COYA, MAYFAIR

I love my Mondays off work, especially when the weather is good, and my afternoon was made even better when Angie (@SilverSpoonLDN) asked me along for lunch Coya. The name coincidentally sounds very much similar to Koya (one of my favourite regular spots, as many of you may already know!), but is in fact very different. 

Coya is instead a modern Peruvian restaurant located in Mayfair, just off Piccadilly, with three open kitchens; the Ceviche Bar, the open charcoal grill, and the central kitchen.
It has been quite a while since I last had Peruvian food, and I have heard good things about Coya - one of those places that has also been on the to-do list for ages.

The staff were very friendly upon our arrival, as they kept our coats away in the cloakroom before showing us to our table by the window. 
I do like the interior of the place, with its vibrant colours and artistic decor.

We tried a couple of drinks from the Juice Menu, which was divided into four different categories: Smoothies, Cleanses, Boosters, and the last option where you could make your choice of up to five ingredients. I was initially slightly tempted to choose my own ingredients, but then reconsidered, avoiding the catastrophe of my avocado-blueberry-coconut-mango-peanut butter concoction...

I decided to play safe this time, and went for the Campo Verde (wheatgrass, kale, pineapple, avocado, apple), whilst Angie chose the Para Picchu (kale, cilantro, celery, cucumber, pineapple). Both very green and healthy-looking drinks, and I particularly liked the creaminess of the avocado.

We also tried one of their cocktails, the Cusco Wildberry Punch (Ketel One Vodka, blackberry, raspberry, lemon, agave nectar and prosecco), which was quite sweet and fruity.

We both went for the four course set lunch menu, and ordered different dishes for each course so that we had a wider selection to try.

For our first course, we ordered a salmon and sea bream ceviche. The Salmon Nikkei had celery juice, ginger, daikon and wasabi tobiko, which was very refreshing. I loved the sea bream which had a lovely and fresh aroma from the coriander and a slight spiciness from the aji amarillo. Both of them were very good starters.

Salmon Nikkei

Dorada Criolla

Next up were the chicken skewers and tuna tacos. The chicken skewers looked really tasty, but we did notice that they were slightly pink on the inside. We queried it with the staff, and were reassured that it was meant to be prepared that way. Nicely marinated with more aji amarillo and garlic, and I can safely confirm that all is still well the day after!

We both really enjoyed the tuna tacos which were finely chopped up and very dainty indeed, served in light and crispy mini tacos.

I ordered another chicken dish for my main course, loading up on plenty of protein today! It was a really generous portion of corn fed baby chicken breast, marinated in aji panca which had a delectable peppery and smokey taste, and a bit of fruitiness to it as well. It was served with some nicely grilled peppers and onions on the side.

The sea bream was undoubtedly delicious as well, served on a bed of luscious potatoes and a fennel salad on the side.

Pollo al Josper

Filete de Dorada

We were quite full afterwards, but our waiter kindly brought out a couple of desserts for us to try anyway. One was a trio of ice cream: chocolate, Arabica coffee, and lucuma (if I'm not mistaken!). The chocolate was quite interesting as it had a bit of a boozy taste to it.

I really liked the Parfait de Arabica, made with kiwicha, caramelised banana, and Zacapa 23 YO rum. I had to control myself so as not to devour it all on my own, conscious that I hadn't gone for ballet in the morning - I do hate wasting good desserts...

Overall it was a very pleasant and relaxing afternoon, and the staff were very attentive and friendly throughout. 

A word of thanks to Angie for inviting me along and being such great company as usual, and many thanks to Coya for all the good food and their generosity.

Looks like this will be another favourite Peruvian restaurant in London to add to my list.

The Cheekster, signing out x

SEA CONTAINERS & DANDELYAN BAR, MONDRIAN LONDON

We recently visited Mondrian London at Sea Containers, the first ever Mondrian branded boutique hotel outside of the United States, that launched on 30th September 2014. We had lunch at the restaurant, a modern dining room with a great view of the River Thames. 

The Sea Containers restaurant is named after the landmark building on the South Bank. 

The 'farm to table' movement is integral to the Sea Container's kitchen and its menu, with produce naturally sourced from organic farmers and Fair Trade cooperatives from around the UK and the continent.

