REVIEW: The Colony Club, Hertford Street, Mayfair

If there was one thing the London dining scene fails to give me much of, its surprises. I’ve wondered around every alley (take that how you will), back streets, hidden mews and nearly every central London hotel. I thought I knew of just about every restaurant central London has to offer, but apparently not. That said the last place I was going to be looking for a restaurant is in a private members casino which had recently opened up its dining room to the public – but I’m so glad it did. The Colony Club is a private members casino on Hertford Street serving up food and drinks till the early hours of the morning, with a passionate chef who’s worked here for over twenty years and a sumptuous dining room I’m already missing. It’s places like these which make me love London so much.

The bar downstairs at The Colony Club is admittedly a little dated, as is the reception area but delve deeper and it gets much more luxurious. I ordered a Negroni in the bar and it was hands down the best example I’ve ever had. After a long and stressful day at work, it quickly put my at ease – I’ll be coming back for many more of these. Upstairs in the restaurant they don’t hold back when it comes to decadence. A sumptuous room, gorgeous ceiling and one hell of a teppanyaki table – top of my list to come back and visit. The only one negative I will say about the place is the sheer amount of menus on offer. Japanese, British, Indian, Chinese, Lebanese – its endless. If the big newspaper critics descended on this place they’d have a field trip, for that reason alone. I don’t care about the menus however, just the food that arrives at my table from them.

Ordering wise we went into The Colony Club on an epic feeding frenzy. Who knows how many courses, glasses of wine and mountains of sushi we consumed – the only thing we didn’t do was descend upon the teppanyaki table. The food here at The Colony Club was absolutely stunning, from start to finish – the crudities accompanying mango chutney mayo however, not so much (stick with blue cheese I say). We started with what turned out to be my favourite dish, perhaps even of 2015. Poached langoustine, squid ink orzo pasta, black garlic crispy pancetta and wilted sea herbs – it was perfectly executed. A stunning medley of flavours which were all individually recognisable, but together made something very beautiful. Each mouthful was so good I made sure it was consumed incredibly slowly, savouring the journey for as long as possible. Because of the sheer amount of menus we hopped on over to Asia and ordered the salt & pepper soft shell crab – golden crisp crumb, juicy crab and lashings of that fiery salt & pepper seasoning. The dish came with two soft shell crabs I believe (or one very large one) – either way it was very generous. Simply put – two very accomplished dishes which you must order.

If I had to pick one thing here that I thought needed work (and believe me picking fault here is hard) was the sushi from the Japanese menu. It was very good but lacked vibrancy and while the sashimi was very well sliced to be draped over a piece of rice, it was too thin on its own and needed to be slightly thicker and plump for that mouth-melting experience. Flavours and freshness however were perfect – and who doesn’t love dry ice? The maki rolls were much more succesful and each mouthful was a dream. Hamach usugiri – thin slices of yellow tail, red chilli, coriander, kumquat and ponzu was nice but the yellow tail should have been much softer – it’s that one piece of sushi fish which is famed for its melt in the mouth texture. Overall I thought the sushi here was very good, but on  comparison to the rest of the meal it needed work the most.

With the main courses, we had a very tricky time choosing. Should we go Japanese and get the famed black cod or perhaps a middle eastern mixed grill? Instead we started with a piece of good old steak – though there was nothing good or old about it Instead a beautiful piece of mouth-wateringly good USDA 10oz rib eye steak. The meat cut with ease like butter and only one chew was needed to work your way through its lovely texture. Perfectly seasoned and with a little smokiness to it – to say we were satisfied at this point would have been a huge understatement. A side of chips and cauliflower cheese were certainly not life changing but still every bit satisfying. Mixing it up yet again I ordered the Chinese inspired Mongolian fillet of beef with sweet chilli and peppermint sauce. It looked a little disappointing – but take a mouthful and its on a whole other level. The meat was beautiful and that peppermint ran through the sauce like silk. The dish was perhaps ever so slightly on the sweet side for some, but for me it was just perfect.

The thing about The Colony Club which I love most is that they continue to surprise you throughout your meal. When you think it couldn’t get better, it does. I should mention service too, because it was faultless. Classic, prim and proper, just how I like it. None of that trainer wearing malarkey some top London restaurant seem to be adopting – think Le Gavroche and you’re in the right area. Lemon Tart with citrus coulis, ginger crumbs and white chocolate ice cream was quite literally mouth-droolingly good. All that citrus acidity, delicate ginger crumb and some very well made ice cream meant for an ever lasting affair. The pastry on the tart was stunning. I went to a restaurant the other day (I won’t name and shame) but the menu promised a melting middle chocolate pudding – instead I got a tepid, over-baked dessert – it was very disappointing. Thankfully the baked dark chocolate fondant here at The Colony Club was nothing short of extraordinary. In fact the desserts here were easily of Michelin standard – who IS the pastry chef I want to know.

Closing in on our meal, one thing that disappointed me a little was the petit fours. The chocolates were sourced externally and while they were pleasant enough, they lacked excitement. I’m almost certain the pastry chef here could give it a better go. Macarons were absolutely delicious, though I think they may have also been brought in from elsewhere as they seemed a little too perfect, but I couldn’t be sure. Either way they were very good.

You may think I’ve gone into so much detail writing about The Colony Club but it’s all for good reason. Firstly because I absolutely adore the place and secondly because it has so much potential and if they wanted to, could do a hell of a lot more – yet it was busy enough for them not to bother. The Colony Club has only recently opened up to the public and while the rest of London has been making noise with every new opening and endless fusion cuisine – this gem of a restaurant has remained top of its game. Albeit The Colony Club isn’t cheap, but for a meal you won’t forget, its money very well spent. Scoring The Colony Club really was a difficult one and for the first time ever I’ve scored with a half (I’ll have to make this a new thing) – perhaps next time I come back a half won’t be needed?

8.5/10