Corrigan's Mayfair

[Food Snob]

Hi All,

Corrigan's opened on Thursday 6th November, I went on Friday 7th.

I was very pleased.

The food is simple, but tasty. Very 'honest' cooking. Lots of fish, lots of games. Ingredients are top quality too.

The staff are really, really nice. Come across so genuine and are very helpful.

The atmosphere within is good too, with a hunting lodge motif.

It's as if the restaurant has been around for ages already...

Pick of the dishes:

Starter: Salad of Game Birds, Romesco Sauce

Fish: Red Mullet, Creme Fraiche, Fennel

Meat: Roe Venison Cutlet, Pumpkin, Mashed Potato

Pudding: Rhubarb & Custard

It is also very reasonably priced (starters ≈ £10; mains ≈ £20; desserts - £7.50), but there is a £1.50 cover charge...

My critique: Dinner at Corrigan's Mayfair

I really enjoyed it and recommend it.

[battleofthebulge]

Hurrah!

Have booked already for an up-coming Saturday, on the strength of Jan Moir's review here.

[howardlong]

How 'connected' is it with Grosvenor House? The reason I ask is that in my opinion Marriott have managed to single handedly screw up one of the top UK flagship hotels by mistakenly thinking that their business model of using underpaid, untrained and unmotivated staff, and slapping on their global corporate brand mediocrity, is enough to keep regular punters coming through the door.

I had an absolutely disasterous pre dinner meet up a few months ago at their Champagne Bar staffed by people who'd never poured a glass of Champagne in their lives let alone opened a bottle. Our table ended up wet through on both top-up occasions from two different servers: I suggested that we pour ourselves. Very shoddy, so I refused to pay the service charge: the last time (and the only other time) I did that was at Club Gascon about five years ago.

Not sure if Corrigan will live up to Chez Nico, that was my favourite restaurant for some time, but I wish him luck and look forward to giving it a go myself.

Cheers, H

Edited November 14, 2008 by howardlong (log)

[Food Snob]

How 'connected' is it with Grosvenor House? The reason I ask is that in my opinion Marriott have managed to single handedly screw up one of the top UK flagship hotels by mistakenly thinking that their business model of using underpaid, untrained and unmotivated staff, and slapping on their global corporate brand mediocrity, is enough to keep regular punters coming through the door.

I had an absolutely disasterous pre dinner meet up a few months ago at their Champagne Bar staffed by people who'd never poured a glass of Champagne in their lives let alone opened a bottle. Our table ended up wet through on both top-up occasions from two different servers: I suggested that we pour ourselves. Very shoddy, so I refused to pay the service charge: the last time (and the only other time) I did that was at Club Gascon about five years ago.

Not sure if Corrigan will live up to Chez Nico, that was my favourite restaurant for some time, but I wish him luck and look forward to giving it a go myself.

Cheers, H

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Well, if I had not done my research, I would never have know it had any connection at all.

There is a seperate entrance to the restaurant, with hotel guests having to exit the Grosvenor, walk around the corner and enter Corrigans thus.

Neither can they add their restaurant bill to their room one.

That said, with respect to Grosvenor hotel's restaurants, I have not heard amazing things about its brasserie, Bord'eaux. However, this is actually in the hotel itself.

Regarding staff, they were great!

Battleofthebulge, I hope you enjoy it. Do let us know how it goes...

[Food Snob]

How 'connected' is it with Grosvenor House? The reason I ask is that in my opinion Marriott have managed to single handedly screw up one of the top UK flagship hotels by mistakenly thinking that their business model of using underpaid, untrained and unmotivated staff, and slapping on their global corporate brand mediocrity, is enough to keep regular punters coming through the door.

I had an absolutely disasterous pre dinner meet up a few months ago at their Champagne Bar staffed by people who'd never poured a glass of Champagne in their lives let alone opened a bottle. Our table ended up wet through on both top-up occasions from two different servers: I suggested that we pour ourselves. Very shoddy, so I refused to pay the service charge: the last time (and the only other time) I did that was at Club Gascon about five years ago.

