Corrigan's Mayfair

Exhausted by their recent journeys to Hampshire and Soho, Mr Oil and Mr Vinegar have been lunching closer to home at the restaurant of the acclaimed Irish chef, Richard Corrigan. It was not an entirely satisfactory experience.

MrV: Can you think of anything good to say about that place?
MrO: I can think of a great many good things to say. It is beautifully decorated, comfortable, spacious, the service is very efficient and the first courses were excellent.
MrV: You are considerably more forgiving than I am. I find it hard to get past the prices of the booze, the excessive saltiness of the food and, of course, the two-inch-long polythene in the pheasant thing.
MrO: Yes, that was a low point, I agree. But these things happen even in the best of kitchens.
MrV: Do they? It has never happened to me before in a major restaurant. I tried to make a joke of it by saying that it was unusual to find the wrapper inside the food but the waiter didn’t even crack a smile. But I suppose I might have been less concerned if it weren’t for the other things. The salt issue is a big one.
MrO: Yes, the gravy on that steak and kidney pudding was so salty that it tended to overshadow the other flavours.
MrV: It killed them. And the bit of minced pheasant leg in breadcrumbs would have been pretty much inedible because of the salt, even if it hadn’t been for the polythene strip sticking out of it.
MrO: They didn't charge us for that dish and gave us each a glass of Eiswine, which they didn't have to do.
MrV: No, they didn't, but they knew we were reviewing the place so they'd have been silly not to try to placate us. Anyway, I think it’s an Irish thing, this business of over-salting. Something to do with hardly anyone having fridges until relatively recently – or perhaps something to do with the Famine. But I notice when I’m in the old country that everything is smothered in salt. Thinking of the Four Seasons round the corner, perhaps Corrigan should call his place the One Seasoning.
MrO: You are exaggerating, of course, although there may be a trace of a point there. Anyway, the starters were excellent.
MrV: Yes they were – I enjoyed the veal tongue and pumpkin fritters...
MrO: Beignettes
MrV:...whatever, they were very good, although I think perhaps the oysters with caviar and horseradish were slightly better.
MrO: And the wine was good.
MrV: It was good but £145 for a Chateau Lascombes 1995 seems pretty steep to me. And I thought that peculiar Reisling was a bit over the top at £11.50 a glass. Same goes for the champagne at £13 a glass. What was it that friend of yours said?
MrO: He said he’d gone there for the £27 set lunch for two and somehow that became nearly £130. And that he wouldn’t bother going again with Le Gavroche just around the corner offering better value.
MrV: I think quite a few others must think the same thing because the place was a third empty – unusual, I’d say, for a swanky restaurant in Mayfair on a Thursday lunchtime. I wonder if Corrigan’s feeling the pinch a bit. I couldn’t help feeling suspicious that the oysters and caviar were £15 on the menu but £16 on the bill. And why charge £6 for a helping of new potatoes unless your trying to rake it in by any and every means? And what was with the £4 cover charge when we spent so much on everything else?
MrO: There could be perfectly good explanations for all these things.
MrV: Maybe. In my opinion though he may have got this project a bit wrong. It reminds me of that old Irish rhyme, but with the words changed: poor old Richard Corrigan, begin again.

Mr Oil and Mr Vinegar consumed two starters, two main courses, one pudding and petit fours and drank two glasses champagne, two glasses of Reisling, a bottle of Chateau Lascombes 1995, two glasses of Eiswine, two cups of coffee and a bottle of water. There was no charge for the petit fours, the main course with the polythene problem or the Eiswine but the bill nonetheless came to £312.92.

Corrigan's Mayfair, 28 Upper Grosvenor Street, London, W1K 7EH
Tel: 0207 499 9943

reservations@corrigansmayfair.com

www.corrigansmayfair.com

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