You may not have heard of him before but Jean-Georges Vongerichten is officially a big deal in the restaurant world, operating 32 restaurants worldwide including eight in his hometown of NYC. Well now it’s London’s turn, as Jean-Georges at the Connaught has landed in the plush Mayfair Hotel offering everything from breakfast through to dinner, via afternoon tea – this is Mayfair after all.
It’s a glamorous spot but they’ve managed to keep things relatively informal with relaxed service and a menu that is creative but not intimidating. There’s influences from all over the world and although you can pick and choose from the a la carte there’s also the option to have a tasting menu with some of the signature dishes for £88.
Not being able to decide what to have, we went for the tasting menu which started with a beautiful (and delicious) slice of egg caviar brioche toast, which was every bit as indulgent as it sounds. Next was a fresh tuna tartare on a bed of avocado puree and covered in a sharp ginger sauce and ‘crispy’ salmon sushi which replaced the usual fresh rice with fried rice cakes – a genius invention if you ask us.
[URIS id=93419]Next was a dish we’d seen plenty of on Instagram already, the black truffle and fontina pizza – yes truffle and cheese pizza, what’s not to like?! From the fish section came roasted John Dory with a ginger chilli dressing and from the meat section, Cornish lamb chops with crispy onions and minty cucumber yoghurt.
This nearly finished us off, but only nearly. You won’t want to miss the peach candy floss, a huge globe of candy floss that hides a peach sorbet, almond mousse and roasted peach underneath. The waiter pours over red currant ginger juice at the table which melts the candy floss and reveals everything underneath – cameras at the ready!
Considering that big name chefs don’t always get on so well at first when they arrive in London, it’s impressive how quickly Jean-Georges at The Connaught has settled in – practice clearly does make perfect.
For more top London restaurants, have a lookie here.
The Connaught, Carlos Place, Mayfair, London, W1K 2AL
the-connaught.co.uk