A lot of very happy diners on opening night at Noble Rot Mayfair
What do we need to know about Noble Rot Mayfair?
This is the third restaurant opening from the team who brought us Noble Rot in Bloomsbury followed by Soho. The dynamic duo in question are Dan Keeling and Mark Andrews who, together with executive chef Stephen Harris of The Sportsman, are behind this bijoux group of restaurants and wine bars. For Noble Rot Mayfair they've brought in Head Chef Adam Wood (ex-The Square and Perilla).
Where is it?
They've found a lovely corner spot in Shepherd Market as it comes out onto Trebeck Street (it used to be Le Boudin Blanc). The former pub (it first opened as The Running Horse back in Victorian times) has been given a comely makeover across three floors. The nearest tube stations are Green Park or Hyde Park Corner.
Where should we meet for a drink first?
You'd be mad not to come straight here, particularly when you hear that it has not one but two bars. As you come in, the first bar features a few tables and a couple of stools up at the bar (which also has a turntable).
The ground-floor bar
This is probably more of a holding area before you go into dinner, so you also need to know about the upstairs bar.
That's a much larger space on the first floor which you can pop in for a drink whenever you like. There's also a separate bar menu available here which features most of the main menu's snacks and desserts, along with an additional option of smoked salmon on soda bread.
The upstairs bar - a very handy space to know about
Where's the best place to sit?
We think our corner table for two, on the left as you enter the ground floor dining room, was a pretty great people-watching space (the photo below was taken from there).
If you look where the waiter is standing by the blackboard, there's a rather discreet table around that corner if you prefer to dine incognito.
There's also another dining room upstairs too, which is very cosy and, in due course, there will be a private dining room on the lower ground floor.
The first-floor dining room (we went on the first night of opening so this wasn't being used).
So, what's on the menu?
They've described the focus in the Mayfair restaurant as one of 'indulgence'. The menu's loosely split into snacks, starters, mains and desserts with - and we'll return to this in a moment - one sharing dish for two.
Here's what we had to give you an idea of what to expect:
First up were these great snacks, both of which are useful to have with a glass of the Michel Gonet Champagne (£14) while you peruse the rest of the menu.
Mushroom Fritters £7 - these came with a fabulously pungent yoghurt and wild garlic dip.
Raw Maldon oysters with salted gooseberries (£4 each)
Then it was on the starters, proper.
Diver-Caught Scallop with a topping of Cauliflower Mushroom (we had to look it up - it's an actual thing) £16. These were fabulous. If we'd had a spoon we would have drunk the rest of the sauce.
Sea Bream & Oyster Tartare £15 - a wonderful mix of chopped sea bream, oyster mayonnaise and coriander stems topped with pommes allumettes and seaweed powder.
For the mains, there's a choice of around six dishes - roughly split between meat and fish with the veggie option being an enticing dish of Parisienne gnocchi with braised lettuce and Ossau-Iraty cheese (£27).
But there is one dish that looks likely to be the must-order and here it is...
Roast Duck with sauce Chambertin and potato & cep gratin (£96 for two). The duck was perfectly cooked and served up with two unbilled and very moreish duck offal faggots (made with duck offal, duck leg, lardo and smoked bacon and shallots).
That duck came with the dish that we can't stop thinking about. This gratin was the best we've had, almost ever. The cep-infused cream made it insanely good - is it greedy to say we'd have liked a little more of it?
Pitch-perfect gratin
Room for dessert?
But of course. A meal at any restaurant that sets out its stall as aiming for a reputation of 'cheerful loucheness' has to conclude with something sweet and there are three desserts on offer, two of which we tried.
The first thing you need to know about the custard tart is a bit about chef Adam's background. His first job out of school was three years working for Marcus Wareing. Wareing, you might recall, won the final of the Great British Menu in 2006 and served his own custard tart to the late Queen for her 80th birthday banquet. Knowing all that explains a little as to why this tart is SO GOOD.
Duck egg custard tart (£12) - comes with rhubarb poached with spices, orange and Sauternes. It's quite wonderful.
Armagnac Choux Bun & Warm Chocolate Sauce (£12) - an appealingly boozy choux that comes with loads of chocolate sauce to pour all over it.
Clearly, the wine list must be pretty impressive?
Of course. If you haven't been to a Noble Rot restaurant before, the company started as a wine-obsessed publication that morphed into a restaurant and wine shop. Here they're promising their "most ambitious wine list yet".
If you're just dipping your toe in, then there's a short list of wines available by taster glass (75ml), 125ml glass and bottle. There's also a blackboard of much rarer more expensive wines available by the glass which starts at £40 and goes all the way up to £114 for a glass of 1935 Pauillac. Want to delve deeper? Then ask for the separate long list which, currently, tops out with a 1990 Domaine Dujac Clos de la Roche Grand Cru for £6750.
Overall thoughts:
Shepherd Market is one of our favourite haunts in London and the arrival of a Noble Rot has cemented its reputation as a place you could happily lose an afternoon and evening to.
Each of the Noble Rots has a distinct personality. If Bloomsbury is the grandad whose long stories you put up with because of their wonderful cellar and Soho is the ingenue who runs with a dodgy crowd but never goes too crazy, then Mayfair is the rakish uncle who someone manages to stay out of trouble by opening another bottle of something very fine indeed that makes you forget his indiscretions.
If it's not already clear, we loved it and think you will too.
More about Noble Rot Mayfair
Where is it? 5 Trebeck St, Shepherd Market, London W1J 7LT
Find out more: Visit their website or follow them on Instagram @noblerotmayfair.
Hot Dinners dined as guests of Noble Rot. Prices correct at time of publication.
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