Charlie’s at Brown’s Hotel: Luxury Eating in Mayfair by One of My Favourite London Chefs

Hands up if you ever wanted to stay at Brown’s Hotel in Mayfair? Me, I have! Living in London and around the corner from this beautiful hotel, I do find it hard to push myself to fork out for staycations in London, but it’s something I really should do more often. It’s convenient, if you forget something you can pop back home and most importantly – there’s absolutely no rush to anything. We didn’t stay, but we did visit Charlie’s at Brown’s which is just as exceptional and as much of an experience. Especially so as the menus have been developed by Michelin-starred chef director of Brown’s, Adam Byatt and with Matt Starling (previously Fera at Claridge’s) as head chef. Adam is one of my favourite London chefs and some of my best meals have been at his other restaurant Trinity in Clapham.

Before I go any further into this review, please can we appreciate just how beautiful it is here? In case you didn’t know, the hotel is part of the Rocco Forte collection and at the forefront of that business is the Polizzi family. I’m obsessed with Alex Polizzi and her TV show The Hotel Inspector/Restaurant Rescue and so I had big expectations and it certainly didn’t disappoint. It’s gorgeous inside and was designed by Alex’s mother Olga Polizzi. The restaurant is also named after the founding Forte, Lord Charles.

To kick off our meal we tucked into a couple of cocktails as we looked over the menus. A Negroni for me and a Perfect Manhattan for the other half. Both perfectly crafted, heady (just the way I like my drink) and elegant. Especially against the backdrop of the restaurant and table setting. The cocktail menu here comes courtesy of the legendary maestro of cocktails, Salvatore Calabrese and if these drinks are anything to go by – the team at Brown’s seem to know their way around the bar very well indeed.

Whilst we sipped on those cocktails, we enjoyed some nibbles. One complimentary of radishes with smoked cod’s roe and one from the menu of tempura squid with chilli and garlic. The batter on the squid was thick and more like something you’d see on a Korean fried chicken wing, which I loved. Not to mention the thick smothering of that spicy sticky marinade which was sprinkled with sesame seeds. Delicious.

One thing you need to be prepared for when eating here is just how indulgent the food is. It’s rich, incredibly satisfying and will be spending at least a week on the hips. For starters we tucked into a Brown’s beef tartare which needless to say, might be one of the best you’ll eat this year, followed by what was probably my favourite dish of the evening – linguine cacio e pepe. The pasta was cooked to perfection, the sauce was as calorific as I hoped for and the shaving of black truffle (optional) on the top meant for a touch of that indulgence I was describing. Two very solid dishes. My favourite tartare in the whole of London is actually at Trinity Clapham by Adam, but this one was still very good indeed.

For mains, a perfectly prepared sirloin of beef which had been cooked over coals and came simply garnished. I enjoyed the steak a lot, especially those heavenly fries and béarnaise sauce but if being extra picky – I’d have liked to taste more smokiness in the meat from those coals for extra depth. If I see something telling me how it’s cooked on the menu, I always want to be able to really taste it either in the flavour or the texture. Still, it was a very good piece of steak.

We also enjoyed a whole 12oz Dover sole which was pan-fried with caper butter. I though the fish was exquisite, in fact I think it was the best piece of sole I’ve had in months. Flaky, juicy and that salty caper butter which poured out from the fish all over the plate left us salivating with every bite. If you come here, order this.

Little room left, but all in the name of research (that’s my excuse anyway), this blood orange and brown sugar custard tart is a must order – no mater how full you’re feeling. Presentation wise it looked perfect and those lines were so sharp they could have cut through my steak. It also went particularly well with the Australian Viognier we washed it down with. With this tart and that luscious sweet wine, this is one acidity ride I could get very used too.

The cheese is great here too, although it was missing a cheese trolley. Cheese is big business in London right now and I just love the conversation, smell and excitement that comes with a cheese trolley. All of the cheese we did eat was lovely and those salty crackers were superb, but I just hope a cheese trolley appears soon. They’re already here to present almost all of our other dishes and so I say go all out. This is London after all.

We finished on some excellent petit fours and took ourselves off to The Donovan Bar next door (also part of this hotel) for a cheeky night-cap. I’m sure you can already probably tell, but we both absolutely loved Charlie’s, right down from the sumptuous decor, polished service, stunning food and most importantly – a longing to return and experience this property fully. I think I knew before visiting Charlie’s that this meal was going to be good as I have so much confidence in Adam’s cooking, but it was so lovely to experience his skills here, in a different environment and cooking style to what I’ve had in the past. Would we come back? It’s a big fat yes from me!