Mews Of MayFair – Traditional British Food in London

Mews of Mayfair – A Very British Affair:

I love the London restaurant scene.  International, multicultural and diverse, I find myself lunching on Ramen and dining on Curry, visiting a Russian Restaurant one evening and a French Bistro the next.  All within a few minutes’ walk of each other in Central London.  But, it’s not British food and when I’m asked for a recommendation for traditional British food in London sometimes I have to stop and think.

Mews of Mayfair is a lovely restaurant with a traditional British menu that’s been carefully updated to reflect modern taste.  Where possible ingredients are British sourced and origin listed on the menu.  We went along to check out the newly refurbished dining room and to try the food and really enjoyed the experience.

My hand dived scallops from Rye were beautifully cooked and came with shavings of cauliflower, a light cauliflower puree, some wild mushrooms and raisins.  For my personal taste, the raisins were an unnecessary addition, but they didn’t spoil the dish for me, other than a simple feeling of ‘less is more’.  My dining companion enjoyed his Cornish crab mayonnaise too.

I ordered calves liver as the main course.  Perfect comfort food for me, it came with a garnish of crispy bacon on a bed of mash with braised lettuce, something that I thought worked very well.  And the liver was pink in the middle, tender and full of flavour.

My companion’s rib-eye steak was ordered medium well done.  Now, something I’ve learnt in the last year is that certain cuts of steak really benefit from being rather better cooked than I grew up believing was ‘right’.  Rib-eye is one example, a good rib-eye steak will be well marbled with fat and so it really benefits from a longer cooking time.  This particular steak was served on a wooden board which had clearly been used to finish the steak.  It was pronounced delicious and the tiny bit I tasted was succulent and sweet, just as a good rib-eye should be.

Too many meals out meant I skipped dessert again, but the menu has a great choice of traditional British puddings including crumble, lardy cake and Cambridge burnt cream (yes, that’s ‘British’ Crème Brulee).  Anyone who is a regular reader of London Unattached won’t be surprised to learn that my companion chose the burnt cream.  This particular version was so good I didn’t get to taste – although I did notice the vanilla seeds at the bottom of the empty dish (always a promising sign).

Perfect for a visitor to London who wants to experience good classic British food, Mews of Mayfair is just off Oxford Street.  The refurbished first floor restaurant is apparently a little less formal than previously, you won’t feel out of place if you wander in from shopping or sightseeing, although it’s equally suitable for a business meeting.  There are tables outdoors, complete with blankets and heaters and a casual lounge downstairs where you can enjoy a bar menu.

One to add to my list of classic British restaurants and one that does serve Traditional British Food in London. Mews of Mayfair is a reasonably priced central London restaurant, where main courses will set you back somewhere between £12 and £25

Mews of Mayfair
10 to 11 Lancashire Court
Mayfair,
W1S 1EY