Hix Mayfair

I've never been to any Hix before, but will certainly be returning to the one in Brown’s Hotel in Mayfair.

Hotel restaurants and restaurants in hotels are very different things. A hotel restaurant always summons up visions of Alan Partridge and his big plate in the Linton Travel Tavern, but this – like Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley – is a restaurant in a hotel: it’s somewhere you’d make a trip to rather than eating there solely as you happened to be a guest. It’s also the Paul Smith suit of restaurants – classically English, but with a twist, which doesn’t just come from the Tracey Emin neon sign (one of our party noted that apparently the Cameron’s have similar in Number 10) and the shrubbery on the tables.

Sure, going out on a Tuesday the week that the big snow (or the latest few flakes) hit was never going to be a great plan – London was a wasteland and even the usual denizens of Mayfair in all their Eastern European guises – you’d think they’d be used to snow – had vanished. But Browns was like a welcoming beacon and having been guided to our tables amid the wood and leather and modern art – and some pictures that looked rather like they’d failed to make the cut for the Joy of Sex (not on account of the lack of sex, more the lack of beards and, quite possibly, the lack of joy) – we sat down huddled together with the other patrons for warmth. Strictly speaking it wasn’t cold at all, so not sure why we were all put together at the far end of a two thirds empty restaurant. Whilst it was quiet (no music and not much chatter) and not busy, strangely I found it a really nice place to be, with a welcoming atmosphere.

Service is generally good, with a few quibbles. The quibbles seem to be on drinks rather than food, where the wine list took the long route to our table, as did the wine itself. Otherwise everything else was prompt and there weren’t any mix ups, and we got as much, properly freshly baked, hot bread as we could eat – which was a lot; it almost turned into a competition between us and the staff as to whether we could get though it quicker than they could refill us.

The food was really rather good. Don’t expect molecular gastronomy or sexy sauces and dribbles of jus (oh er missus!), expect classic dishes executed to a consistently high standard. The menu is rather similar in tone to Roast, with a focus on meat and some fish, vegetarians wouldn’t find much suitable and I would imagine a vegan would come over feeling a bit faint. I started with winter vegetable broth with pearl barley (not withstanding the line above) which was ideal for a freezing cold night, full of flavour and arriving so hot that even I had to take it a bit slowly. This was followed by 5 fat scallops with whipped (think mashed rather than some deviant scenario) potato, chorizo and sea purslane – all very confidently done with lovely meaty scallops – and then ginger parkin with vanilla ice cream, could have done with a slightly stronger ginger flavour, but lovely for a winters night.

Value for money wasn’t too bad at around £75 a head for 3 courses, water, service and a reasonable bottle of red wine and a couple of other drinks.

Overall a surprise, but a really pleasant one. I’d personally liken it to Koffman’s, but I think I prefer this and will definitely be back to see if it lives up to this on a second visit.

Fresh food cooked to perfection, wonderful service, little bit on the quite side but lovely.

I fear a little at risk at repeating myself for another Hix restaurant review, but he keeps to his magic formula of simple food done well, very well in fact.

Calves liver on toast, soft and tender with a rich meaty taste and the lobster tart with cheese and samphire, whilst I thoroughly enjoyed the crisp light pasty, and the succulent chunks of lobster, I could help but think that the taste of the lobster was a little drowned out by the cheese.

Mains we ranged from a safe steak, and very tasty and full of flavour and cooked perfectly, to an adventurous squid and spicy sausage, the spicy sausages were great little juicy bites with a gentle kick. The squid was a little on the overcooked side and was a bit too much and too bland to want to eat a lot of it.

Deserts were sublime, chocolate mouse with honeycomb wafers and a ‘millionaires’ tart, light crumbly pastry, with a caramel and rich chocolate layers.

The bill came to around £60 a head for the food, coffee and service, which was quite reasonable although we easy doubled that with drinks!

