Mayfair, Italian Restaurant Guide

As it enters its tenth year, Angela Hartnett’s “understatedly brilliant” Mayfair haven is an unusual example of a swanky, celeb-backed restaurant just getting better and better as it approaches middle age. Though not enormously distinctive in design, “the dining room is beautifully set up – you don’t feel crowded” – and the “charmingly kind staff” help “create a wonderful and romantic atmosphere”. Head chef Pip Lacey’s Italian-inspired cooking is taking the food quality here to new heights – “fantastically good” – and reporters “love that you can construct your own tasting menu”, whereby you select any number of dishes from the menu’s five sections in the order of your choosing. STOP PRESS: in July 2017, Pip Lacey left Murano, to be replaced by Oscar Holgado. Here’s hoping he can keep up the good work.

2016 Review: A “lovely old fashioned” Italian, beloved of an older fan club, whose quiet, central location makes it “a perfect retreat after shopping in the West End”; “the food varies from good to very good”.

“When you need quiet to have a good business conversation”, this “very comfortable and well-spaced” Mayfair Italian, with its “very refined Calabrian cucina”, “very smart” decor and “particularly professional” service is just the ticket. All this comes at a price naturally, and while the overall offer escapes any serious criticisms, and draws a good degree of praise, the overall verdict value-wise is really quite muted, especially measured by Francesco Mazzei’s involvement and its much-publicised revamp two years ago.

“Amazing prices for Mayfair” help evoke the spirit of “Italian-as-they-used-to-be” at this squashed, “really busy and noisy” outfit, just along the road from the Connaught, serving “great pizzas”.

This pricey two-year-old Mayfair Tuscan has yet to make waves, but on (practically) all accounts is “most enjoyable”, with a “nice interior and friendly service”. Its top feature is a wine list reflecting its ownership by a 700-year-old Florentine wine and banking dynasty, for whom this is a first UK venture.

Soho House’s “vibrant” all-day Venetian-style brasserie near Old Bond Street makes “a great place to relax, take your time, and watch the world go by” and is well liked – except by a few who find it “snotty” and “arrogant” – for its “professional and fun” approach. Even many fans think its food (“pleasant in a simple sort of way”) is “expensive”, but this place is a particular favourite “for an upmarket business breakfast”.