London Mayfair Restaurant Guide

“For a very special occasion, there is nowhere better” than this “beyond-compare” Louis XVI chamber, widely acclaimed as “the most beautiful dining room in London”: “it will not only rekindle the romance in your marriage, it’s also great for impressing on business”. “Not to be totally outdone by the surroundings, staff are friendly and unpretentious, and the classic cuisine under head chef John Willliams is measured and precise (if not exactly cheap… but it’s not supposed to be!)”. Top Tip – “a lovely fancy place for an epic breakfast”; also “the dinner dance is special and great value”.

“A real culinary tour of the best of Peru, with mouthwatering ceviche, smoky grilled meats and show-stopping desserts” (“we were blown away by the freshness and amazing flavour combinations”), “… all washed down with a pisco sour or two”, helps inspire rave reviews this year for this Latino duo – an “impressive-looking subterranean bar/restaurant in Mayfair”, and a similarly “buzzy and relaxed” set-up in the City, tucked away behind the Bank of England. “It’s best if someone else is paying” of course, but past flak about whopping prices was absent this year.

“Exemplary Italian ingredients cooked to perfection” and “served impeccably by delightful people” has earned a glowing reputation for the English-born former River Café chef, whose dining room off the foyer of the 1970s-built Intercontinental Hotel tower near Hyde Park Corner provides some of London’s best Italian cuisine. The “soulless setting” always attracts adverse comment, although it is “much improved” since its renovation a few years back.

“Classic and club-like (without being oppressive)” – Richard Corrigan’s spacious Mayfair HQ, just off Park Lane, offers a traditionally luxurious experience, focused on “unfussy”, top-quality British cuisine (from head chef, Aidan McGee). Its ratings looked less secure this year, though, with mounting concerns about its vertiginous pricing – to fans “even if it’s expensive, the quality is there”, but to foes it now seems “extremely overpriced” to an extent some feel is “ludicrous”. Top Tip – “superb value set lunch”.

Despite a vintage stretching back to 1926, London’s oldest Indian (part of the same group as Chutney Mary) doesn’t merely trade on its guidebook potential, with “subtle” and “original” cuisine, “dedicated” service, and a first-floor setting, whose agreeable looks are thoroughly modern. It seems to have become “a wee bit pricey” of late, though, “but it is in the heart of the West End, so perhaps not excessively so”.

“If you want Chinese food at its best”, numerous reporters award top marks to Bernard Yeoh’s luxurious Mayfair fixture, which has held a Michelin star for the last 10 years now, and which is unusual in boasting a heavyweight wine list featuring many of the world’s most famous vintages. Even those who say it’s “brilliant” acknowledge it’s decidedly “not cheap” however.

Mixed reports this year on this swish first-floor Indian, in the heart of Mayfair, which severed ties in August 2018 with its original founder. Fans say it’s “still excellent, despite Atul Kochhar’s departure”, serving “very nicely balanced, spiced and well-prepared” Indian cuisine that offers “a real twist compared to what’s usually found in the UK”. Its ratings have waned, though, with gripes re-emerging about its “windowless”, slightly “dull” interior, but more concerningly about cooking that “may not justify the price tag”: “just go to Dishoom, get better food, have more fun and save your cash!”