Being a big ‘fan of MO’ I had to visit the new Mandarin in Mayfair and their new restaurant by Akira Back. It is everything you expect the Mandarin group to offer, and their boutique style hotel is small but a charming addition to the group. As I walked down the statement stairs you have the bar to your right and Akira Back to your left. I took a tea in the bar first and then headed over to the restaurant. “Do you have a reservation with us”? I was kindly asked. I replied, “No it’s a Monday, should be fine!” And indeed, it was fine, the restaurant was not overly busy but there were still people coming in for lunch. I sat down ready to try the food.
Firstly, the dining room is very ‘Mandarin’ style, instantly recognisable. It is spacious and bright, airy, light and quite unique for a London hotel. The menu combines Akira Back’s Korean heritage bringing a touch of Japan as well. All of it looked well thought out and it was small and precise, but the bento box seemed like a desirable choice for a lunch, it fitted the bill for me. I had the impression that they were trying to deliver a certain standard here and of course to match The Mandarin expectations. The first item to arrive was their homemade gluten free soy sauce, (Impressed already with that) Following was a miso soup, edamame, and the dipping sauce for the tempura. Already we were seeing some attention to detail here.
The bento box was done well, it was polished, looked great and the morsels inside tasted as they should. The Miso cod was melting apart with an interesting yuzu foam, which had some significance and held it shape, it was a foam that you could actually taste, I did not find this pointless like most and I enjoyed the padron pepper on top. The tempura batter was superbly crisp (I was expecting nothing less than perfect for that) The mushrooms were flavoursome, and they worked sat in top of the rice. The selection of sushi and maki rolls were of a good standard.
Overall, I felt the quality and what they are trying to achieve here, which is a high standard of dining. This has been one of my better London lunches and I didn’t feel so abused by price vs value. I enjoyed it and I would be inclined to return to try something else off the menu if I were back in Mayfair.
