Mayfair

• Kiri Japanese izakaya launches in Mayfair from Chisou team

  

  Mayfair's Japanese restaurant Chisou has just opened Kiri. They're describing it as the baby of a family which also has restaurants in Knightsbridge and Chiswick. What that means in practice is that it'll serve modern Japanese dishes with some Korean influences. So you'll find Korean fried chicken alongside miso black cod and spiced sweet potato croquettes alongside hirata buns and kimchee fried rice with Japanese mushrooms.

  We're quite tempted by the sound of

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• Benares launches regional Indian street food menu

  

  Benares is paying homage to the diverse culture and heritage of Indian street food with a new menu set to launch this month at the Michelin-starred Indian restaurant and bar.

  Available from next Monday until Christmas, the street food menu features five dishes, each of which have been designed by a chef from the Benares kitchen.

  The menu is made up of dishes from every corner of India and pays homage to the diverse cuisines of each

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• Hibiscus to close in Mayfair - but plans to return

  

  We had been hearing murmurings about this one for a while - but now it's confirmed that Claude Bosi's Hibiscus is shutting its doors in Mayfair at the beginning of October. It's one of a very small group of restaurants in London with two Michelin stars, so we're not sure what caused the close (but it could well be down to the restaurant choosing to cash in what remains of its spendy Mayfair lease). 

  But that's not all from

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• New rum bar, Burlock, is coming to Duke Street

  

  Updated 13/9/16 with drink details

  A whole bunch of rum cocktails are coming to Duke Street with the latest from the people behind Opium. Called Burlock (and briefly also Plantation), the basement bar is all based around the 1920s - 40s period of Havana, so expect all the rum you can handle and a colonial style for the place itself. Alongside the rum, there will be cachaça, rhum agricole and mezcal. And apparently, a Havana style barber shop doubles

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• Test Driving Park Chinois - Alan Yau's pleasure palace in Mayfair

  Is Alan Yau's latest restaurant an overblown vanity project or great fun. Or both?

• Test Driving 34's Champagne Lover's Lunch

  Unlimited champagne makes this Mayfair spot suddenly very affordable this summer.

• The Latin American MNKY HSE comes to Dover Street

  

  The Dover Street Wine Bar may have gone, but there's news about what will be rising in its place. It'll be a Latin American restaurant and bar called MNKY HSE. Not sure where they've mislaid their vowels.

  In charge of the kitchen is Pablo Peñalosa Nájera - he's previously been at Four Seasons in Bogotá and Morimoto in Mexico City, and this is his first time opening in London. We're promised contemporary Latin American food and

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• Test Driving Galvin at the Athenaeum - The Galvins' latest hotel venture

  The Galvin Brothers' latest sees them opening a restaurant in the refurbished five-star Athenaeum. We take a look. 

• A Piccadilly classic Hatchetts is revived in Shepherd Market

  

  A new restaurant and bar is coming to Shepherd Market that pays tribute to a very old London institution. Hatchetts was originally a hotel and coffee house in Piccadilly with a reputation going all the way back to Dickens. The name's been appropriated and moved around the corner to this new restaurant and bar. Given the history of the name, expect a very classic look - lots of wood panelling and marble. 

  The man

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• Test Driving Sexy Fish salads and a whole lot of Japanese whisky

  The Mayfair's star-spotting hangout now has a sexy salad selection on offer for summer. We went to check it out

• Test Driving The Guinea Grill - steak and history in Mayfair

   This historical hostelry is a must for anyone who likes their steak

• Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester - a return visit

  

  It's all change at Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester where there's a new Executive Chef at the helm. Jean-Philippe Blondet was previously head chef under Jocelyn Herland who has moved to Le Meurice, before taking up his current position. And as it has been four years since we last tried out lunch here at Michelin's most highly starred establishment in the city (along with Restaurant Gordon Ramsay) we figured it was time for another

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• May Fair Kitchen brings in Nobu manager to oversee Mediterranean makeover

  

  It's all change once more at the May Fair Kitchen which is closing for a do-over of both the space and the menu. The restaurant at the May Fair hotel, which previously operated as a British grill, has gone all continental. They've brought in Amir Jati, the former head of private dining at Nobu to help switch it over to Mediterranean small plates.

  Looks-wise, the space sounds like it'll be a lot airier with floor to ceilings windows replacing walls

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• Oisin Rogers takes over at The Guinea Grill in Mayfair

  

  If you've been wondering where Oisin Rogers, London pub manager extraordinaire and key member of our Murphia list, was going to pop up next, then let us enlighten you. Rogers, who ran The Ship in Wandsworth for ages and then last year helped Young's

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• 34 Mayfair launches a new Spring brunch menu

  

  It's been a while since we were last at 34, so we took advantage of being in town over the Easter weekend to try out the Mayfair restaurant's new Spring brunch.

  Honestly, we've never had such a hard time trying to choose what to have. Everything on the menu sounded pretty much exactly what you'd want for brunch/Sunday lunch. There's all manner of traditional brunch dishes to choose from - waffles and pancakes, baked egg shakshuka with feta and shrimps or pork and

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