Mews of Mayfair

It should have been a glorious celebratory lunch, my mate Shandy had turned 40 and he had invited 10 of us out to “Mews of Mayfair” to eat good food and quaff good wine. Baby G was happily around at grandma’s. So my lovely wife and I set off to partake in that long forgotten glorious pre parent cultural phenomenon “The boozy Sunday lunch”. We had been to “Mews” before for drinks and it has the same very cool for school atmosphere of other places on Lancashire Court like “Hush” and “Rocket”. Shandy had organised some champagne for us which we happily quaffed whilst we waited to be shown up to our table. This did take quite a while but we weren’t in a rush though we were quite hungry by the time we were seated at 2PM for a 1PM lunch. The dining room is very different to the fashionably clubby bar downstairs, it’s like going from a Bret Eston Ellis novel into Brideshead revisited. So we were shown to our table in a very bright pristine dining room with an older clientele. it was actually a nice contrast and a great use of the period house.

As there were 10 of us we had a separate menu which I have to say didn’t grab me that much. There seemed to be a surfeit of beetroot on the menu which though seasonal I cannot stand so I went for the last refuge of a scroundel: “soup of the day”. Actually it was very nice and it had a quails egg in it which I hadn’t seen before. Good as it was it took a very long while to reach us which meant we probably had more wine than usual. The mains were a problem for me, only 4 options, a very expensive steak which the birthday boy had and really enjoyed, a veggie option (no thank you) a baillotine of pheasant which was again seasonal but I’m not a big fan of game so I went for the prawns on samphire…. For my £24 main I got a plate with a little mound of samphire and 3 yes 3 jumbo prawns. Luckily we ordered some sides for the table. Now biting into my first prawn something didn’t quite taste right but being a gung ho and hungry sort of fool I proceeded to eat the meagre offering. My wife’s ballotine was also not well cooked parts of it being dry and tough and others almost raw I noticed she was not the only one in our party who left part of her meal uneaten. Desserts were fine though I was feeling a bit queasy by this point so stuck to ice cream.

Now Let’s not say I am not fair, I did inform the restaurant the following day about the problem with the meal and to their credit they got back to me swiftly, offering a meal on the house, explaining how the dish is sourced, prepared and priced. They also offered to investigate matters further if I wished. I thought that was very professional but I’m reluctant to return there again. All in all we didn’t feel the food warranted the very pleasant surroundings or the hefty prices, they would be better toning down the menu and getting the cooking right. It also took them 4 hours to serve us lunch which I thought was more about encouraging us to drink more. Having said that Shandy really enjoyed his 40th and everyone seemed happy. However I really can’t see myself eating here again. The Olympics are happening this year which means a lot of visitors in central London which means higher end restaurants like Mews need to raise their game or London will regain it’s reputation for bad expensive food!
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david ginsberg - View all reviews by this user
4 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 1
Wednesday, January 04, 2012

Nice relaxed atmosphere, chic but not over the top. Service was pretty good generally, except for having to wait 15 mins to be seated despite having booked. Major downside was the food (which you would expect to be the main point of a restaurant), the seabream was dry and tasteless, while the poached egg and asparagus starter was just ok. May return and try something else on the menu just because I do like the atmosphere and location.
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5 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 4
Friday, November 04, 2011

This was a wonderful unspoilt oasis. We had a table outside and it was perfect to watch the world go by and re-charge our batteries on a Saturday afternoon. The food was wonderfully cooked and presented and tasted as good as it looked. I had fantastic oysters and beautifully sweet but firm prawns for my main course, all complimented by a fresh mojito. The atmosphere was relaxed, staff were polite and courteous at all times and nothing was too much trouble. I would recommend to all my friends and family for either than special occasion or a treat and you definitely will not be disappointed..... Exclusive in a refined yet down to earth way - a pleasure to visit and will be doing again very soon....
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Sharon Fish - View all reviews by this user
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Thursday, July 14, 2011

We went there with a LS voucher. That'll be the no option tasting menu and two glasses of wine. The bill showed £79.50pp and £5.50pp for the glass of wine. The amount of wine in massive brandy glasses leaves a lot to be desired if that's the real price and the meal whilst very nice would shock me even more if I paid the full price. Extra like a bottle of water for £4.50 must sum it all up.

Service was brilliant but it did take 25 minutes from getting the bill to it being processed. The mixed toilets were spotless. Overall we felt the atmosphere rather bland.

Would we go back? Truthful answer must be a no.
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TwoForFood - View all reviews by this user
6 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 2
Wednesday, July 13, 2011

I have to say, this was one of the most disappointing dining experiences I've had at a supposedly good restaurant.

I received a groupon voucher as a gift for Christmas - dinner and a glass of wine for two, and after reading reviews on this and other websites, my expectations were fairly high.

On arriving , we were required to queue outside the restaurant in a very narrow corridor, with other diners and waiters pushing past. The staff were attentive and polite, and took our coats soon after arriving, and we were at a table within 6-7 minutes of arriving, which impressed me as we were half an hour late for our reservation.

