May Round -up

Hi Fellow Foodie,

May has flown by, and it's time for me to round up this month's foodie exploits — we startas always with this months reviews.

🍴 THIS MONTH'S RESTAURANT REVIEWS

Pied à Terre, Fitzrovia

I visited the celebrated Michelin-starred Pied à Terre to experience their 35th Anniversary set lunch — and left wondering why on earth it had taken me thirty-five years. It was simply brilliant.

 Read my full review →

Ikos Kissamos Resort, Crete — Not one, but seven restaurants

The latest Ikos resort had been open just seven days when I arrived — and it already felt like a well-oiled machine. Ikos sits at the premium end of the all-inclusive market, and Kissamos raises the bar still further. Seven restaurants, extraordinary food and an ethos that genuinely delivers. Find out what makes it so special.

 Read my full review →

Maki & Ramen, Soho

If you have never been to a ramen restaurant, Maki & Ramen is the perfect place to start. Find out what you've been missing.

 Read my full review →

👨‍🍳 IN THE KITCHEN

Just two recipes this month, as always little skill required (no surprise there) and both turned out really well.

Pan-fried duck breast with sweet & spicy tamarind sauce

Super easy and, in my humble opinion, very tasty. This one will become a regular dinner at mine.

 Get the recipe →

Butternut squash & chickpea curry

I roast the sbutternut quash before adding it to the curry — a simple step that adds a wonderful depth of flavour to the finished dish.

See recipe here

General Feature — London's best ramen restaurants

With ramen on the menu this month, I couldn't resist putting together a guide to the very best bowls in town. London's ramen scene is extraordinary, and I love how much it has grown. Here are my picks.

 Read my guide to Londons Best Ramen restaurants here →

💰 BEST VALUE LUNCHES & PRE-THEATRE

We kick off with steak frites for £20, three courses at the wonderful Poon's for £35, and — in my humble opinion — the best plant-based food in town at Tendril for just £27.

🗞 WORD ON THE STREET

Bar Douro's Festa dos Santos Sundays

If you need a reason to linger over lunch this June, Bar Douro has you covered. Every Sunday throughout the month, the London Bridge restaurant recreates Portugal's beloved summer street festivals on its terrace — the Festas dos Santos Populares, the annual neighbourhood celebrations that transform Lisbon and Porto each June. Expect freshly grilled sardines and smoky peppers over charcoal, rustic broa cornbread, chilled Super Bock and crisp Vinho Verde, all accompanied by live music from singer-guitarist João Menezes (2–4 pm). It runs 12 pm–8:30 pm each Sunday, moments from Borough Market.

Tinto Pesquera Wine Dinner — Pied à Terre, Fitzrovia

Hot on the heels of my 35th Anniversary set lunch review, Pied à Terre is hosting what looks like a very special evening. On 17th June, the restaurant pairs its kitchen with Tinto Pesquera, the iconic Ribera del Duero wine that Robert Parker once called the "Spanish Pétrus" — and the description is hard to argue with.

The story behind the wine is a good one: fifty years ago, Alejandro Fernández and his wife Esperanza Rivera bought a 16th-century winery in Pesquera de Duero and set about reviving the region's ancient winemaking traditions. What they built became the benchmark for Ribera del Duero — and remains so today.

£275pp includes dinner and wine. One for the diary.

Pied à Terre, 34 Charlotte Street, Fitzrovia, W1T 2NH

KRUDE — Gordon Ramsay's Olive Oil

Gordon Ramsay has turned his attention to the olive oil aisle — he clearly needed something to fill his spare time. Co-founded with Ben and Elle Caring (of Lady A Rosé), KRUDE launches this month as a premium extra virgin olive oil, fully traceable to family-run farms in Spain, cold-extracted and naturally rich in polyphenols. The range includes infused oils (Chilli, Garlic, Lemon & Basil) alongside pure finishing and cooking oils, packaged in UV-protective metal cans with a precision pouring spout. It's a chef's product, with a chef's attitude. Prices from £13 at krudeoliveoil.com.

