Owner Eric Lorincz prepares one of the clever cocktail creations in front of us.
What exactly is a cocktail omakase?
So it's the same premise as it would be in a sushi restaurant, but instead of the chef picking five courses for you, it's the bartender choosing five cocktails. A series of mini cocktails are are served to you over a 90-minute experience that also includes a few bite sized snacks.
This is Kwãnt Mayfair's first omakase offering and for this they've teamed up with Japanese drinks brand Nikka, using their gin, single malts and vodka to form the backbone of the drinks.
Tell us a bit more about Kwãnt...
This is the new-ish Mayfair bar from top bartender Erik Lorincz who, before he branched out on his own, used to be the head bartender at The American Bar at The Savoy for a little over seven years. Back in 2010, he beat 9000 bartenders from all over the world to become the winner of the Diageo's World Class competition. So it's fair to say he knows what he's doing behind a bar.
Kwant used to be located over on Heddon Street underneath Momo. When that closed Eric moved it to this extremely handy space right behind Green Park station in the heart of Mayfair.
A packed bar at Kwant on Saturday night in Mayfair.
So where are we sitting?
The omakase menu has to be booked in advance and to get the most out of it you sit up at huge bar (you can even sit behind the bar if you're doing the omakase on your own in one of the best solo seats we've seen in a while).
You'll be sitting up at that bar.
On arrival, you're faced with an upturned glass containing a truffle. This is the glass that'll be used for the final drink, being infused with truffle scent.
Surely if I drink five drinks in quick succession, they'll be carrying me out?
We're talking miniature drinks here, so there's no danger of that happening. And there are a few snacks as part of the experience, created by chef Joni Ketonen who is ex-Fat Duck.
The whole thing is very well-paced with Eric presenting each drink with an interesting (but not too long) description of its origin and contents. There are actually six drinks in total as the evening begins with a ceramic beaker drink made with whisky miso, shiitake, seaweed and chive oil.
Without giving the whole thing away, here's a selection of what we tried.
Urchin - made with Nikka gin, sea urchin, Champagne, verjus and Seasn light - a superbly minerally blend that went perfectly with the snack of a raw scallop served on a maple crisp topped with Spanish truffle.
Tomato - made with Taketsuru single malt, tomato, pickled brine and Seedlip garden. Loved that this was served with a frond of peashoots grown in the bar's own vertical garden.
Beetroot - the second drink of the night to come with its own snack. This features Nikka's Niyagikio single malt, miso, beetroot and maple vergus with aged sake. The snack is a tiny one bite beef tartare snack topped with salty fingers (it's a succulent plant).
Oolong - the cleverest drink of the night and inspired by the bar's own Irish coffee cocktail. It's made using Yoichi single malt and oolong tea and then a soy meringue foam is floated on top. So good we had to spoon out every bit of that foam.
We're sold - how much is it?
The experience costs £80 and runs Thursday to Saturday at 6pm.
Overall thoughts:
Having had the pleasure of trying Eric's amazing drinks back at Kwant's first venue on Heddon Street, we're not exactly sure why it took us so long to get around to visiting his new place. That was clearly an error on our part but, that said, the omakase experience was a delightful reason to visit. If you love interesting cocktails, thoughtfully made then this is for you. It would make a great birthday gift too.
More about the Kwant omakase experience
Where is it? 52 Stratton St, London W1J 8LN
When? Reservation only, Thursday to Saturday starting at 6pm. The Nikka omakase runs until 31 March 2025.
How to book: Book by emailing kwantmayfair@icloud.com
Find out more: Visit their website or follow them on Instagram @kwantmayfair
Hot Dinners visited as guests of Kwant. Prices correct at time of publication.
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