Mayfair is well known for having some of the best restaurants in Europe speckled all over its streets, in between luxury fashion, watches and jewellery boutiques. One of these gastronomical treasures is Bar des Prés, which may sound familiar as the original restaurant, located in Paris, became famous for serving only raw food. The London iteration has gone for a Franco-East Asian fusion menu created by French celebrity Chef Cyril Lignac.
Lignac’s first restaurant in France, Le Quinzième earned a Michelin star in 2012, and his cookery books have sold millions of copies. Understandably, I was pretty excited to learn he was at the helm at Bar des Prés London. The menu comprises original dishes both warm and cold, with light and elegant seafood dishes sitting alongside refined meat options and a list of desserts to die for.
Bar des Prés is Chef Cyril Lignac first site outside of France, where he has a huge TV profile. He got his first Michelin star in 2012 and has sold more than four million cookery books worldwide.
As it was our first time, we let Assistant Manager Nicolo, decide for us. It was a gifted decision because all the food we ate was simply delicious. We started with an array of cold dishes: crispy prawns with Thai mayonnaise, grilled yellow tail carpaccio in a yuzu sauce with jalapeños, Chutoro tacos with chipotle mayonnaise, crunchy crab and avocado galette with Madras curry and Scottish salmon with fried rice in a citrus sauce. Every single one of these dishes was perfect. The fine coating on the prawns is not oily at all and crispy as fallen autumn leaves. The yellowtail carpaccio exposes your taste buds to a rainbow of flavours that come in subtle layers, one after the other, leaving your palate dancing with joy. The crispy rice is a first for me, and one that I intend to look for everywhere I go from now on. It is such a simple idea, and at the same time, so brilliant! The combination with the unctuous texture of the Scottish salmon and the delicate acidity of the citrus sauce is genius. In contrast, the avocado and crab galette is sweet and demure, a soft interlude to counterbalance the punch of all the other dishes.
Crispy prawns with Thai mayonnaise (left) and grilled yellow tail carpaccio in a yuzu sauce with jalapeños (right).
From the warm options we tried langoustine ravioli in a ponzu bisque and Satay beef fillet with a lime condiment. The ravioli were so light and delicate that I felt as if I was eating tiny clouds. The sweetness of the langoustine with the citrus-based ponzu built into a bisque works beautifully. The dish is elegant and has bucket loads of flavour. The beef melted in my mouth and finished with a sweet tangy touch courtesy of the lime.
Vanilla mille-feuille with a pecan nuts praline (left) and chouquettes with vanilla chantilly and chocolate sauce (right).
I am not a dessert person, but it was impossible to resist what was presented at the table. The vanilla mille-feuille with a pecan nuts praline is simply perfect, you won’t find it better anywhere else. The layers of pastry are crispy, the cream light and silky, not too sweet and the pecan nuts praline adds a depth of flavour that lingers in your palate like a good kiss does on your lips. It shows that Lignac trained with master pâtissier chefs like Piere Hermè. The chou is the opposite: bold flavours put together by a confident brave chef that clearly knows what he is doing. Don’t try this at home though. Last, the chouquettes with vanilla chantilly and chocolate sauce, which I don’t believe anybody on this planet could resist. It is a classic combination for a reason and the difference between run-of-the-mill chouquettes and the little puffs of heaven you eat at Bar des Prés is once again, the experience and mastery of Chef Cyril Lignac.
I do spend a lot of time in Mayfair and I will certainly visit Bar des Prés as often as I can get a table.
Tel. +44(0) 203 908 2000
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