Jeru

Middle Eastern restaurant Jeru’s Mayfair post code prepared us mentally for a dining experience reflective of the location: exclusive, expensive and potentially a little stuffy. We scored one out of three for the cost which is eye-watering wherever you look on the menu - nibbles average around £15 and mains start at £32. As for the other two, we were happy to be proven wrong.  

Diners must enter through the café-cum-bar in order to access the main restaurant, which is rich with the aroma of freshly ground coffee and adds to the immediate feeling of warmth upon entering. The dining area offers a similar sense of conviviality and busyness. An open kitchen runs the length of the room where you can watch the chefs artfully managing multiple steaming pans, including head chef Roy Ner at the fore of it all. It feels fun and welcoming – diners are invited to be part of the action, not hidden from it. 

A menu of sharing plates continues the theme. We sampled the chef's selection (£69 a head) which included a moreish wood-fired flatbread lightly speckled with crispy lamb and served with truffle honey for dipping, while wafer-thin, melting slices of basturma (cured beef) were delicate and sliced in front of us at the counter kitchen. Other highlights included hassleback Jerusalem artichokes, crisp on the outside yet velvety within and swimming in a creamy goat’s curd moat. There were more high-performing dishes: halloumi doughnuts with goat’s curd were soft, if a little heavy, while raw kingfish drizzled in a date and lime dressing delivered sweetness and acidity in harmony.  

Some dishes felt a little unnecessary: a huge meaty octopus tentacle immersed in a gloopy liquid didn’t quite hit the mark. And at times, too many flavours felt confused sitting on one plate. But the comfort-factor was most definitely there. Kudos to the staff who politely answered our many questions (what does basturma mean?) and helped with drinks recommendations. We’d stick with wine for dinner though – there's a bar downstairs which feels like a better setting for a cocktail.  

Israeli-born, award-winning Australian chef Roy Ner makes his UK restaurant debut with Jeru, a high-end, loosely Middle-Eastern restaurant on Mayfair’s Berkeley Street. The name Jeru translates as ‘old city’ or a place of nomadic tribal people and a melting pot of cultures, something that Ner has strived to replicate though a menu influenced by areas all over the Middle East.  

The venue is a one-stop shop for Middle-Eastern food and drink, combining an old school bakery, wine room, an intimate fully-charcoal restaurant and a cocktail bar over two floors. The wine tasting room features an impressive 1,000-bottle wine wall and functions as a private dining room for groups to hire out. While the main restaurant area holds a huge open kitchen which will serves up Ner’s widely-influenced menu, including dishes such as Levantine lobster and prawn dumplings with burnt harissa butter, Persian feta borek and hasselback Jerusalem artichokes with goat’s whey and anchovies. 

Guests are able to order cured meats sourced from British charcuterie specialists including Angus rump basturma and lamb and fennel salami, meats that have never been served in the UK before. Diners can also try lamb bacon, made in partnership with Hammond Charcuterie, another first for the UK's dining scene.  

Descend downstairs to the cocktail bar and lounge area (called Layla) for some expertly mixed cocktails in an ultra-chic setting. The space will transform into a lively venue later into the evening to host DJs and live music in the heart of Mayfair.  

To open after the launch of the main restaurant is Jeru’s bakery which will be open all day and serve pastries, coffee and small plates including Yemenite butter bread with whipped curd and heritage tomato pulp and short rib burnt ends and feta borek. The bar is also set to open at a later date than the restaurant itself, in early 2022.