The restaurant is headed by Culinary Director for Sea Containers, Seamus Mullen, with his team led by Executive Chef Luke Rayment, who are committed to bringing fresh, seasonal and sustainably sourced food to the table for diners to enjoy. Located on the Ground Floor, there is an open plan kitchen and visible wood fired oven that produces delicate and natural smoky flavours, a characteristic of Chef Seamus Mullen's cooking.

 

We started off with a couple of drinks from the restaurant cocktail menu. Wilkes had the Peach & Sage Negroni, whilst I ordered the White Flower Collins Royale. The negroni was nice with hint of sage, but mine tasted just like a plain lemonade, so I wasn't too impressed with it, and the straw also looked a bit out of place...?

 The menu is split into categories: 'Small Plates', 'Raw', 'Vegetables', 'Large Plates', and 'Family Style'.

For starters, we ordered the lamb meatballs, which were well marinated and had a nice, 'bouncy' texture. Probably the prettiest presentation for a meatball dish that I have seen so far. We also ordered the octopus - slight smoky aroma, but could probably do with some stronger flavours, and slightly less chewy texture. The slaw was also a bit dull with not much flavour apart from the slight saltiness from the olives.

| Oven Roasted Lamb Meatballs |

- Soft sheep's milk cheese, cucumber, Moroccan spiced vinaigrette - 

| Celeriac & Grilled Octopus |

- Peas, watercress, Castelvetrano olives -

 

Moving on to the mains, the grilled monkfish had a nice, meaty texture, served on a bed of delicious buttery grilled mushrooms. The chopped salad was quite creamy with generous chunks of tender grilled onglet steak. There was also nice bits of crunchiness from the walnuts. The blue cheese does come in quite big chunks, so it may be best to maybe cut them down a bit and give it a good mix, otherwise you might just get some big, strong mouthfuls of cheese, like both of us did.

| Grilled Monkfish |

- Clams, Fino sherry, grilled mushrooms, roasted carrots, cavelo nero -

| Chopped Salad |

- Grilled onglet steak, watercress, blue cheese, walnuts, pear, avocado vinaigrette -

 

This may only be an accompaniment, but I would definitely recommend getting the oven roasted wild mushrooms, especially if you are a huge mushroom lover, like both of us. Fragrant, buttery, and just plain delicious.

And finally, for dessert, we ordered the flourless chocolate cake and apple pie - both very good.

The chocolate cake was very rich and indulgent, and the apple pie was lovely and warm with a tasty and crumbly base.

 

| Flourless Chocolate & Chilli Cake |

- served with vanilla ice cream -

| Apple Pie |

- served with cinnamon ice cream -

 

On the whole, a pleasant meal that came up to approximately £60 per person - price is definitely above average, but I guess that is what you would expect from such venues.

There were a few more dishes that would have been interesting to try, if we were not limited by our stomachs...

It may also be ideal to try going in a group of about four people so that you can try the larger family style dishes. 

And if you love cocktails, it would definitely be worth proceeding over to Dandelyan down the corridor, like we did right after our meal...

Dandelyan is the seasonal cocktail bar at Mondrian London, with Ryan Chetiyawardana, A.K.A. Mr Lyan, who's first bar in East London 'White Lyan' was recently awarded 'Best New International Cocktail Bar' at the Tales of the Cocktail awards. The bar is described as 'a journey of discovery where you can experiment with new tastes and enjoy unexpected combinations'.  

 

We sat at the bar where we were well taken care of by Steve and the rest of the friendly bar staff.

The cocktail menu is divided into four different categories - 'Cereal', 'Vegetal', 'Mineral', and 'Floral'. We ordered a couple of cocktails each - I went with Steve's recommendations, both of which I really enjoyed.

| Crytal Lyan |

 

 | Dry-Hopped Gimlet |

And here I present you Steve, with his happy and serious 'shakeface'...

 

 

| Koji Hardshake & Southbank |

For those you of that feel a bit peckish, Dandelyan also has its own food menu, created by the Sea Containers group.

The bar area is quite vast and a great place to relax and have a drink in the day or when the sun goes down...

On the whole, an interesting new venue that is worth a visit.

The Cheekster,  signing out x

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