The Square, Bruton Street

Riddle MagazineAugust 5, 2016

A Culinary Affair

Immaculate service, imaginatively chosen wines and exemplary seasonal food await the hungry at this Michelin stared Mayfair institution

Review by Kate Morfoot

The Square is rather like one of those restaurants that’s become embroiled in the roll call of London’s culinary “must-try’s” - like going to The Ritz for afternoon tea or celebrating a special lunch at The Ivy. It’s a real treat and the start of a love affair that will begin and probably never end.

The two-star Michelin restaurant is situated on the busy and glamourous Bruton Street in Mayfair, residing near Hermès, Steller McCartney and Holland & Holland. So not only is this area a part of the world to shop, it’s also a place to drop those bags and float into a world of serenity. There’s something quite telling about this restaurant in that it’s far from pretentious, instead you feel rather at home seated on comfortable yet old fashioned deep red velvet sofas. It’s here the fun begins with unusual canapés and an impressive drinks list to choose from.

The canapés comprised of Black Squid Ink Crackers with taramasalata, Pigs Kromesky (the pig’s head is cooked, then the meat is taken out, then shaped into croquette with bread crumbs and deep fried) with Brown Sauce and Fennel Pollen and Montgomery Cheddar Tart with Onion Crumbs. Although this all sounds hugely fussy and quite a lot of canapés, in fact, it was all impressively delicious and presented with care and detail. I could have eaten more and perhaps the waiter saw the eager look in my eye and did arrive back with a few more! This is not a restaurant where they want to see you leave hungry, so I decided not to over indulge too greatly to leave room for what was going to be a memorable meal.

Our 6.30pm sitting soon filled up and the restaurant was buzzing. Bruton Street had overfilled into the space with lots of happy and expectant people. The Tasting Menu is nine courses all in all. This menu is not for the faint-hearted however, it’s a meal where you wine, dine and take your time.

There was Salad of Lincolnshire Eel with Jersey Royals, Chilled Cucumber Gazpacho, Burnt Leek Mayonnaise and Oscietra Caviar. Having never tried eel before, I was a little nervous, but it was surprisingly exceptional. It was served with a glass of Semillon L’Ecole 41, 2013 Columbia Valley which made the whole dish come alive with flavour. The eel was tender and nothing like the flavour I thought it would be, it tasted incredibly ‘unfishy’ and with the gazpacho it was lovely and fresh.

Phil Howard has been the Head Chef and co-owner since opening in 1991. His focus is on seasonal and fresh ingredients and this comes through right across his menu and his sommelier does an excellent job matching to the correct tastes of this haute cuisine. From Lincolnshire, we then experienced the South West with Lasagne of Dorset Crab with a Cappuccino of Shellfish and Champagne Foam. Crab is one of my favourite seasonal things to eat so I was delighted to try this in all its glory.

Each wine is matched to each course, although you can opt to miss out or have a bottle of your choice. The wines are indeed well worth trying. Everyone loves a story don’t they?

Each one has a history and a story behind it, carefully chosen to complement each dish. For example the Roter Veltliner, Birgit Eichinger 2013 from Austria is a white wine in colour, made out of red grapes. The vineyard has been making exceptional wines for 800 years and the taste was fragrant and to me the history and artistry shone through.

Next on this exceedingly well-crafted culinary rollercoaster was the Slow Cooked Fillet of Turbot with St Austell Bay Mussels, Jersey Royals, Eric Bordelet Cider and Pickled Celery. Turbot is a rich and meaty fish and again one that I only have ever eaten on special occasions. This dish was complemented by a glass of Armando Tabarrini, 2012 from Umbria in Italy. I have spent quite a bit of time in this part of Italy, so eating such amazing food and drinking superb Umbrian wine, a little slice of the Italian hills trundled down Bruton Street into The Square.

On the walls of the restaurant are unique works of art by artist, Brendan Stuart Burns who has a gallery in Mayfair. Each of his oil-based pieces depicts the land and the sea and brings the outside and an essence of the seaside into the restaurant in a very spiritual way. Art is always a very personal thing and again Phil Howard has brought together the local feeling capturing the outside world complementing the seasonal produce of the kitchen.

To finish the ‘main’ tasting menu was Roast Saddle of West Country Lamb with Cameralised Onion, Garlic Scapes, Organic Curd and Young Cabbage. It was a deliciously rich dish and the lamb was cooked just pink enough and it rounded off a superb end to a delicious Tasting Menu.

Our pudding was Tiramisu served with an outstanding pudding wine from Santon & Killer, a Muscat Rutherglen from Australia. A truly decadent pudding to salute the end to a monumental culinary experience!

The Square is a restaurant that cannot serve you well enough. Its long standing prominence in the heart of Mayfair deserves to continue as an oasis to fine dining and it definitely deserves its two Michelin stars for the chefs and waiters are nuggets of gold. I will certainly return, there’s lots more shopping and eating to do.