Mayfair, International Restaurant Guide

Juan Santa Cruz’s gorgeous, gold-and-ebony Mayfair yearling (on the former site of Sumosan, RIP) draws a smart, Eurotrashy crowd and is undoubtedly “beautiful, and great for people watching”. “You don’t mind a high-end price tag, if the food measures up” too, but whereas some fans describe “such amazing and different flavours from the tapas-style menu” there is a high proportion for whom results are “just uneventful and unexciting”.

Corbin & King’s “terrific 1920s New York-style grill room in the stunning art deco Beaumont Hotel is a stone’s throw away from Selfridges, yet impossible to come across by chance”. According to most reports, a visit is “a luxurious treat”, on account of its “comfortable and plush” style and “typical American fare, from hot dogs to chicken pot pie”. To some tastes though, the pricey food is so “straightforward” as to seem “a little uninspired.” Top Tips – “the breakfast hashes are superb” and “design-your-own ice cream sundae with an amazing selection of flavours, toppings and sauces is great fun for kids and adults alike”.

On the former site of Quattro Passi (RIP) – an opening from a swish, well-established international chain with ‘clubstaurants’ from Dubai to Rio de Janeiro – arrived in Mayfair in Spring 2018. Culinarily speaking it takes its lead from the South of France, with a Provençal-inspired menu.

Inspired by the cuisine of countries bordering the Black Sea – and with a particular focus on the food of Odessa (it’s named for that city’s famous writer, Isaac Babel, and fresh fish is flown in from Odessa’s Pryvoz market), this swanky-looking newcomer set up shop in a super-chichi Mayfair mews in May 2018, just as the survey was coming to a close. Feedback was too sparse for a rating, but the first report is encouraging – “ate just after opening with Ukrainian friends; excellent food; good wine list; will work well once it gets going properly”.