Corrigan's Mayfair

We booked for the Kitchen Library as a group of 4 for our Christmas celebration. It was simply one of the most enjoyable meals we've ever had.

The Kitchen Library is a small private room within the kitchen, immediately adjacent to the pass. We were able to interact freely with the head chef Chris McGowan, including a short tour of the kitchen. Chris and his team made us feel very welcome and included in what was happening in his kitchen – a real treat!

Although we had booked for the 3 course a la carte, we actually ate many more courses than that as a constant stream of canapes and additional treats kept coming throughout! Surprise highlights were the tempura prawns that were so meaty they came close to being lobster, and the wonderful seared scallops with raisin puree.

The starters of crab salad and suckling pig with truffle did not disappoint, and the main courses of game pie, lamb navarin (special) and poached pheasant were mouthwatering. The portion sizes were generous, so that we were feeling stuffed before we even got to desserts.

We finished with a combination of sorbets, and the daily special of apple tarte tatin. Terrific.

We've been to Corrigan's before, and we'll certainly be going back again.

Having never been to Corrigans before I was looking forward to having lunch there with friends. What appauling service. I had over heard other diners complaining when I first sat down. We waited 15 minutes to be given menus and then left to it. 10 minutes later we were then told about the specials. I had a couple of questions about the menu and on three occassions I asked a waiter to be told they would get someone as they didnt know. Once ordered we then had to wait further to order the wine. For what seemed an age our starters finally arrived. Not eating meat myself I chose the “roof top smoked salmon, ginger lime and apple”. I was utterly moritfied when I took a mouthful to find that it was covered in a layer of pork fat. Thinking now I should have complained there and then. However we didnt want another long wait for it to arrive so I swopped it for my boyfriends vegetarian starter. It should state clearly on the menu there is a meat product with it. Again we had to wait for than enough for the main courses. We had ordereed side dishes as well which including mash potato. What the waiter failed to tell us is that one of the mains we ordered came with a side order of mash potato which wasnt stated on the menu. Why did he allow us to pay for another order of mash which we didnt need?. Wasting our money!!! Desserts came and went and then it was time to order coffees. Was amazed to find the waiter couldnt tell us what coffees and teas are on offer!!! For what we expected to be a two hour lunch we were there for over 3 hours. Food isnt amazing but it is nice – however the service is appauling and for that reason I dont think I would rush back. Great shame!

Corrigans and their staff gave us the most wonderful 25th Wedding Anniversary. The service was perfect, our private butler Sheldon, was quite amazing – he just ran the whole show all on his own from serving food, wine and any requests – everyone just loved him. The canapes on our arrival were unbelievable, the starter was very nice but lacking in character/presentation, the main course was fantastic and everyone loved it, along with the unexpected vegetables that poured through the door onto the table much to the delight of my guests. Pudding was delicious as well and then the grand finale of a beautiful chocolate cake with candles for our anniversary was really ‘the icing on the cake’.

I cannot recommend Corrigans highly enough for a special event – everything was just perfect. Our thanks to all the staff behind the scenes (Viktoria and Amy) and to Richard Corrigan for making our day so special.

Enjoyed a very good lunch, superb value for money. Looking forward to my next visit.

This was the second time I had visited Corrigan's at lunchtime and while I had fond memories of my first trip (hence the return visit, about a year later), I was substantially more disappointed on this occasion. Corrigan's is the sort of place I want to like in the sense that the venue, ambience, attitude of the staff and the menu (when viewed on paper) are all superb. My two main gripes from this occasion, however, were (i) food and (ii) value for money. With regard to the food, the amuse bouche (goat's cheese gougere) was excellent and the brioche a nice touch on which to finish. My starter (fish tartare) was over-engineered, while my main (veal) was utterly tasteless and came with a sauce not too dissimilar to snot. In terms of price, lunch for two with a mid-range bottle of wine came to just under £200. I think I could do distinctly better elsewhere.

Attended Corrigan's to celebrate our son returning from University overseas. Not the greatest evening I have had.
My main complaint is that my £28 Dover Sole was supposed to be off the bone.When it arrived I noticed the waiter attacking it like a crazed Basil Fawlty and sure enough every time I put some fish into my mouth there were tiny bones to tackle. To their credit the waiter did apologise humbly but the main course was already a wipeout for me. My wife's lamb was served cold and when we finished a bottle of excellent Mas de Daumas Gassac (highlight of the evening for me) I asked for a glass of Chablis, nothing came so I asked again and was given 2 glasses of Champagne by mistake, they were rejected and eventually normal service was resumed. On a positive note the starters and sweet were excellent.

Took my wife for our 5th anniversary (June 16th 2012), we arrived for our 20.30 table at 20.20, at which stage the restaurant was half empty – we ordered within 15 minutes but our starters didn't arrive until 21.50 and the oysters we'd ordered (cold, of course) took nearly 45 minutes to arrive – utterly, bafflingly, slow service – and it was down to us to flag down waiting staff to see what was going on. The kitchen and waiting staff were at 6s and 7s all night for some reason.

Waiting staff were very nice about it, but when the manager came over once our starters had finally arrived, he was unbelievably defensive, focussed solely on trying to excuse their performance rather than trying to make it better. His excuse, unfathomably, was that the restaurant was full (err, yes, its a Saturday night – and had filled up in the time it'd taken them to serve us) and that all the orders came it at once (I can't see how that excuses a half hour+ wait for cold oysters – and its their inability to stagger bookings that results in orders coming at once) – and if this is supposed to be a slick Mayfair operation and they can't handle a full restaurant – then they're in the wrong business…and (!) if all the orders arrived at once, why not let us know that we could be in for a wait – and perhaps offer us a drink or amuse bouche to keep us going?

