (and, you can spend over £10,000 per bottle on the wine).
Summary
“Chinese cuisine at its finest, with service to match” helps inspire high ratings this year for Bernard Yeoh’s luxurious Mayfair fixture – now of two decades’ standing – which describes its culinary focus as ‘Liberated Nanyang Cooking’. Part of this freewheeling approach is the curation of a very comprehensive cellar: perhaps wash down your roasted Peking duck with a 1990 Château Pétrus at over £9,000 per bottle…
Summary
“A cut above any Chinese restaurant I have been to” – Bernard Yeoh’s “attentive but not overbearing” Mayfair stalwart celebrates its 20th birthday in 2023 and continues to offer a luxurious mix of “absolutely fantastic contemporary Chinese cooking” (what Yeoh describes as ‘liberated Nanyang cuisine’) twinned with an impressive wine list (swelling with Premiers Crus from Bordeaux, Burgundy and beyond). Even those who say the food is “lovely” though, feel it comes at “eye-watering prices”.
Summary
A stylish Mayfair fixture that pulls out all the stops to provide the best possible Chinese cuisine, with “amazing food” and a “very good, albeit expensive, wine list” (featuring some of the world’s most acclaimed vintages). Proprietor Bernard Yeoh, who represented Malaysia as a trap shooter in the 2004 Athens Olympics, describes it as “liberated Nanyang cuisine” – his take on the cooking of the overseas Chinese throughout southeast Asia.
For 33 years we've been curating reviews of the UK's most notable restaurant. In a typical year, diners submit over 50,000 reviews to create the most authoritative restaurant guide in the UK. Each year, the guide is re-written from scratch based on this survey (although for the 2021 edition, reviews are little changed from 2020 as no survey could run for that year).
Have you eaten at Kai Mayfair?
Owner's description
LUNCH:
Mon to Fri - 12:00 to 14:15
Sat to Sun - 12:30 to 14:45
DINNER:
Mon to Sat - 18:30 to 22:45
Sun - 18:30 to 22:15
Prices
 Drinks |
|
|---|---|
| Wine per bottle | £8.00 |
| Filter Coffee | £4.00 |
 Extras |
|
|---|---|
| Bread | £0.00 |
| Service | 15.00% |
Restaurant details
Kai Mayfair Restaurant Diner Reviews
"Food was very high quality - definitive wasabi prawns, slow cooked pork - and attentive service, but uncomfortably I noticed the two or three tables of African customers were down in the basement, hope this is not the norm. And the prices...£22 for a small plate of brocollini tells me the trick is to get someone to take you there, it's good but not that good."
65 South Audley St, London, W1K 2QU
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Opening hours
| Monday | 12 pm‑2:30 pm, 6:30 pm‑11 pm |
| Tuesday | 12 pm‑2:30 pm, 6:30 pm‑11 pm |
| Wednesday | 12 pm‑4:30 pm, 6:30 pm‑11 pm |
| Thursday | 12 pm‑4:30 pm, 6:30 pm‑11 pm |
| Friday | 12 pm‑4:30 pm, 6:30 pm‑11 pm |
| Saturday | 12 pm‑4:30 pm, 6:30 pm‑11 pm |
| Sunday | 12 pm‑4:30 pm, 6:30 pm‑11 pm |
