High quality new restaurant for 2024 set in a charming Mayfair Mews

The Cocochine is one of London’s latest openings (late summer 2024) whose kitchen is led by Head Chef Larry Jayasekera, the mastermind that gained Gordon Ramsay the Michelin star at Petrus and who also worked at Le Manoir aux Quat Saison and the eponymous Michel Bras in France. The menu is a la carte with 3 courses (5 when taking in to account the canapés and petit fours) for £145 and I particularly liked the way there were no supplemental charges for either foie gras or caviar on some of the dishes so one can enjoy having exactly what you like without worrying on cost – the best of both worlds. In short, this meal was an absolute triumph and contained moments of food happiness that I very seldom gain which made it so memorable. Above the genuine food pleasure, sprinkle the delightful charm of the Head Chef’s hospitality and the fact that it is beautifully intimate inside, as a dining experience this was the highlight of my year so far and I would say one of the most exciting restaurant openings for London as well.

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A quick word on the restaurant: it is a converted three story Mayfair townhouse with a spectacular basement cellar and well-designed dining room on the ground floor, counter dining option on the first floor (overlooking the main kitchen) and high ceiling private dining room on the upper floor. Next time I go I will be spending a little more time in the cellar which has an absolutely beautiful mini-cave for a pre-dinner drink. The wine cellar itself has treasures to behold including the fabled Burgundian Pinot Noir from Romanée-Conti, but also some more accessible wines by the glass that my sommelier guided me on very well. The above is in itself, a testament for this meal, the fact that I am already plotting my next visit.

An array of five different canapés arrived at the table at the start of the meal for both myself and my dining companion to enjoy with opening glasses of champagne. Mini doughnuts were filled with 36 month-aged Comte cheese and black truffle cheese sauce and topped with 60 months aged parmesan from Bologna and were just the right warmth in temperature and umami. Delicate croustades made with beer batter were filled with wild yellow tail tuna from Portugal, seasoned with soy and aged golden Oscietra caviar – these were utter indulgence and beautifully done. A play on coronation chicken saw confit Arnaud Tauzin (producer) chicken legs, Earl Grey tea soaked raisins, apple with Sri Lankan home-made curry powder, topped with almond brittle and pickle apple in a tart shell – a sumptuous bite. Tartlets of reindeer tart were served in malt tart shells filled with carrot purée, pickle red onion, cured and smoked reindeer heart and fennel flower. Finally a tart of deer parfait, Sri Lankan kethul (a form of honey), smoked eel and grated foie gras from Landes finished the presentation. It is not lost on me how much work needs to go in to canapés and these original offerings were all lovely with superbly thin pastry throughout.

The bread deserves a separate mention as it was impressive in its own right. A home-made steamed onion brioche displayed sheer skill from the pastry chef but was more importantly some of the best bread I have had since enjoying the fabled 2 Michelin starred Ledbury’s onion brioche – and I think this has actually stolen the crown from that version which was in pole position for many years. The other factor being the utterly exquisite truffle butter it came with, the potency of the truffle essence being judged to perfection. This was simply bread and butter at the very top grade it can be and a genuine reason to come back for this alone.

The starters chosen were Norwegian King Crab and the otoro. My dining companion’s King Crab came from suppliers based in Northern Norway (with other seafood is sourced from Tanera Mòr island, in the West coast of Scotland) and was served with micro lemon verbena, a deep mushroom purée, and equally deep bisque. This was a quality starter. My full fat tuna (otoro) was diced in to cubes and served with pan fried foie gras and Golden Oscietra Caviar from a private, Parisian supplier. This was utterly sublime and at first I was concerned that the caviar might be a bit too much (salt) for the dish, but the salt content was beautifully controlled and the flavour bomb that went off in the mouth reminded me of one of the best dishes I have ever had in my life at 3 Michelin starred Victor’s Dining by Christian Bau in Germany. If I could afford it, I would have a spoonful of this dish every day of my life as the flavour combination is just that magnificent.

The mains were the chicken and beef courses. Arnaud Tauzin supplied chicken came from Landes, Tanera Island Langoustine, maitake, jus gras (sauce made from roasting drippings) was a showcase of chicken at the height of what it can and should be with wonderful accompaniments. My course of beef was a similar thing of beauty. The dry aged Sirloin of beef is from Rolwer Farm, who only supply exclusively to The Cocochine. This case with BBQ Lobster, a beef reduction and one of the best Béarnaise sauces I have ever had. The beef very good but but I was mainly in heaven with such a deep jus and a tarragon powerhouse of béarnaise made with wagyu dripping which is another first for me.

The desserts were a vanilla ice cream dessert and chocolate cremeux. The latter had a decadent texture and softeness in its 66% dark chocolate strength served with a small biscuit, golden oscietra caviar, chocolate feuilletine and creme fraîche Ice cream. In case you are new to the concept of caviar and chocolate, it serves the same principle of salted caramel in combining sweet and salt and this was an indulgent version. However, it was my dining companion’s 100% Tahitian vanilla pods ice cream that was the absolute star of the sweets. This dessert was served with chocolate and caramel opaline and a fabulous, jaggery caramel sauce, but it the sheer creaminess of the ice cream which had what I can only describe as rocket fuel of vanilla flavour throughout and I cannot think of where I have had better vanilla ice cream anywhere else in the world.

An array of petit fours graced the table during our coffee from Difference. Pinenut financiers had milk chocolate and pine ganache; a kalamansi tart was made with hazelnut sable, kalamansi cremeux, hazelnut praline and kalamansi jelly; Florentine tuiles had milk chocolate, almond nougatine, orange zest and Maldon salt and the piece of cake was cloud berry: a mini almond cake made with Chantilly and cloud berry compote. Cloud berry incidentally is a Northern Norwegian berry that only grows for 4-5 weeks of the year from mid-August to mid-September.

In summary everything was deeply satisfying and it is wonderful to have such a generous a la carte menu and simply being the food that you would want to eat. I do like the ethos of this restaurant – from the absence of supplement charges, to the fact that the head chef forages all of his veg, fruits, herbs and flowers from Rowler Farm (in Northamptonshire) and whose 1,100 acres are are not treated by any chemicals or substitutes within the land or feed. Great care clearly goes in to the sourcing of ingredients at this venue which is at the very top levels that a restaurant can do.

As a conclusion, this first visit demonstrated food quality, skill and judgement that was not only in the strongest of 1 Michelin starred playing fields, but there were several moments that sat very comfortably in the 2 star zone and held a near-3 star moment. Our bill came to £284 each and that was with some extensive wine choices throughout, so the bare £145 on the meal as a whole at this quality level for ingredients and execution I think is an extremely good return. For all the above reasons I am more keen to get back here over visiting any other place I need to do for this year – that’s a good sign!

Food Grade: 86%