Mercato Mayfair — Frico Very Good

Exciting news from Mercato Mayfair, my favourite food hall, which has just launched Frico Very Good — a new initiative bringing the food and wine heritage of Friuli Venezia Giulia to London. The project centres on frico, the region's iconic 15th-century dish of melted cheese with potatoes and onions, and will feature a dedicated corner stocking San Daniele PDO ham, regional wines from Rodaro, Friulian cured meats from Lovison, and spirits from Buiese. Opening this summer for a 24-month run, with plans to roll out across Mercato's Canary Wharf and Elephant & Castle sites.

Mercato Mayfair, 13A North Audley Street, London W1K 6ZA

⚽ Our alternative WORLD CUP VIEWING GUIDE

The FIFA World Cup 2026 runs from 11th June to 19th July, with England's group games — Croatia (17th June, 9 pm), Ghana (23rd June, 9 pm) and Panama (27th June, 10 pm) — all kicking off at civilised hours. If the idea of a packed boozer isn't doing it for you, here are six rather more interesting alternatives.

 Rhum Tavern, Margaret Street W1

A pirate ship-inspired rum bar screening all the key fixtures, with group packages from £20 for four steins up to £50 with ribs from the robata grill. Over 350 rums behind the bar for when things get tense.

Margaret Street W1

A pirate ship-inspired rum bar screening all the key fixtures, with group packages from £20 for four steins up to £50 with ribs from the robata grill. Over 350 rums behind the bar for when things get tense.

Umbrella Cider House, Bethnal Green E2

London's only working cider house, with open-air screenings on a 60-capacity al-fresco terrace, house-made cider brewed on site and rotating street food. Refreshingly free of chain-pub energy.

Riding House Café, Fitzrovia / Bloomsbury / Victoria

Private dining rooms and covered terraces across three sites, sharing menus, a free growler for every six guests and £5 shots within five minutes of every England goal. Not bad at all.

TOCA Social, The O2

Private boxes, football-based games and challenges, DJs and food throughout the tournament. Tickets from £5.50 — and considerably more fun than standing at the bar.

German Kraft Brewery, Mercato Metropolitano, Elephant & Castle

Free entry, excellent on-site beer and 50+ food stalls. The first ten pints are free after every England or Germany goal. Dangerous, or very good value — probably both.

Rooftop Cinema Club, Bussey Building, Peckham

Select England matches from a rooftop with views across the city, in proper lounge seats with street food on hand. From £11. If England are going to break your heart, you might as well have a view.

📍 NEW RESTAURANT OPENINGS

Major's Grill — Cambridge House, 94 Piccadilly, W1J 7BX

Regular readers will know I've had Carbone on my hit list since it opened — and now the Major Food Group are back in Mayfair with their second London venture. Major's Grill lands at Cambridge House, the magnificent Grade I-listed Palladian mansion on Piccadilly that has sat behind hoardings for the best part of twenty-five years. The concept is a glamorous ode to mid-century grill dining — premium cuts, seafood, ten variations of a Martini and the theatrical hospitality the Carbone team do so well. The building alone is worth the visit: it hosted Queen Victoria, served as Lord Palmerston's proxy Downing Street and was the Naval and Military Club for over a century. It's back, and in very good hands.

MA/NA — 30 Upper Grosvenor Street, W1K 7PH

Already open and already making waves. MA/NA is the latest from the Thesleff Group — the team behind Los Mochis and the outstanding Juno and Luna omakase restaurants — and it's their most ambitious project yet. Taking over the former Rüya site on Upper Grosvenor Street, the 156-cover space is a confident study in 1970s Tokyo glamour: dark wood panelling, warm amber lighting and a sculptural dragon banquette winding through the lounge. Executive Chef Leo Tanyag's menu is unapologetically luxurious — O-Toro tartare, Wagyu seared tableside on Himalayan salt stone, and king crab with caviar and truffle ponzu. As the evening unfolds, the room shifts seamlessly into a late-night cocktail bar, with a drinks programme by Pietro Collina, formerly of Nomad and Eleven Madison Park. Very Mayfair. Very good.