Not sure if Corrigan will live up to Chez Nico, that was my favourite restaurant for some time, but I wish him luck and look forward to giving it a go myself.

Cheers, H

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Actually, after a little more research, I have discovered that in fact there is absolutely no connection between it and the Grosvenor!

Corrigan's space, which was indeed part of the hotel before, has now been purchased by Corrigan himself and is an independent restaurant...

Sorry about the misinformation.

[muichoi]

Hurrah!

Have booked already for an up-coming Saturday, on the strength of Jan Moir's review here.

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Not a terribly good basis judging by the previous review on the site, of the Crooked Billet in Oxfordshire. I've unfortunately been many times and it represents everything bad about British food culture, just appalling. She loved it.

[rjs1]

Not a terribly good basis judging by the previous review on the site, of the Crooked Billet in Oxfordshire. I've unfortunately been many times and it represents everything bad about British food culture, just appalling. She loved it.

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Why go many times to a place you find "just appalling"?

[muichoi]

Obligation, of course. Sometimes it is not polite to reveal one's true thoughts to friends and colleagues.

[battleofthebulge]

Hurrah!

Have booked already for an up-coming Saturday, on the strength of Jan Moir's review here.

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Not a terribly good basis

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If it makes you feel better, I also checked out Dos Hermanos, who also gave a very positive review.

Sarah

[Food Snob]

The most critical review I have seen so far is Harden's and even that is not too bad...

Harden's Corrigan's Review

[muichoi]

Hurrah!

Have booked already for an up-coming Saturday, on the strength of Jan Moir's review here.

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Not a terribly good basis

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If it makes you feel better, I also checked out Dos Hermanos, who also gave a very positive review.

Sarah

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True, and they are jolly good.

[Paul Reynard]

Popped in last night for a very early spot at the bar (only three people came in while I was there betweeen 6 and 7.15ish). Food was full of good flavours and the menu is indeed a dream. Had soft boiled egg with brown shrimps for starter followed by the game suet pudding with mashed swede and carrot. Both dishes were comfort food to the extreme and all the better for it. Service was obviously attentive being the only one there although you can tell they're all just settling in still. Having said that all the head waiters seemed very friendly especially the 'door girls' which the Dos Hermanos have mentioned on. Good to see Corrigan again and he seemed his usual joyful self when I had a few words with him as he was doing his daily checks.

Going back tonight to give it a full test but could become a monthly regular with a menu like it's got.

[Gavin Convery]

Any further views...? I am booked for Friday the 13th (whoops! Romantic, moi!). I love Corrigan from the Lindsay House, always one of my favourites so have a good feeling about it and the reviews are excellent - even AA Gill liked it!

[battleofthebulge]

Have been twice now. Apologies for not posting before.

First time end of November, two people. Second time on Thursday, three people. All of them called Steve apart from me.

Starters: I recommend the linguini with bone marrow, if you're hungry, and the fried oysters with chorizo if you're not.

Mains: The grouse pie with foie gras was amazing - alas it's no longer on the menu and the venison in pastry on Thursday was "very nice but not in the same league" according to Steve1. The lamb kebab sounds rather strange on the menu but comes on a huuuge platter with two sauces and is a great deal of excellent lamb ("the best lamb I've ever had in a restaurant" - Steve2) with a rather pungent kidney. The spinach is great - cooked to just the right point, full of flavour and garnished with pine nuts and sultanas. Delicious AND good for you.

The wine list is divided into useful sections depending on style, and not arranged in ascending order of price, so look carefully at the whole list to find the bargains. I recommend the '98 Cahors, a snip at £45 and they decant it for you. Which is nice.

On our first visit we had no room for dessert so had coffee and a glass of dessert wine, with which they brought petit fours on a cute silver plate. Second time we all had coffee or tea but no petit fours presented this time, even though we'd spent more. Oh well.

