London Mayfair Restaurant Guide

2021 Review: “Brilliant pizzas” (alongside “typical trattoria dishes”) are served at this Mount Street Italian: “good for quick business lunches” and offering notably “great value in the heart of Mayfair”. It “could do with some investment in decor and ambience” though.

2021 Review: “Let your friends know you’ve been, and they’ll ask about the clientele before wanting to know about the food…” – Richard Caring’s notorious, LA-style, bling-fest in Mayfair (which reportedly cost £15m to fit out) is most “definitely a place for those eager to see and be seen”. Fans also believe its luxurious menu of Asian-inspired fish and seafood (heavy on funky sushi, tempura, and gyoza) is plain “awesome” too. But to a large proportion of reporters, it’s “awful – just awful” – exacting “extortionate” prices to deliver “some weird-and-not-always-felicitous flavour combinations” to “a horrific stew of Mayfair types”.

2021 Review: “Boldly flavoured” nouvelle Indian cuisine served in a “dark and clubby”, colonial-theme setting puts Leela Palace’s Mayfair three-year-old in London’s premier league, if not perhaps quite at the top of the table: “not as memorable as some top names, but definitely a favourite”. But while it’s “a good attempt at taking Indian cuisine to the next level”, it lacks the stunning verve fans recall from when it first opened: “a fun evening out, but it will need to do better again to match the best of the best”.

2021 Review: For a posh bun, it’s hard to upstage this new Milanese import: a fashionista favourite for its superlative cakes and also serving some more substantial dishes (such as risotti) alongside cocktails and wine. Too limited feedback for a rating as yet, but all of it enthusiastic.

2021 Review: “Hakkasan has been setting the standard for modern Chinese food in London for ages now”, with the nightclubby, “dimly lit” original (“I had difficulty reading the menu and even seeing the food!”), opening “in a tiny, narrow lane with an anonymous entrance” near Tottenham Court Road in 2001; and although both it and its easier-to-find Mayfair spin-off’s styling “is a little bling bling” they continue to serve “seriously lovely” food and “refreshing” cocktails. There are drawbacks, which have also changed little over the years: it’s “very noisy”, staff can seem “bored” or “totally dismissive”, and “your wallet will have a hangover in the morning”.

2021 Review: Under “perfect chef and artist” Yoshinori Ishii (chef since 2010), this fairly small, hidden-away Japanese – in a quirky Mayfair mews, with little exterior signage – had been going from strength to strength and was head-and-shoulders the best property of Marlon Abela’s M.A.R.C. group. In early 2020, though – just prior to the first pandemic lockdown – it entered administration along with others in the group, although unlike The Square and Mortons Club it remained open. Details of its rescue are scant, but rescued it was and as of November 2020 it continued to trade.

2021 Review: “Splendid old pub” in a cute Mayfair mews whose adjoining “old school” grill-house – “various small rooms packed with tables” – may be “noisy and less-than-comfortable”, but is “an institution” for those fond of a “fabulous steak” or meat pie. “Superb beef and lamb are cooked on the open charcoal grill (you can choose your cut on the way in)” and the meat is of “consummate quality”. With its “excellent real ale” it’s a “good place for the boys” but its “sky-high prices” can deepen the impression of catering for a “principally male, expense-account clientele”. Top Tip – in early 2019, landlord Oison Rogers started opening for breakfast: “full English in meaty portions”.

Ivan and Manuela Wirth (the art world's famous couple behind Hauser + Wirth, and owners of The Fife Arms in Braemar) are re-opening this large tavern in partnership with Fortnum & Mason's CEO Ewan Venters. Architect Luis Laplace, who designed and restored Roth Bar & Grill and Hauser & Wirth Somerset is leading the revamp of the five-storey building, including the restoration of many features lost during WWII. Opening is contemplated in autumn 2022.

2021 Review: Hélène Darroze’s luxurious Mayfair temple of gastronomy, within Mayfair’s most blueblooded hotel, is celebrating its tenth year with a two-month closure, to re-open in September 2019. A revamp is promised, care of French design house, ‘Pierre Yovanovitch Architecture d’Intérieur’ (whose aesthetic, we are told in the PR, ‘focuses on bold re-imaginings of historic spaces, combining the contemporary with luxury materials’). There will also be the addition of a new chef’s table and dedicated Armagnac room; plus a new menu ‘rooted in Hélène’s culinary style, with a larger focus on British producers and suppliers’. The survey consensus on its former incarnation could be summarised as “exceptional cuisine albeit at extortionate prices” to appeal to “a crowd of plutocrats and their lawyers, and very old-money types”: we’ve maintained last year’s rating on the conservative assumption that its new incarnation will be a case of ‘plus ça change’…

2021 Review: It’s as a site for an exceptional afternoon tea – with fusion-flavoured finger sarnies adding some brio to the traditional experience – or a “chic brunch” that this posh brasserie, in a conservatory addition to Mayfair’s most upper-crust of hotels, excites enthusiasm. When it comes to star NYC-chef, Jean Georges Vongerichten’s “unusual” main menu – from pizza to caviar via truffle cheeseburger (and minus the SE Asian notes for which the chef is most famous) – it can seem like a “stunning and relaxing” experience… or merely “overpriced”, “tired and lacking flavour”.

2021 Review: Approaching its 300th birthday, this Mayfair pub is more stylish than most in the West End, partly due to its history of celebrity ownership (it was part of Madonna and Guy Ritchie’s divorce settlement, with Ritchie getting The Queen of Pop’s share when they split). Foodwise, it’s also been a decent bet in recent times (although it did receive one ‘off’ report from a former fan this year).

2021 Review: In a Mayfair townhouse that was formerly the short-lived Babel House (RIP), this ‘contemporary bistro de luxe’ features a southern French menu from chef Thierry Laborde, and opened in mid-2019, too late for any survey feedback. In his early review, The Evening Standard’s David Sexton focused on its handsome design, variably realised and expensive cuisine, impressive wine list and bargain set lunch (£25 with wine).

On the former site of The Square (RIP), the high-end, international fishmongers of the same name are opening a Mediterranean fish and seafood restaurant in October 2021.