Akira Back has a habit of turning up at only the finest addresses. The Seoul-born, Japanese-trained chef has built a restaurant empire that spans the globe, and his latest, Lilli, has found a fittingly elegant home inside the Montcalm Mayfair.
As you’d expect from this part of town, this is a hotel that doesn’t do things by halves. Soaring pillars and marbled floors greet us at the door, every detail pristinely in place. The restaurant is equally extravagant. Overhead, a bespoke chandelier made of cream drum shades coils across the ceiling, whilst below it the mood turns lush with moss-green velvet banquettes, marbled sea-glass tables, and potted foliage. A dinky, brass-domed lamp glows on every table, keeping the whole room moody and intimate.
The menu is all about Korean flavours and Japanese technique, and every plate is immaculately composed, without so much as a drop of sauce out of place. We start with the chef’s signature ‘pizza’, which turns the familiar dish completely on its head. The base is a crisp tortilla, spread with aioli and layered with a sheet of freshly sliced tuna. Serrano rings and pickled onion are scattered on top, and curls of purple shiso tie everything together.
The creativity doesn’t let up as the plates keep coming. Wagyu tacos are served in wafer-thin wonton shells that shatter at the first bite, the beef lifted by the tang of tomato ponzu and slivers of jalapeno. Yellowtail is cut tiradito-style, the translucent slices of fish fanned across a pool of yuzu soy, bright with citrus and bursts of coriander.
You could happily spend the evening working your way through the snacks, but mains are not to be missed, showing that sometimes it’s the simplest dishes that are the most impressive. Miso-glazed black cod is buttery and moreish, falling apart at the slightest touch, while a pink-tipped stem of hajikami ginger brings a sharp, bright counterpoint. A 48-hour Wagyu short rib is beautifully pink within, its fat beautifully rendered. It swims in a sticky-sweet jus, topped with flower-cut slices of carrot and potato for a playful finish.
This is highly skilled cooking in Mayfair, so you can expect a bill to match. Still, with food this precise and playful, Lilli makes a compelling case for itself, and we’d cross town for that pizza alone.