Bill for 2 in November for champagne, the Cahors, 2 courses including the grouse, 1 coffee and 1 dessert wine was £155, which we considered to be very good value indeed for the quality of food. Thursday's bill for a similar amount of food for 3, but with an extra bottle of red was £243 which somehow felt slightly less wonderful. Probably because of the lack of petit fours

Service is charming, but I am unnerved by the fact that the black wait staff wear white jackets, and the white wait staff wear black suits. Seemed a bit .. 1950s cruise liner?

However this is still a great experience and I know we'll be back for the spring menu.

Sarah

edited for clarity

Edited January 10, 2009 by battleofthebulge (log)

[PhilD]

It is a very good restaurant. All the elements come together very well. A nice room, good service, fine food and well priced.

Meussel Marinniere was well executed, with the mussels served out of the shells, the Game Salad was fine although I thought the Romesco Sauce dominated the flavours of the birds a bit. My partners Sole with Mushrooms, had intense mushroom flavours. The one weakness was the Steak, Kidney and suet pudding, a great pudding but served swimming in a very sweet sauce.

I mentioned this to the waiter, and then received apologise from three different FOH staff and was comped some dessert wine. Things do go wrong, and a sign of a great restaurant is how they recover, full marks to Corrigan's for this. For dessert we shared the chocolate brownie with sour cherry ice-cream - I could devour this by the litre it was so good.

The bill was £129 for two including a £45 bottle of Burgundy. Very good value for the overall package, the price is about right for the food, although the pricing of the wine list is a bit on the heavy side.

[david goodfellow]

I went two saturdays ago having read so many terrific reviews of the place.

I remember the site,as Chez Nico was located here, although the entrance was on the Park Lane side in those days(giving my age away).

Well my wife had the salad of game birds,which is one of Jan Moir,s best dishes of 2008.

I had the pig(their description)sausage with oysters both of which were delish

We sort of shared a game suet pudding which I could not finish because I had pigged out on braised Hare,mash and kale at Great Queen St at lunch.The other dish was Widgeon,an absolute stunning triumph.and it was a first for me.If this is on the menu when you go ,snap it up.

We did not have room for puddings because of our earlier lunch.

The moral of this story,for me at least is to go there hungry because Richard Corrigan is a very generous guy.

One last point the Widgeon was the most expensive dish on the menu at £26 and this is Mayfair.Some of the dishes were as cheap as chips given the quality of the cooking and the aforementioned location.

Richard Corrigan your a star!

[Andy Fenn]

Ate here last week in a table for four and had a really disappointing meal. The oysters were stunning, probably the best I've ever had. An incredible zingy finish that lasted for ages. But it went downhill from there.

The salad of game birds with romesco sauce (which has been raved about online and in the press) was a dreadful dish - cloying overly sweet sauce, reminded me of a nasty sweet n sour sauce. Only the sausage/oyster starter was good. Game broth and duck egg with brown shrimps were disappointing.

My girlfriend's sole for main was overcooked and the accompanying ceps were damp and overwhelming - should have known we were too late for these but why were they on the menu?

I had salt marsh lamb "a la greque", which had two racks of lamb, lamb's liver and lamb's kidney on a skewer, served with pilaf rice, raita and a lamb jus. The racks were beautifully cooked and full of flavour - for me the best thing of the night by a mile. But the liver and kidney were just too punchy for me, even with the rice and raita - probably my problem and not the restaurant's. I'd never had lamb's liver/kidney before and I probably won't again.

From the menu descriptions and reviews we expected it to be much more rustic, when in fact the plating was quite fussy.

Having heard such great things, we were very disappointed, especially when the menu reads so well.

[david goodfellow]

oops. Edited February 20, 2009 by david goodfellow (log)

[david goodfellow]

I went two saturdays ago having read so many terrific reviews of the place.