Trèsind — 13–14 Hanover Street, W1S 1NE

Dubai's Trèsind Studio holds the remarkable distinction of being the first Indian restaurant in the world to receive three Michelin stars — and now the team have brought their immersive, modern Indian cooking to Mayfair. Open since 9th May, the London kitchen is led day-to-day by Head Chef Amit Bagyal, with the menu overseen by Trèsind's acclaimed chef Himanshu Saini. Evenings are tasting menu only — seven courses moving through regional Indian flavours with real creativity and technique. Signature touches include the famous Chaat Trolley, rolled tableside with a dash of liquid nitrogen theatre, and the Khichdi of India, drawing on 20 ingredients from states across the subcontinent. The room is dimly lit, design-led and considerably more vibrant than you might expect. Book now, before the word fully gets out.

Temaki — 11 Maddox Street, Mayfair, W1S 2QF

Temaki built a devoted following at its Brixton handroll bar before closing last summer — and now, with a helping hand from The Crown Estate, it's landing on Maddox Street, next door to the Maddox Gallery. The concept takes its cue from Californian handroll bars: lobster with egg yolk and citrus, otoro tuna, BBQ eel, crispy rice with premium fish, A4 wagyu sliders, sashimi and revolving sandos. The new space is bigger too — 16 seats at the bar upstairs, plus a 28-cover downstairs room inspired by Japanese listening bars.

Brutes of Mayfair — 34A Bruton Place, Mayfair, W1J 6NR

Mayfair has no shortage of bars, but Brutes — opening on Bruton Place this month — looks like something genuinely special. Founded by James Stevenson (former Beverage Director at JKS Restaurants) and Guy Mazuch, whose cocktail pedigree includes Kitchen Table and Lyle's, the pair have set out to create the neighbourhood bar they've always dreamed of. The martini card is the centrepiece: choose your base spirit, your style (dry, wet, dirty or the intriguingly named "brutal"), and your toppings, which brilliantly include pickled onion Monster Munch and chicken scratchings. Bar snacks run to oversized crisps with caviar and a French dip. Twelve seats at the bar, a small lounge, staff in 1960s-style white bartender jackets. Consider me very much interested.

Chez Rose — 5 Pollen Street, Mayfair

This one has been on my radar for a while, and I'm delighted to say reservations are now live ahead of the first service on 9th June. Chez Rose sees chef Spencer Metzger — previously of The Ritz — open his debut restaurant at 5 Pollen Street, long-time readers will remember as the former home of Little Social. Backed by Jason Atherton, the project is deeply personal for Spencer, inspired by his grandmother and the kind of meals that stay with you. The concept is a relaxed French bistro, seasonal and produce-led, with a wine list to match. It's a proper passing of the baton — and if the pedigree is anything to go by, this is going to be very good indeed. This could be very good.

📅 COMING IN JUNE

June is shaping up to be a busy month. Plans so far include a set lunch at one of Mayfair's most iconic restaurants, a visit to a newly opened Thai restaurant also in Mayfair, a wine tasting at one of my favourite out-of-town spots, and another ramen restaurant review back in Soho.

I’m back in the kitchen, a couple of interesting new recipes — including a lamb shank massaman curry. Add to that a weekend in Brighton, a week in the Algarve, the start of the World Cup and Wimbledon tennis — it's going to be a very full month of fun.

I'll be posting my food exploits as they happen on Instagram @themayfairfoodie if you'd like to follow along. Thanks as always for reading — it is very much appreciated.

Until next time,

Martin, The Mayfair Foodie

mayfairfoodie.com · @themayfairfoodie