What do I need to know about Marani?
It's the latest Eastern European restaurant to hit Mayfair - this time focused on Georgian food and wine.
So what kind of thing can we expect?
There's definitely an emphasis on carbs. And while Eastern European food can be a little heavily weighted towards the comfort food category, the portions at Marani are managed well enough so that you won't be waddling out the door afterwards.
Where is it?
In the heart of Mayfair, just a few minutes from Green Park station a few doors down from the Curzon cinema.
Where should I meet friends for a drink nearby?
This is the second time we've been to the area in recent weeks and we have to admit - it's not full of great places to go. We had a pretty decent (although expensive) cocktail at Langan's beforehand, but we'd love to find a decent wine bar or pub in the area (if any Hot Dinners readers can recommend one in the comments below, please do).
That said, there are a couple of tables here at Marani they say can be used for drinks only, and a small but pretty bar upstairs - so if you arrive here early you can grab a glass of Georgian wine.
Where's the best place to sit?
While the restaurant has the same menu throughout - there's a different look and feel to the upstairs and downstairs restaurants. Upstairs has more of a fine dining formal approach, while downstairs is more laid back. While the design upstairs looks wonderful - we had a preference to the downstairs look and vibe. The large table at the back of the downstairs room, ideal for a group, is the best in the house - looking like you're dining in someone's (well appointed) lounge back in Georgia. If there are two of you, try and grab a table by the window.
You mentioned carbs - so the bread's decent?
We haven't mentioned this in Test Drives for a while - but we do love our bread and the bread - so its inclusion in every Test Drive makes a return with Marani. The bread and house butter here were excellent - as were the Khachapuri, which absolutely shouldn't be missed - cheese flatbreads which come in a variety of forms.
And what should we eat?
After ordering the above Kachipuri, the menu's split into starters, seafood mains, meat and poultry mains and a separate section for the grill. It's a very extensive menu and the soupy dumplings have been specifically recommended (although we ended up avoiding them after pigging out on the bread). There's lots to enjoy in the expansive menu - but the things that stood out for us were:
- The Beef Stroganoff - a rather soupy version with insanely rich and delicious sauce that came with some excellent shard-like fries (£20). You'll want either a spoon with this or save some of the bread for mopping it up.
- The Nugbari - a nutty version of honey cake (£10), which we can never get enough of and an incredibly light millefeuille with mascarpone cream (£8)
What about drinks?
Of course, if you're coming to a Georgian restaurant, you owe it to yourself to stick to the Georgian wine - which ranges from £25 (the cheapest on the overall list) to £86 a bottle. Marani pride themselves on having the largest selection of Georgian wine this side of the Caucasus mountains and there's plenty to choose from with many of the wines aged using the qveri technique of being buried in the ground in ceramic jars. We had a bottle of 2005 Tblivono Mukuzani - £35 - which was a perfect match for our food.
Overall thoughts.
Marani came as something of a surprise. As mentioned, the food isn't as heavy as some Eastern European or Russian restaurants can be, steering carefully into the area of offering comfort food without weighing you down. We also loved the look of the restaurant - think of it like a slightly pared down Mari Vanna (in a good way).
If there's one area that could do with improvement it's the service which when we went was certainly friendly but ever so slightly chaotic.
It's always fun to try a different country's cuisine out - particularly one you're not familiar with and Marani is worth making a trip to for that alone, not to mention a good go through its Georgian wine list.
Marani is at 54 Curzon St, London W1J 8PG. Find out more about Marani.
Prices were correct at time of writing. Hot Dinners ate as guests of Marani.