The restaurant itself had a pleasant ambience, the decor was nice, and it felt smart on the whole, though there were a lot of tables crammed into a fairly small space, and with waiting staff appearing overworked on what was a very busy evening (for a Tuesday!), I had a slight impression of the place being somewhat cramped and frantic - but as I say, only slight.

Waiting staff were polite without being overly formal, or friendly, though they got straight to the point without any small-talk. I was impressed that they were always quick to attend to the table whenever we called for them, when the restaurant itself was so busy.

However, where this restaurant really let itself down was the food. The 'Chef's Tasting Menu' - mandatory, as we had our Groupon, had a reasonable number of appealing choices. However the first warning sign came when the bread rolls arrived at the table - small, cold, chewy rather than crusty, and in one case completely stale. My partner and I both ordered 'seared' scallops to start, which came with a Jerusalem artichoke puree - the scallops themselves were passable, slightly overcooked (not at all 'seared'!!!), and a little chewy, but not too bad, and the artichoke puree was rich and warm, providing a very nice compliment. There were only 3 of them on each plate though, and the smallest scallops I've ever seen. Unfortunately, I had cooked a scallop starter for a dinner party last week, and had managed without too much difficulty to cook them far more tenderly than those I ate last night.

The main courses though were a disaster - I had Tiger Prawns with Chilli and Ginger, with a tomato and onion salad, my partner a Medium rare fillet steak with bearnaise, mushroom and chips, along with a red cabbage side (replacing a tasty-sounding broccoli dish on the menu that was no longer avaialble). The prawns again were slightly overcooked, tasty enough, but not a hint of the Chilli and Ginger suggested on the menu. And again, only 3. For a main course? Also, it was impossible not to notice that the whole plate had been more or less drenched in melted butter - not an unpleasant taste, but certainly meant that the dish was not the healthy-option I'd been hoping for! There was a pleasant surprise of some samphire hidden under the prawns - passable, but the flavour pretty much taken away again by the monsoon of melted butter that seemed to have been poured onto the plate. The salad was fine - but was nothing more than a handful of sliced, not particularly fresh-tasting tomatoes, and raw onions. No dressing.

My partner's steak though, plumbed new depths of culinary incompetence. Medium-rare was asked for. This steak turned up so overcooked that it was as dry as an old boot, and we had almost no way of knowing that it was even a fillet. I imagine most people would have no problem buying a better quality steak from their local Tesco, and cooking it to a higher standard at home. The chips too - nice and thick, crispy and golden on the outside, but almost completely uncooked in the middle.

If we'd had a check-back at our table during the meal I would have considered sending both dishes back, but we did not, it was late, and we were hungry, so in the end most of the food went down.

After this, there was absolutely no temptation at all to get stuck into what sounded like a tasty dessert menu, for fear of it being another triumph of flowery language over food of substance.

A real disappointment, overall. I can only presume that the food for those on the Groupon deal was being churned out without a great deal of care and attention, letting the chef look after the 'full-paying' customers more. Either that, or he/she was simply incompetent, because an amateur like me would have had no bother preparing those dishes at home to a higher standard. The staff were fine, the atmosphere was fine, and I'm sure that if we chose to return on another occasion, without having any kind of discount to apply to what would have been a very expensive meal, we might have been served up something slightly better. But after my experience last night, I'm not even remotely tempted to take that chance.
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Asa
3 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 0
Wednesday, February 23, 2011

I visited Mews last Saturday with three others.

It was a very nice experience, although we were delayed in traffic and arrived very late for our reservation staff were very accommodating. We had a lovely selection of dishes and the wine chosen by the sommelier was exquisite. Service was very attentive and the surroundings relaxed and comfortable. Would return and recommend to groups and couples.
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Roger - View all reviews by this user
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Monday, February 21, 2011

On behalf of the 3 members of the Royal British Legion, Poppy Appeal Petts Wood Branch who were fortunate to attend the Veterans Luncheon on Thursday I should like to thank all the staff for providing us with an excellent meal and can only say it was a wonderful day , with good food excellent wine and terrific company, also also an excellent advertisement for the Mews of Mayfair Resturant and the Royal British Legion, and we very much would like to come again next year God willing ! Thank You.
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Bob Foreman
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Saturday, November 13, 2010

I went there for dinner on Saturday night and had an excellent time. The service was faultless, the atmosphere was warm and lively, even though the restaurant was not full and we were quite late, and the food was superb. I ordered the fillet steak which was enormous, perfectly cooked and very tender. I see another reviewer has complained about the portion size but he must have been very unluckly because had I known the steak was going to be so substantial I'd have forgone a starter. Of course, what made the whole evening taste much better was the fact that I'd booked the 50% off deal which made it unbelievably good value; I actually felt a bit guilty when I paid the bill. I've actually come back on this site, not just to post a review, but to book another dinner!
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9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Monday, September 27, 2010

Would not recommend - portions far too small and pricey.

Came out feeling hungry, won't be back :-(
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3 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 1
Friday, July 16, 2010