There are few hotels in central London as iconic and fashionable as the May Fair Hotel. We’ve been there for private screenings and after-parties but we had yet to try their in-house restaurant, May Fair Kitchen; so it was a chance not to be missed when we were invited along to sample their offerings.
The decor is smart yet informal and dominated by various shades of cream colours. The location is very much in the heart of Mayfair and there will be very few restaurants with a better postcode.
What I particularly like about the menu is the choice it offers: Spanish and Italian cuisine. It doesn’t try to create a confusing fusion menu but offers the very best of two of the most popular cuisines on the London dining scene.
They have a very similar choice of Italian antipasti selection or Spanish charcuterie selection. Thankfully for me I ordered the Italian antipasti, as my Italian waitress would have been rather disappointed if I chose the Spanish option instead. The quality of the speck and salami were never in doubt although I would have expected a few other meaty options. The dish is filling in other ways as it comes with cheese, bread, sun blushed tomatoes and olives.
Maybe the menu is designed for the diet-conscious fashionistas of Mayfair, as the main course of gremolata crusted lamb cutlets felt slightly on the small side. The other option of course is the dish was so addictively tasty, I felt a culinary urge for more. The lamb was one of the most succulent and juicy tasting meats I’ve had in recent months and the gremolata really added citrusy zest and spiciness to the meat.
The lamb dish doesn’t come with any greens, so I felt compelled to order a salad dish to make sure it was going to be a balanced diet. The orange and avocado salad is simple sounding enough, but they are two ingredients you don’t see combined together very often. The version here works extremely well and is made even more tasty with a strong cayenne pepper lemon dressing.
There are some clever sounding desserts like deconstructed tiramisu and clementine and cinnamon Panna cotta on their menu, but I opted for their Amalfi lemon sorbet. It is perhaps on the expensive side being charged at the same price as other desserts, but it does come as 3 large scoops and the Amalfi lemon is as clean and crisp tasting a flavour as you will ever try in a sorbet.
During the visit on a Friday night, they had a DJ playing funky house music, which thankfully was at a volume which set up a fantastic vibe without reducing the ability to have a decent conversation with your guests.
baldwin@townfish.com