I remember the site,as Chez Nico was located here, although the entrance was on the Park Lane side in those days(giving my age away).

Well my wife had the salad of game birds,which is one of Jan Moir,s best dishes of 2008.

I had the pig(their description)sausage with oysters both of which were delish

We sort of shared a game suet pudding which I could not finish because I had pigged out on braised Hare,mash and kale at Great Queen St at lunch.The other dish was Widgeon,an absolute stunning triumph.and it was a first for me.If this is on the menu when you go ,snap it up.

We did not have room for puddings because of our earlier lunch.

The moral of this story,for me at least is to go there hungry because Richard Corrigan is a very generous guy.

One last point the Widgeon was the most expensive dish on the menu at £26 and this is Mayfair.Some of the dishes were as cheap as chips given the quality of the cooking and the aforementioned location.

Richard Corrigan your a star!

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Sorry about this repeat.A friend of mine was showing me some stuff that I did not understand, he must have pressed the wrong button

[MaLO]

Has anyone been lately? Just interested to see how the menu is developing with spring on the way and the possibility of a visit in a week or two.

[David Borkin]

Has anyone been lately?  Just interested to see how the menu is developing with spring on the way and the possibility of a visit in a week or two.

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Went 2 nights ago (Saturday) and enjoyed lovely food and perfect service. Chatted with the man himself afterwards and he said he was aiming for a clubby atmosphere. If that's a club I want to be a member!

There were 4 of us dining and we were all spoilt for choice. My duck egg with brown shrimp was lovely. A small boiled duck egg served shelld and whole with a perfectly judged yolk - soft without running across the plate. the shrimps were there more for flavour than content. and the shrimp-toast soldiers were there to mop up. My friend said her pidgeon salad was the best she'd ever had.

I was slighly dissapointed that the game suet had gone off the menu, but cheered up again when I spotted the pig's trotter. Much to my fellow eater's relief the trotter was served such that it didn't look like a pig's foot standing on my plate. A cylinder of crisp coated, unctious lined and soft meat filled delight lay in a bed of creamed potoatoe speckled with additional pig-meat. A side order of roasted vegatables included salsify, which is a delicious but under-utilised vegatable - probably beacause it is a pain to prepare.

I had cheese and I couldn't decide on whether to go for sweet or red wine. They solved it for me by givvng me 3 small tasters (sauterne, dry white and chianti) to match the different cheeses.

My friends had rhubarb soufle with creme anglaise. A perfectly formed soufle was presented at table, and the waiter broke into the top and poured in the custard. This seemed to be the most popular choice as we saw many identical dishes going to table.

My partner also loved her brownie with pickled walnuts, an interesting combination.

All-in-all I'd say that the food is a good balance betweeen comfort food and adult eating. High quality, without being fussy. Wholesome ingredients, but letting you walk out without feeling like you need a wheelbarrow to carry your stomach.

[RDB]

I was not overly impressed with Corrigans, think I was expecting a down to earth vibe in the place, bearing in mind Richards 'philosophy', however it was quite stuffy and pompous at times.

Food wise, thought it was ok, I had Octopus Carpaccio, Baby Squid, Chorozo & Feta

which was just that. Foie gras and heritage apples, which again was just that albeit it did come with two grapes.

A terrible pigeon dish which seen pieces of breast pink in parts overcooked in others, served with highly vinegared endive, hard tortellini, and a horrid tasting, sauce, which I swore was cheese, but was apparently foie gras.

Service very snooty and atmosphere dull.

[MaLO]

I had a reservation in March for dinner. I selected Corrigans based on the highly positive reviews. I booked the train, got a hotel and set off. It was a fiasco from start to end. Drinks we did not order, poor cocktails and general confusion. Best of all, we didn't get to eat due to them not having our table available. Considering I had chosen this venue for a birthday celebration it was a very disappointing experience.

