Mayfair Ramblings - W1

I had a really annoying meeting at work last week and I needed to get out of the office and walk off my frustration - I didn't have any particular destination in mind but soon I found myself crossing Regent Street and heading for Berkeley Square.  As soon as I walked into this most graceful of West End squares I felt immediately better and decided to work out where I was actually heading.  As it was lunch time and food is important to me (as you may have gathered) I decided to venture deeper into Mayfair and check out the Mount St Deli, which I had read about on Beanhunter as somewhere that did good coffee.  I got slightly lost but ended up on Mount Street near The Audley pub (know to the post Ivor Novello Award revellers as the "DisAudley" - if you've been on that particular day you'll know what I'm talking about).  Mount Street is Mayfair at it's most pristine and perfect - as well as the aforementioned pub there are some very high end antique shops, the wonderful Scott's restaurant and up a little on the right, the Mount St Deli.  I do love a cafe with a grocery section and the Mount Street deli had all manner of deliciousness on display.  I ordered a flat white and a quesadilla with taleggio and grilled peppers - the coffee was good (not outstanding but pretty decent) but the quesadilla was amazing.  I admit I was ravenous but seriously this thing was all melted-cheesy deliciousness.  I will be back just for that (and maybe save the coffee fix for Taylor St nearby).  After lunch I strolled into the lovely and serene Mount Street Gardens - if you have never visited

this little oasis you must.  Whenever I'm here I always feel like I should be meeting with someone from M15 and slipping them a brown folder with photos of the Russian embassy inside, but maybe that's just me.  I suppose it's because it feels quite old fashioned and "old London" (which lots of Mayfair still does - at least those bits not over-run with silly banker/oligarch money).  To cap off my stress-busting sojourn I went and had a look inside the Church of the Immaculate Conception on Farm Street - which is just lovely.  I had first come across a reference to this church in one of my favourite books, "Brideshead Revisited".  The

conflicted Julia Flyte, struggling with a Catholic upbringing and an American lover (divorced no less) "took her problem to Farm St" which I eventually worked out must be referring to a church, which it was and it's this one.  If all this church-going is too much for you you could instead visit the Punch Bowl also on Farm St - a cute little pub made famous by having Madonna's ex as one of its co-owners.  All in all I had a very pleasant hour or so and I got back to my desk refreshed and ready for the afternoon.  Mayfair therapy I call it.

Scott's - Mount St, Mayfair W1

I had a posh lunch today - a very posh lunch in fact, at Scott's in Mayfair and it was lovely.  Also, perhaps because it was lunch rather than dinner and we weren't being booze-hounds, it wasn't crazy expensive.  It ended up being around £60 a head for 2 courses plus coffee with truffles and mini-macaroons (oh yes!) and a pretty pricey bottle of Kiwi Chardonnay (which was delicious - Dog Point from Marlborough).  Without the vino it would have been around £45 per head.  So not somewhere I'll be lunching every day at this stage in my life (one day baby, one day...) but a lovely place to go for a special occassion.  I had griddled tiger prawns provencale for my starter which were delicious, smoky, juicy prawns in a tangy tomato sauce - there were around 6 in the dish and I could have eaten twice that and happily come back for more.  For main course I had smoked haddock (which always feels vaguely healthy to me but also delicious) on a bed of colcannon (I love colcannon as I have mentioned before...) with a perfectly poached egg sitting on top.  In fancy restaurant style, the waiter came over with a small copper sauce-pan (living up to it's name for once) and poured a delicious grain mustard sauce over the top to finish it off.  This was a great dish, warming, tasty - smoky, silky fish, comforting buttery colcannon, runny egg and creamy mustard sauce.  Perfection on a plate.  I accompanied it with some steamed spinach which was an inspired choice - spinach and smoked fish go so well together I think and it cut through some of the richness of the sauce.  If you are a fan of chocolate truffles (and it won't surprise you to know that I am) I can report that Scott's version are lovely - it's funny that even when you are full to the brim (which I was) you can always fit in a truffle or three.  We also got mini macaroons which were also tasty - in fact a full size macaroon is sometimes a bit much for me so bite size is just about right.  Two of my luncheon companions had a "plateau fruits de mer" (seafood platter where I come from mate) which was an OTT double layer of shellfish that looked like someone had raped and pillaged a coral reef and dumped it on a plate, which came with a selection of sinister looking implements to dissect and extract the various creatures from their shells.  They said it was delicious.  Next time I go to Scott's I want to leave room for pudding because my friend Rachel says their creme brulee is the best ever and it is my favourite dessert (so far the best I have had is La Petite Maison - another Mayfair establishment...get me, coming on all fancy).