The ‘discussion’ with the manager almost escalated into a full blown argument because we simply couldn't believe that he was attempting to pass off such poor service with such flimsy excuses…and he was incapable off accepting that they were in anyway at fault…seeming to contradict himself by acknowledging that the service was bad, but only because of factors that were patently in their control. All this was going on whilst my crab ravioli was getting cold!

The food itself was delicious, although if I was being harsh, I'd say the £17 plate of Teruel ham was a bit steep for ham and jelly and the side order of Jersey Royals almost laughably expensive at £7.50. My lamb was cooked to perfection and my wife's brill also beautifully cooked and presented. Just a shame we weren't enjoying them until we'd been in the restaurant nearly 2 hours.

At the end of the meal the manager was in slightly more conciliatory mood and removed the cover charge and service charge (which is of course optional anyway), which I thought was fairly parsimonious. He offered us a glass of champagne and to treat us well next time, which I felt was the kind of solution they offer weekend diners who they feel confident won't be coming back any time soon – and they'd be right, we won't. Unfortunately for them, I'm a regular corporate diner in London and will be steering clear of Corrigans for the foreseeable future.

They were clearly having an off night – a table of six next to us must've waited nearly half an hour just to get a drink, and another diner nearby was ushered to the washrooms to clean the oyster juice that a waiter had spilt on his shirt – but, knowing that they were having such a bad day at the office I'd have thought they'd have gone out of their way to make amends. At the end of the meal our bill was still a hefty £172 – with 2 glasses of bubbles, a 250ml carafe of wine and a glass of sancerre. No dessert (I dreaded to think how long I'd have to wait for a souffle) and no coffees. Hardly a a blowout.

All in all, an underwhelming and expensive experience.

Some years ago I ate at Richard Corrigans Lindsay House Restaurant on a number of occasions, I thought it was a magical place, a secret garden with tremendous, individual food and warm, charming service.

I have only recently returned to London and after reading so much about Mayfair I could not wait to visit, albeit I was apprehensive as I was fearful it could not live up to my memories of Lindsay House, a bit like meeting an old friend after a long time to find one of you had changed for the worst!

I needn't have worried, it was wonderful.

Everything from the room and quality of service was lovely and the food was unmistakedly Corrigan, buttermilk pancakes with girolles, plaice with nettle gnocci … I was home again, it is the anthithisis of consortium owned restaurants.

I can't wait to go back again, and again.

I was very much looking forward to my visit to Richard Corrigan's Mayfair restaurant, I have always enjoyed watching him on TV and was looking forward to trying some of his creations myself. I have to say the evening was a bit of a mixed bag. My starter of Lobster Ravioli was delicious, the pasta was only just cooked, so a little floury at the edges, but the flavours were lovely and well balanced. Unfortunately, our hot starters were served but we had to wait some considerable time before the green salad ordered by one of our group was delivered, which did mean our meals had cooled a little too much.

For main course, I had John Dory which was a miniscule portion and sadly of the 3 John Dorys on the table all were over cooked and subsequently pretty dry and tasteless. Maybe the chef should try serving bigger fillets which need less precision cooking. Overall rather disappointing at £26 per plate!

The service was not as good as I would have expected, there are a lot of staff in the restaurant, you hardly saw the same face twice. Unfortunately they were not particularly attentive, we had the incident of the delayed starter, then I had to stand to make sure I got the bill. This was followed by one of the waiters then wandering off with my credit card for a few minutes until the Maitre’d tracked him down and rescued it so we could pay.

Overall, there were some highlights, the fish soup was reported to be delicious and the red mullet is to be recommended, but in a restaurant where there is a very limited number of wines on the menu under £50, it makes for a very expensive night. At these sort of prices I would have been hoped that the fish at least would be impeccably cooked.

There are so many lovely restaurants in London and in this price bracket there are many sensational ones, with that knowledge it is hard to recommend Corrigans.

Absolutely flawless meal last night. We had the seven course tasting menu, normally £75 but £100pp because we sat at the Kitchen Library table ie a small room directly opposite the pass in the kitchen.

First they brought numerous different canapes / mini starters which were, almost without exception, superb. The execution was immaculate. Then seven courses followed, all of which I loved – some very impressive cooking, exquisitely prepared. A great mix of innovative cooking (eg nettle gnocchi) with traditional British/Irish ingredients and flavours. Presentation was excellent: every dish looked beautiful with vibrant colours and garnishes.

They really served a lot of food, some of it very rich, so you have to be quite a gourmand to get through it all – I felt like I was going to pop.

The Kitchen Library table was a fantastic experience: a banquette seating six directly opposite the kitchen so you could see all the action (and hear it too…). I've been to one chef's table before (the Connaught) and this was better: you could see everything being plated up and listen in on the banter between chef, brigade and wait staff. You are served not by waiters but by the chefs themselves, who briefly explain each dish and give you a bit of blurb about the ingredients.

Attentive and charming service, with everyone seemingly going out of their way to make us feel welcome. Corrigan popped his head round the door to say hi (shortly before giving one of the brigade a massive telling-off – very funny). Only minor complaint on the service front was that the sommelier was a bit too keen to keep refilling our glasses but I guess you can't have it both ways – better that than they leave the wine in the ice bucket all night.

Not cheap: 15% service to sit at the chef's table, plus you have to look quite hard to find wines under £40. But for food this good, and an overall restaurant experience that makes you feel like you're living the high life, the bill wasn't too painful.