The Maze Grill shares an entrance with Maze, its older sister. The grill iaims firmly into more meaty territory, although the menu has a decent selection of fish and seafood dishes for the non-carnivores. There was a selection of salads e.g. Beef tomato and onion salad with Stilton and roasted onion vinaigrette (£11.50) which was disappointing, the tomato having very limited taste, though the onion vinaigrette was pleasant (12/20). Much better was grilled quail with soya, raspberry, walnuts and coriander leaves as garnish (£12.50), the quail carefully cooked and having good flavour, though I am not sure of the wisdom of the accompaniments (15/20). Pigs on toast (chopped up boned trotters, seasoned with Parmesan on croutons) with Parmesan and rocket (£6) was tasty (14/20). Salt and pepper squid with green chilli (£6) was nicely seasoned but the squid was edging on chewy (13/20) and slow cooked skate with pickled cucumber and lime potatoes was uninspired (12/20).
Fortunately things moved up a gear when it came to the meat. Five beef cuts were on offer, proudly displayed on a board. Casterbridge grain fed beef was aged for 21 days and available in five cuts e.g. rib eye at £21 for a 10 oz steak. Hereford grass fed was aged 25 days and was available in three cuts e.g. sirloin at £21 or fillet at £27.50. Aberdeen Angus grass fed aged 28 days was available in three cuts e.g. fillet at £28. The more interesting was Creekstone USDA corn fed beef from Kansas, aged 35 days. This is the same steak as is served at Peter Luger in New York. This was priced at £40 for a New York strip steak. Finally Australian wagyu 9th grade gold style was a little matter of £110 for either a 10oz sirloin or an 8oz rib eye. I enjoyed the Creekstone strip steak very much; it had good marbling and a stronger flavour than the British steaks we tried. The steaks were nicely presented on wooden boards, and cooked properly to order (17/20 for the meat). Pots of side sauces such as peppercorn and horseradish ((£2) included a good boiled egg bearnaise.
Seared yellowtail tuna was excellent, served with piperade and rocket, and avoiding any hint of overcooking, leaving the tuna flavour to speak for itself (15/20). Side dishes (£3.50) varied, with excellent thin French fries and garlic fries (15/20) but rather hard potato gratin (11/20) and downright overcooked braised carrots (10/20). For dessert, cider apple trifle with financiers and cider granite (£7) was very good, the financiers not quite as moist as an ideal one should be, but very pleasant (14/20). Red fruit Eton mess with marscapone ice cream was served in an unmessy manner and was pronounced delicious. The wine list is manageable in size and has a good selection of New World choices. Mark-ups are what you might expect in Mayfair. There was a set three course lunch for £18. Service was superb throughout. Our waiter was friendly and knew his menu and produce, and the staff seemed to really care about our experience. Overall this was a thoroughly enjoyable meal, and for meat lovers this would be as good a place to be as anywhere in London.
Bellaphon
‘A thing of beauty is a joy for ever: Its loveliness increases; it will never Pass into nothingness;’ Endymion by John Keats. I have an idiosyncratic aunt, who loves her steak well done, in fact preferably charred to death. Many a time I’ve witnessed the piece of meat on her plate embarrassingly returned to the kitchen to be re-cooked because a slight hue of pinkyness had been detected. A good steak is primarily a wonderful thing and to have it cooked well done will most definitely pass into nothingness. I was and still am apprehensive about the ambience of the dining room. It’s got that clinically corporate thing about it. Being south facing, I can only assume the bright room is thus perfect for business lunches and the evenings will probably appeal to romantic couples who crave dark incandescent lighting. When booking go for table 228, this is where the entire dining room is under your watchful eyes and the happy kitchen just behind you. The service from the friendly staff was brilliant but only let down by the usual incomprehensible English spoken (as we all agree, it’s all too common in London) when describing the dishes. Small plates of Salt and pepper squid and Padron peppers were I thought pretty much generous in portions and thankfully delicious as well. My Creekstone New York strip steak was simply profound, this piece of meat was so totally melting and buttery, you might as well order it rare instead of my regretted choice of medium. My companion’s Aberdeen Angus fillet was the best he’s had until he tried my Creekstone. Like Barrafina, where we don’t have to fly to Barcelona for decent tapas; the Maze Grill have also done us more than a favour with the steak served, which can only be as good as the one found at Peter Luger in New York. Incidentally my accompanying sauce of Red wine ‘bordelaise’ with crispy bone marrow was mind blowingly yummy and it ought to be rightfully merited as a standalone dish. Companion’s pudding choice of Cider apple trifle with financiers and cider granité was suggested refreshing and perfect after a gratifying steak. My three separate servings of Cinnamon doughnut, café coupe, hot chocolate were delightful; those doughnuts were simply the best I’ve had. There’s one thing for sure, there’s simply no way I’m going to tell my aunt about this place. Secondly LTS (life’s too short), go and treat yourself to possibly the finest steak you’ll have in Blighty.
Alex Chambers
A lovely restaurant. The starters could do with borrowing a little more of the pizazz found on the other side of the entrance hall, but the steaks I tried were extremely good. The staff are largely long term Gordon crew (since Claridges opened in 02) and have the casual formality style off to a tee. I actually preferred this to Maze, but they are very different restaurants.