The Rex Deli

The Rex deli is the sister of Cocochine, and is directly opposite the parent restaurant. The building was once a stable mews. Initially it just sold takeaway deli products such as Scotch eggs and pastries, but in September 2024 started to offer an early evening dinner service too. From the a la carte menu starters were £6.50 to £8, main courses £14.50 to £16 and desserts £6. These are very low prices by the standards of Mayfair, yet the kitchen producing this food is the same as the one doing the fine dining at Cocochine, so the dishes here are of a level much higher than most delicatessens. The low bar stools in the deli are not designed for lingering, though tables are quite nicely spread out. There are a few metal chairs in the courtyard in the open, but there are at least heaters here, and these are more suitable for a sit-down meal experience.

The wine list had 16 labels and ranged in price from £40 to £250, with a median price of £70 and an average markup to retail price of 2.46 times, which is extremely reasonable by London standards. Sample references were Gavi Le Meirana 2023 at £48 for a bottle that you can find in the high street for £19, Domaine Drouhin Arthur Chardonnay 2021 at £68 compared to its retail price of £38, and Volnay Clos des Chenes Xavier Monnot 2020 at £100 for a wine that will set you back £112 in the high street. For those with the means, there was Camille and Guillaume Boillot Puligny Montrachet Les Enseigneres 2022 at £210 compared to its retail price of £158, and Chateau Lynch Bages 2009 at £250 for a wine whose current market value is £210. 

Pumpkin soup was done in the style of Paul Bocuse, the soup dish sealed with a puff pastry hemisphere. Ironbark pumpkin (an Australian variety) was marinated with Sri Lankan curry powder and then roasted. The seeds and skin from the pumpkin are turned into a pumpkin stock, and once the pumpkin is roasted it is cooked with the stock for 15 minutes. It is then finished with buttermilk and blended till smooth, passed through a sieve and seasoned with sea salt and lemon juice. The dish is plated in a bowl with puff pastry to cover and baked. Pumpkin soup can easily be over-sweet, but the spices used here keep this in check, and the overall effect was very good, the pastry seal being a nice bonus (easily 14/20).

Venison tartare used fallow deer venison from the farm Rowler farm in Northampton (owned by one of the restaurant investors). The meat is hand-cut into small diced pieces and seasoned with capers, baby gherkins, pickled red onion, chopped parsley and tartar dressing. The latter is made with homemade ketchup, brandy, salt, tabasco and Worcestershire sauce. On top of the tartar was confit egg yolk and freshly picked parsley. Alongside were the delicate game chips fried to order. This was an impressive dish, the venison having lovely flavour and the seasoning being carefully judged, with the capers and pickles cutting through the richness of the meat. I have had worse tartare in Michelin starred restaurants, never mind a delicatessen (15/20). 

Also impressive was a sausage roll with salad (£8). Pork mince from Rowler estate was mixed with apple, onions, sage and eggs, rolled into a cylinder shape. This is then wrapped in puff pastry and a lattice brushed with egg yolk and baked for twenty minutes. On the side were mixed salad leaves, pickled red onion, chopped gherkins and the house dressing. The sausage roll was served with homemade tomato ketchup and Dijon mustard. This might be a humble sausage roll but the quality of the pastry and the meat elevated it well above the standard that you might expect (easily 14/20).

Sri Lankan lamb curry (£15.50) used lamb shoulder (also from Rowler Estate), cut into large diced pieces and marinated in buttermilk, coriander seeds, cloves, Sri Lankan wild cardamom, cinnamon, and home-made roasted curry powder. The lamb was marinated for 24 hours. then cooked with fresh tomatoes and lamb stock and finished with Sri Lankan coconut milk, garnished with fresh coriander. This was another classy dish, the spices lively but well controlled, the meat having excellent flavour (14/20).

Fish pie (£15) used turbot, salmon, prawns and cod that was poached in fish stock. Fish stock is used to make the fish veloute (a roux and fish stock cooked to a thick consistency, similar to a bechamel), to which is added chopped parsley, soft cooked white onions, peas, lemon juice and lemon zest. The poached fish and prawns are folded into the mix, topped with mash potatoes and baked. Although this was a pleasant dish, for me it needed more seasoning, and there could have been more fish relative to the potato topping (13/20)

Venison shank with raspberry jus (£16) used fallow deer shank grown on the same Rowler Estate farm. The meat is brined for four hours in a 8% salt solution, then caramelised and braised in veal stock, carrots, onions, celery, leeks, bay leaves, thyme, red wine and port for eight hours at 120 degrees. The braising liquor is reduced and finished with raspberry vinegar and roasted juniper, the final dish garnished with pickled red onions. The meat was very tender, falling off the bone, and the sharpness of the raspberry nicely offset the richness of the meat (14/20). 

Triple-cooked chips (£5) were made from scratch in the kitchen, when so many restaurants buy theirs in these days. Charlotte potatoes grown on Rowler Estate are cut into finger size pieces. The potatoes are first blanched in salted water until very soft, drained and chilled for a couple of hours. They are first fried at 160 degrees until a light golden colour and then chilled again for another couple of hours. A second frying at 190 degrees brings them to a golden-brown colour and and crisp exterior, finally served and seasoned with sea salt. 

Apple tarte tatin (6) used rosette apples from Rowler Estate, peeled and cut then left to age to remove any excess water contained in the apples. The apples are cooked in a pan with butter, brown sugar, and puff pastry. The mix is caramelised and then baked in the oven at 180 degrees for about half an hour. The tatin is served with jaggery caramel, Cornish clotted cream and fresh Madagascan vanilla ice cream. The pastry was very good but for me the apples were over-caramelised, a dark brown when I think that a golden colour is the ideal (13/20). 

Crème brulee (£6) was made using a creme anglaise with fresh Madagascan vanilla, portioned in ramekins and cooked in a steam oven at 85 degrees for around 45 minutes. The dish is then chilled to set. Before serving, the anglaise is coated with demerara sugar and blow torched it to caramelise the sugar on top. The overall effect is a crisp top covering an anglaise with very creamy texture (14/20).

Service was excellent. I was being treated to this meal and did not see a bill, but if you had three courses and shared a bottle of wine then a typical cost per person might be around £60, maybe less. Bear in mind that this is just off Berkeley Square and yet you are seeing some quite serious ingredients used here. The venison for example was top notch, and the pastry skills here are considerable. Yet starters are around £7 and mains £15. By comparison, at a particularly mediocre pub in Chiswick that I went to recently a tomato salad starter was £12 and a Thai curry main course was £23. The Rex Deli offers superior cooking at a very reasonable price. What was the last time you found that in Mayfair?