[Alan Smeaton]

We had dinner at Corrigan's two days ago and I have to say it was excellent throughout. First impressions were of a well designed space with sympathetic lighting. Our table for two was not large but adequate enough and we sat at a corner banquette.

We kicked off with Cornish Crab Jelly with melba toast and pea and mint risotto with cured ham. The jelly was a deep coloured, gelatinous sauce and the tower of crab had what I think was pickled white cabbage on top. Served cold, Anne found this very refreshing. My risotto was superb, with a deep pea flavour and and lovely texture. We had this with a carafe of 2007 Rotgipfler, Johanneshof, Thermenregion. Not a grape variety I have ever come across but it was accurately described by the sommelier as somewhere between a gruner v and a riesling. It went well with both dishes.

Mains were the ox cheek, mushroom ravioli, garlic leaf and a special of suckling pig served as a ballotine with black pudding, apple sauce and crackling. We ordered mash and spring greens as sides. The ox cheek was very satisfying, dense sticky meat that melted in the mouth and the ravioli were delicious. Anne's pork was a success with proper cracking and a sweet sauce that worked well with everything. To go with this, I couldn't resist a Sean Thackrey Pleiades. It's amazing the combination of grapes that goes into this and yet it produces a very elegant wine - on the list at £68.

For dessert we first shared a plate of British cheeses, all in excellent condition, with some butter biscuits covered in thyme, nuts and oats. We followed with a warm banana cake with rum soaked golden raisins. This came with some warm bananas in batter and what I think was blitzed bananas which were creamed and then chilled. An elegant pud that put a smile on our faces.

Staff throughout were charming, professional but relaxed. The man himself was in and we were able to say hello as we entered. One minor gripe, a cover charge of £2 per person, which I only noticed when paying the bill. This isn't something I like to see. But, all in all, I would strongly recommend a visit. Food came out at just over £100, the end bill being much more painful with drinks!

[Soundman]

Had dinner here Saturday night, very very impressed.

I started with the duck liver dish, liver two ways, with lentils, pomegranate seeds hazlenut dust was really good, not something I would normally order, but something about it grabbed me and I'm glad I tried it, it was light, but with a real depth of flavour, a generous portion also. Mrs Soundman tried the crab jelly mentioned upthread (at my behest actually, if she hadn't gone for it I would have done. it was everything it promised, and again was a very generous portion. The crab was first class, the pickled whateveritwas added a welcome note, and the jelly was sublime, well, sublime with a touch of Scampi Fries, every fish lovers favourite crisp. That may not sound good, but believe me, it was sensational.

For main courses I had veal short ribs, which arrived on a trolley and were plated at the table, with a little bit of theatre, though there only seemed to be one trolley in the restaurant, so the theatre was a little rushed. The veal was perfect, tender and very tasty, a decent boned piece, quite dark, even darker than the rose veal we cook at home regularly, and certainly not dodgy continental stuff. The girolles and broad beans matched it well, though the girolles seemed to add more in texture than taste.

Mrs Soundman had the pigs trotter, again excellent, seemed to be a take on Koffmans classic trotter, I'm sure I found veal sweetbreads lurking within and the chicken mousse was good.

We were both really pleased with our dinner thus far, the staff were friendly, the food excellent, and we basked in the reflected glow of two people who had ordered very well, all four dishes were right up our respective strasses.

Not being pudding fans, we had cheese, one portion to share, it was OK, served with a thud as it hit the table though, and when we both looked to the waiter expectantly to find out what each cheese was, he was halfway back to the kitchen. It all seemed pretty well kept, and an interesting variety, but the crackers, though probably home made were wrong, really sweet and with rosemary and salt, they tasted so strong, you could barely make out the cheese. This really was the only down point of a very good meal though, and if I sound a little negative it's because at this level i expect decent cheese....

The bill for food was around a hundred quid, booze added a lot more, though the list at first seems steep, there are some bargains, so we drank as well as we ate.