Mayfair might only be one square on the Monopoly board (and the most expensive at that) but the reality is that this corner of W1 is a collection of micro neighbourhoods (all, alas, equally expensive).
There’s the flash of the supercar rat-run of Berkeley Square, bounded by the restaurants of rag-trade king turned eating-out impresario Richard Caring: Sexy Fish and Bacchanalia. Both fun in an 18th birthday kind of way, but possibly a lesson that money can’t buy taste.
Over on Park Lane, there are the special-occasion dining rooms helmed by the world’s most famous chefs: Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester, Wolfgang Puck’s Cut at 45 Park Lane, and newcomer Yannick AlleÌno's Pavyllon at the Four Seasons. None, however, could be described as everyday dining, even for those with money to burn.
And down towards where Mayfair segues into St James’s around Piccadilly is Albemarle Street. It was here where London’s oldest hotel, Brown’s, first opened its doors in 1837; Lord Byron, Charles Darwin and John Betjeman were published by John Murray; and where Oscar Wilde received the homophobic slur at the Albemarle Club that led to him suing for libel and his eventual imprisonment. Albemarle Street is, in short, the Mayfair where Londoners have history. It's always been famous for art galleries and fashion boutiques. But over the past 10 years it has been quietly transforming itself into one of the capital’s premier restaurant rows.
Albemarle Street was also, as any pub-quiz fiend will know, the first one-way street in London, created for better traffic flow. Below we’ve selected our favourite restaurants there, in street order (according to the one-way system). Approach at your leisure; there’s no wrong way to dining here.
Bar des Prés
Cyril Lignac is the grandest of fromages in his native France, with three restaurants to his name in the smartest of arrondissements, including the original Aux Prés in the soigné 6ème, in the heart of the Rive Gauche. The cooking is mostly Asian-inspired — fish comes as sushi and sashimi, beef as satay and wagyu steak — but any quibbles as the Gallic authenticity of the offering should be dismissed by the amount of native French speakers who have adopted Bar des Prés as a home from home. The cocktails are excellent, too, though best approached with a French level of restraint vis à vis excessive alcohol consumption.
16 Albemarle Street, W1S 4HW, bardespres.com
Isabel
A contender for London’s most beautiful dining room, Isabel comes courtesy of Chilean hospitality entrepreneur and all-round international silver fox Juan Santa Cruz, who also owns Casa Cruz in Holland Park. All eyes might be on the polished brass decor and fash-pack clientele, but there’s some equally well-dressed (and diet-friendly) protein on the plate: hand-dived scallops with chilli and lime followed by blackened chicken with Cajun spices and jus, perhaps.
26 Albemarle Street, W1S 4HY, isabelw1.london
Il Gattopardo
Albemarle Street’s latest arrival is as handsome a proposition as Burt Lancaster in the namesake movie (“gattopardo” is Italian for “leopard”). The mid-century styling takes its inspiration from the film’s 1963 release date rather than is 19th-century setting, while a wine list majoring in Super Tuscans is as thoroughbred Italian as the cooking from former Ducasse chef Massimo Pasquarelli: vitello tonnato, linguine alle vongole, bistecca Fiorentina, with many autumn dishes coated in a snowfall of white truffle.
27 Albemarle Street, W1S 4HZ, gattopardo.restaurant
The Donovan Bar at Brown’s
One might have a splendid full English breakfast at Charlie’s or take afternoon tea in the Drawing Room, but the most glamorous fun to be had at London’s oldest hotel is in the Donovan Bar, named after the legendary Sixties snapper Terence, whose black and white prints of Swinging London line the walls here. The current cocktail menu, Evoke, is designed to provoke an emotional response in the likes of the gin-and-Grand Marnier Marnier mix, Adrenaline, but they’ll mix a mean martini or margarita, too.
Brown’s Hotel, 33 Albemarle St, London W1S 4BP, roccofortehotels.com
Taku
The past 12 months have seen a tsunami of high-end omakase joints and while Taku isn’t quite the most expensive new Japanese in town (menus start at £160, £300 for lunch and dinner respectively), it is undoubtedly one of the best: head chef Takuya Watanabe won a Michelin star four months after opening. Exceptional-quality seafood — Cornish cuttlefish, Orkney scallop — is laid atop body-temperature sushi rice crafted in an open kitchen behind an oak counter before being handed straight to the 16 diners at each sitting, with an instruction to eat within three seconds; take that Insta shot quickly.
36 Albemarle Street, W1S 4JE, takumayfair.com
Gymkhana
The benchmark for every smart modern Indian, this barnstormer of a dining room might be one of the most famous restaurants in London (with a waiting list to match) but the menu of kebabs and tikkas, chops and curries will be familiar to anyone who has ever eaten in a high-street curry house. What makes Gymkhana so special, of course, is the quality of both cooking and ingredients, from partridge and lobster to queen scallops and wild muntjac. That as well as cool decor, spice-friendly wines and cocktails, and a celebrity clientele.
42 Albemarle Street, W1S 4JH, gymkhanalondon.com