Whilst I very much enjoyed the food, perhaps the squid aside (but that was more my bad choice than a bad dish) and the environment was quite convivial the experience was let down by the restaurant being very empty on a Saturday night so perhaps lacked a little atmosphere and the service was quite mixed. Food orders were swiftly taken as did the food swiftly arrive, but we were left to pour our own wine all night and when it came time to pay the staff were far more engaged in trying to set up for the next day’s service that to pay any attention to their current guests so it took quite a long time to get the bill, which made for a disappointing end to the experience.

We ate at Albemarle in Mar 09. A great disappointment after some positive reviews. I had hoped that it would be a more luxurious surroundings version of Hix, with a similar focus on simple high quality British, but unfortunately everything was very unimpressive. It just shows that its not easy to do simple well.

Neither the cooking nor the service were near the quality or standard I had anticipated. The whole evening made worse by being served an expensive but clearly off wine, AFTER it had been “tested” by the waiter. They happily & rapidly changed, but it reflects a very poor attitude.

The restaurant was much better in its previous incarnation; pre hotel refurb. A waste of a good space in a great location.

I would stick to the bar, which is very good, and leave the restaurant to unadventurous hotel guests.

The waiting staff at The Albemarle are trained to a high standard and ooze proficiency from every pore. They were not intrusive yet managed to provide a level of service that stopped just short of cutting our food and hand-feeding us. This degree of professionalism doesn’t come easily and I must doff my Trilby to them.

The food wasn’t quite up to par though. We were dining from the pre-theatre menu priced at £25 for three courses. A starter of cuttlefish and black pudding was a tad off the mark; the cuttlefish was slightly overcooked, injecting an element of disappointment into this otherwise well balanced dish.

A Lancashire Hot Pot for a main didn’t have enough of a potato layer, but the beef, kidneys and mushrooms were deeply flavoured and very pleasing. The accompaniment of pickled cabbage was too acidic for my tastes. The Pollack we tried was plump and juicy but way over salted.

For dessert, a rhubarb tart was quite delectable, as was the buttermilk pudding with blood orange segments. Water, tea and coffees were priced at £4.95 each, so a £25 meal deal quickly turns into £45 a head, and that’s without the wine.

While the food was acceptable if underwhelming, the service surpassed the cooking throughout the evening. The dishes were well thought out but the execution didn’t live up to the standards that I was expecting. If they can raise the bar of cooking to match the service, The Albemarle will be an excellent venue.

The Albemarle in my opinion has improved so much since the revamp. The restaurant seems to have a lighter feel to it with a few more contemporary touches to it than in its previous incarnation. The menu is still hugely extensive and will certainly give you problems with so much to choose from. For my starter I settled with Dorset dressed crab with landcress – very fresh and tasty while my partner was persuaded by me to try the potted Morecambe Bay shrimps (One of the specialities from my original locale). My main was the Blythburgh pork cutlet with apple mash and Cumbrian black pudding and was absolutely superb. Feeling like a little bit of a pig we finished off with some fab bramley apple pie then a selection of cheeses. Prices are very reasonable taking into account you are dining in a Mayfair Hotel. The set lunch menu and pre-theatre dining menus also look a bargain at £25/£30 for 2 or 3 courses. Atmosphere can be mixed depending on the residents but was generally pleasant and relaxed. I'd definitely suggest stopping off at the Donovan Bar afterwards for a couple of cocktails.

First time I have eaten there since the recent…ish refurbishment. Fabulous room, classic proportions, contemporary feel and the best size tables in town! It’s a formal style of dining but not stiff, the staff are very good indeed, courteous, well informed and smiley. The set lunch offered interesting choice including the trolley which changes every day, on the day I went it was carrying a terrific looking beef Wellington. The menu is traditional English. Dining companions likely to be mature and well heeled. The food was cooked beautifully, oh and the bread was the freshest I have tasted in a London restaurant.

Good food and execution but very much what you would expect at a top London hotel – good for your more formal clients. Tables well spaced so good for meetings.