restaurant review: Wild Honey

After hearing that this restaurant, tucked away in Mayfair, won Time Out’s best new restaurant in London this year, I was interested. Then I heard that the owners of this restaurant also won the award the year before. My interest was piqued. Once I read that prices were (fairly) reasonable, with wine available in 250ml carafes, I felt a need to try this place.

We booked four for the early sitting on Saturday night, which is also popular with theatregoers, given the restaurant’s close proximity to Oxford Circus and Piccadilly. Warm wooden walls and booths (though unfortunately we were not able to get one of them) lined the restaurant.

First impressions are important, and when the waiter offered us the menus – which are revamped daily – I couldn’t wait to dive in. Seasonal and local produce was offered throughout. For starters, we had the choice of:

Red mullet, warm vegetables a la greque
Salad of warm roast autum market vegetables
Soup of chestnut, sweet onion and wild mushrooms
Fried duck egg (Clarence Court), warm salad of pancetta and lentils, sherry vinegar dressing
Warm smoked eel, sweet and sour turnips, William pear puree
Braised shoulder of hare, soft polenta and parmesan
Terrine of foie gras, quince, hazelnuts

Feeling adventurous, I chose eel. I was handsomely rewarded – the soft, wood flavoured eel was almost bitter, but with a slice of turnip, and the sweet, juicy puree, the flavour turned itself completely inside out, and the final flavour in my mouth was an entirely different experience. Eel and pear, who would have thought?

My companions chose the duck egg (very local), with its enormous yolk, served in a shiny pan for an extra touch. Another also could not resist the call of the eel, and the fourth chose the braised hare, which looked extremely rich for my tastes, though he assured me the polenta (surprisingly light) and the tangy, almost acidic parmesan cut straight through the meat.

The main courses offered similar delights:

Market fish of the day (Icelandic cod, roast onion squash, glazed salsify
Roast piece of plaice, nut brown butter with shrimps
Roast Scottish beef (Buccleuch), baked onion, autumn vegetable puree
Saddle of venison, walnut and juniper berry crust, spinach beet, Jerusalem artichoke
Halibut, mushroom risotto, purple sprouting broccoli
Potato gnocchi, wild mushrooms, market vegetables

It is not often that I fancy every dish on the menu, but I did. With my adventurous streak continuing, I selected the venison, as I have been hearing more and more about this lean meat. Others selected the roast plaice and the beef, both recommended by our waiter.

The venison sat proudly on the plate, almost in the shape of a log of goats’ cheese with nuts sprinkled on top. The deep red, almost plum-coloured meat told a different story – one of succulence and sweetness, with just a crunch of nuttiness. The sweet softness of the braised root vegetable and buttery greens cleansed the palate for more. My only qualm – and that of my companions, as well – was that more vegetables would have been nice.

Wild Honey ice cream with crushed honeycomb, selection of cheeses (in which the diner is brought to a table and given a cheese history lesson), and treacle tart were our choices from a desirable list that also included crème brulee, floating island with custard, and chocolate soup.

I was extremely pleased with dinner at Wild Honey – it is refreshing to dine at a restaurant which offers seasonal, local, and generally healthy food. Sure, there’s a price tag (Time Out estimates that for two, with wine, the bill will reach £90), but for a special occasion, it tops my list. To leave a restaurant feeling satisfied, but not stuffed (or still hungry) or guilty of too many indulgences, is a rare thing indeed.

Wild Honey, 12 St. George’s St, London W1 0207 758 9160 www.wildhoneyrestaurant.co.uk