Mews Of Mayfair - Mayfair, Friday May 17th, 2013

One of the many wonders of eating out in London is how there's always something new to try. It's virtually impossible to get bored or ever be out of places to go. Equally, it's often the case that you just can't decide where to go and, instead of trying somewhere new, you end up reverting to type. But that's okay too. We all have our favourites and one of the best things about eating out in my book is re-trying places hoping for, sometimes experiencing, different outcomes.

This was a third visit to Mews Of Mayfair, the first having been in pre-blog days, and the wife plus two companions and I essentially decided on going there because nowhere else would be able to fit us in on a Friday night at short notice. It's not the most glamorous of reasons to choose anywhere but sometimes necessity dictates the way.

Given that my experiences here have spanned some six years or so, it's interesting reflecting on the changes that have taken place. At first, it was an upmarket joint serving very of-the-moment food and trying to move into a slightly higher level of cuisine without totally hitting the mark. A few years on, it was undecided as to whether or not to pursue this or to settle for something more homely. Last year, it seemed to have gone down more of the comfortable embrace of British locality, their menu giving us a rather charming map of where all their choice produce came from (left).

Equally, the décor and atmosphere are now closer to a simple, more laid back brasserie or bistro style. The place has relaxed for sure. But what does it mean to the food? As I am always saying, provided the stuff on the table tastes good, I'll eat and enjoy whatever the case. Four of us got through a decent amount of dishes (sadly not the 12 I would expect at dinner for four but close enough) which gave an interesting insight into Mews Of Mayfair's current ambitions.

Starters were more for sharing than anything else, and the two dishes we ordered fit the bill. Crispy baby squid with salad and mayo is always going to work as long as it's cooked right and in this case, it was about right (right). There was a sensible mixture of crunch and chew within the meat of the dish and we all nabbed a piece or two as we got on with things.

Next up was a dish that could only be considered a sharing plate in the circles I move in: scallops with samphire and bacon (left). Many people find my proclivity for sharing food an odd, slightly over-personal thing but those who know me best seem to accept it. As such, three scallops were carved up between the group and we all tried a bit. The consensus was that, whilst the scallops were by no means the best out there, the dish worked. Samphire is a delicious, slightly salty textural contrast to a scallop and the bacon was honey-cured and smoked, meaning there was no overload of salt and the sweetness completed the dish. It was a nice, if slightly unimaginative starter, though for £12.50 I would have been rather peeved if it hadn't delivered.

The wife went for the rump of lamb which came with tinkerbelle peppers and basil (right). The construct of the dish worked fairly well, with the peppers diced as a base for the meat, with basil used as seasoning. There were breadcrumbed vegetables on the side to add texture and the cook on the meat was about right. Not a spectacular dish by any means but a good one. The thing was, for £24, lamb rump should be moving above just "good" and this was a problem.

One dish we had no problems with was the safe but well-executed sea trout with scallop, asparagus and pea purée (left). Combinations like this (similar to the scallop starter) are hard to get wrong but difficult to make spectacular. In the event, the creaminess of the peas and the properly-cooked asparagus combined wonderfully well with the trout and the scallop. The saltiness of the main events with the sweetness and textural variation of the vegetables were smart, modern and enjoyable. At £17.50, this was a lot more in line with what I would expect to be paying at a modern British restaurant for pleasant food.

I opted for the Gressingham duck with peppercorn sauce (right). It seemed like a no-brainer to me: I fancied something meaty, it seemed a snip at £15.50 and there's something ever so appealing about a dish which speaks to you as soon as you read it on a menu. There were issues though... The duck was a touch overcooked which made for a grim start. The apples weren't prominent in the sauce, overpowered by the peppercorns. I'm not sure this was a bad thing however, since the sauce did work. The real downer was the pointless addition of sloppy spinach along with diced pepper. Adding nothing but bulk and colour, I was fairly bored halfway through.

We were all a bit unsure of what to make of the meal so far. There had been ups and downs and desserts could have a big influence on how we felt about the meal. We decided to share two between four since nobody was still significantly hungry and the first of these was something called '"Ethel Brumpton's" vanilla cheesecake' (left). It was a decent enough cheesecake; light, creamy and not too sweet. The addition of a passion fruit marshmallow on top was a nice enough touch which added some sweetness and acidity came from the raspberry sauce. Not bad at all.

We finished off with the custard tart which was served with rhubarb (right). This was a real treat, with the tart rich and comforting, served with a side of delicious poached rhubarb which added a typical sweet and tart contrast to the simple creaminess of the custard. Rhubarb ripple ice cream on the side was a real touch of class, adding a temperature contrast and an element of fun to the plate. This was quite possibly the best thing we ate all evening.

It was an interesting meal with some high notes and a few shockers, but it averaged out as a decent night with a few friends. In one sense, that's all one can ask for at a fairly standard kind of place in London, but then again at some of the prices we paid, average isn't good enough. I'm not sure I'd go back to Mews - maybe once more to decide what I really think of it - but it's certainly not somewhere I'll be hurrying back to. There's something I don't like about places where one will have a good meal provided one orders "the right dishes". I'm starting to think Mews Of Mayfair is one of those places.

Mews Of Mayfair