Pollen Street Social
Mayfair, London
Top 20
No. 8
No. 8
Jason Atherton’s Mayfair stalwart has weathered the tidal waves of London restaurant fashion with impressive durability over the past 10 years. Indeed, there’s still a sense of anticipation as you turn into the now-pedestrianised street and enter the light, gently attired bar and dining room, where a post-pandemic reduction in covers has led to higher comfort levels. Single-mindedness and a fiery determination to produce the best define Jason Atherton’s cooking. Beginning with a flurry of extraordinary canapés – from an exemplary chilled tomato consommé poured from a teapot as part of the famed 'Afternoon Tea' opener to umami-dripping Lincolnshire Poacher cheese with caramelised onion and truffle – his menus pulse with innovation, seasonality and flavour. Whether he’s taking an unadorned approach with chilled Cornish lobster (simply layering gentle flavours of Sicilian cucumber, gooseberries, lobster jelly consommé and white grape and almond gazpacho) or pulling rich port-cured foie gras into focus with sweet/tart red-fleshed plum, every detail makes sense – there is nothing unnecessary on the plate. Crisp-skinned sea bass fillet is opulent, too, served with delicate nuggets of lobster and a tantalising combination of datterini tomatoes, courgettes, an intense basil purée and a sliver of fatty serrano ham (giving a hint of saltiness) – all inflected with the zip of a sauce américaine. Another triumph is a beautiful dish of new season's lamb (oh-so-tender pink rack on slow-cooked lamb belly) with a luxuriously smooth Nocellara olive purée, runner beans with smoked anchovies and an accompanying bowl of tiny, sinfully rich Linzer potatoes cooked in lamb fat. A nugget of white chocolate filled with roasted walnut and brioche, coated with gold and shaved foie gras is the perfect curtain raiser for a Japanese citrus parfait with contrasting flavours of yoghurt sorbet and citrus sauce. The tasting menu may be the best way to sample the sheer breadth of the kitchen’s creativity, but the set-price seven-course extended lunch menu is equally remarkable. To say that it all comes at a price is to state the obvious. However, the reinstatement of the hugely popular, keenly priced three-course set lunch is to be applauded in these tough times. The overwhelming view is of consistently good food, helped by on-the-ball service from confident, approachable staff. Wine is a headline attraction too, a wide-ranging list stuffed with classy names, curious discoveries and appealing by-the-glass selections – great advice comes as standard.
Dining Information:
Private dining room, Separate bar, Credit card required
8-10 Pollen Street, Mayfair W1S 1NQ
020 7290 7606
