The room at Mary's, which will be familiar if you've been to Pollen Street Social
What can you tell us about Mary's?
Mary's sees Jason Atherton take the former Pollen Street Social space and revamp it as a more laid-back grill restaurant, cocktail bar and burger counter. It's a big shift for what was previously a Michelin-starred restaurant. It's also one of many new restaurants that Atherton is launching in an extremely busy six-month period.
Where is it?
If you've ever been to Pollen Street Social, you know exactly where it is. If not, Pollen Street is a small side street near Hanover Square and close to either Oxford Circus or the Bond Street Elizabeth line station. It's not the only Atherton restaurant on this street either, as Little Social is directly opposite.
Where should we go for a drink first?
There are a few decent pubs nearby and you're not too far from Claridge's but there is, of course, a bar at Mary's itself. There was always a bar at Pollen Street Social and visiting this time around, we'd forgotten just how large that space was (about half the size of the restaurant). Now it's been revamped as The Blind Pig, the bar which was once above Atherton's (now closed) Social Eating House in Soho. The arrival of The Blind Pig means that the cocktails are more affordable than they were before, with most now priced around the £12-£13 area.
There aren't many cocktail bars around this area, particularly at that price point, so that makes it all pretty attractive as a drinking space. The drinks are all named after Greek myths (Hades, Persephone, etc) and there's a good non-alcoholic list too (all £8). Most importantly, the cocktails are very good:
Cocktails from The Blind Pig. On the left, the Poseidon (chamomile-infused Patron silver tequila, Fair chipotle, Midori, pineapple, lime, £13) and on the right, the Apollo (Eminente 7 yrs rum, Fair passion fruit, falernum & lime)
Onto the restaurant - what's the new set-up?
When Pollen Street closed, Mary's opened in its place after only a couple of weeks. As you can imagine, that's not enough time for a major overhaul, so if you were familiar with the space before, you'll know the layout here too.
The main changes include the glass frontage - the part frosted glass is gone, meaning you can see much more of the restaurant from the outside now. What was the chef's/dessert counter at the end of the room has been repurposed into a walk-in burger bar. It seems like the wooden floor and chairs have been darkened but otherwise it's a similar layout.
And what about the menu?
While the room may be familiar, the menu is completely new. Mary's is described as a grill house and a good chunk of the menu is given over to meat and fish from the grill. In charge of the menu is Alex Parker, previously head chef at Social Eating House.
But before you even get to that, there are plenty of small to large dishes on offer and it's a pretty enticing list from Cornish gurnard ceviche to Orkney scallop with pickled melon and ajo blanco (we've seen photos of that one and it looks great). Here's a taster of what's on the non-grill section of the menu, and all of the below were excellent:
Duck croquette, pickled cucumber, satay sauce (£10) - the sauce being a great match for that croquette.
Monkfish tempura, warm tartare sauce (£13) - This may not look too special but blimey, that tartare sauce is something else. The whole combo is phenomenally good - a must-order dish.
Lyonnaise onion agnolotti, cheese custard, leeks, chive beurre blanc (£12) - A fantastic vegetarian option
Cornish bluefin otoro tuna Rossini, lobster pepper sauce (£19.50) - a seafood take on the classic steak dish. Perched on top is a brioche cooked in tuna fat, sandwiched around foie gras butter.
And what's on the grill menu?
Steaks are on the list, of course, starting from a 200g bavette (£20) and heading upwards to sharing options of a tomahawk, cote de boeuf or the following:
The shorthorn T-bone served with garlic butter (£12 per 100g) - An excellent cut of steak and perfectly cooked. Being a grill restaurant, this is the element you must get right, and they really did the job here. We'll give a special mention for the excellent bordelaise sauce on the side too.
Also on the grill side of things, you'll find lamb chops, a pork T-Bone and a whole roast chicken for the table which really is an impressive piece of work. That's chopped up for you before it hits the table with a caesar salad being prepared over the wings (£48). You can see it being prepared here and if it wasn't for the draw of the steak, we would have gone for the chicken. On the seafood grill side of things, there was a Cornish halibut on the bone with surf clam ‘pil pil’ (£16 pe 100g).
What about the burger?
Generally, the burger is available at the small eight-seater counter outside the kitchen which is held back for walk-ins. That said, if you ask nicely, they'll probably let you try it at the table (which was what we did).
Cumbrian beef dirty smash burger (£16.50) - Deep fried pickles, chilli mayo, streaky bacon, cheese, crispy onions. it's on the upper-end price-wise for burgers in London, but it is an extremely good one. They also have a fish fillet version on Fridays.
And after all that, dessert?
Absolutely, and much like the starters/plates section of the menu, there's some real inventiveness being showcased here. We'd happily recommend all of the following, but we also like the sound of the creme caramel with port-glazed figs and fig leaf oil (£10).
Cherry, vanilla custard doughnut (£9.50)
70% chocolate Basque cheesecake with orange, tonka bean (£9.50) - the orange is orange zest on top. Basque cheesecake is very much a thing now, so it's good to see a very well-made alternative to the norm here.
Peach Melba soft serve ice cream (£9.50). The soft serve is an intense peach and yoghurt flavour, and if you're looking for something lighter, go for this.
Anything else on the food front?
it's worth mentioning the set menu which is available lunchtime and pre-theatre Tuesday - Saturday with two courses for £29 and three courses for £35. For this part of town, that's a very good deal.
What about drink?
One of the notable elements of the wine list is a two-page specific focus on female winemakers, something we don't see highlighted often. Otherwise, while you will see some spendy wines on the list (Joseph Drouhin Grand Cru for £1115), the list starts at £35 a bottle which is pretty good for this part of town and you'll also see Verdeca from Puglia by winemaker Caterina Bellanova at £38 on the female winemakers list. Overall, it's an extensive affair (built up over the years at Pollen Street) with lots available by the "pint" (aka carafe) so you'll easily find something decent.
Overall thoughts
Mary's is obviously a big change from what went before and we'll admit we felt some trepidation, wondering if it was maybe too large a shift. However, we had already heard good things about the level of cooking on show here and we have to agree with that. Everything we had on our visit showcased an extremely strong hand in the kitchen led by chef Alex Parker. The basics of the grill side of things are done very well, but the menu really starts to shine in all the other dishes and it's all pretty well priced too.
The room may need to settle into its new guise, but a larger revamp planned for the beginning of 2025 should help with that. In all, it's a big change for Pollen Street, but it turns out to be one that really works.
More about Mary's
Where is it? 8-10 Pollen St, London W1S 1NQ
How to book: Book online or call 020 7290 7600.
Find out more: Visit the website or follow them on Instagram @marysest2024.
Hot Dinners ate as guests of Jason Atherton. Prices re correct at the time of writing.
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