Just two days before the England’s second national ‘lockdown’ in November 2020 I decided to go up to London with Mr A for a good lunch the next day.  My last minute search on OpenTable revealed only a handful of Michelin-starred restaurants showing availability. One such, Seven Park Place, I hadn’t heard of before, despite it holding a star since 2011. Park Place is the address of The St. James’ Club and Hotel, in a small cul-de-sac in Mayfair. Formerly a ‘gentleman’s club’ it’s now a luxury 5* boutique hotel, and Seven Park Place is it’s 1-star restaurant.  One reason Seven Park Place has been ‘under the radar’ is because its chef, William Drabble, hasn’t done TV shows or promoted cook books. Their website and menu looked very inviting, so I booked a table.

Upon arrival we headed straight to the dining room, stopping to use the provided hand sanitiser and wearing our own face masks.  Once seated we could remove our masks, but staff wore theirs throughout service. I think there was a side room, but in the main room there were 11 well-spaced tables, 2 of which we were told, were not used, to create further distancing. We were given a prime oval table at a large and comfortable brushed teal cotton banquette, upon which we sat side by side.  At the time of our visit we had a choice of lunchtime menus: a la carte, set lunch, or “menu gourmand” and we went for the latter: 6 courses for £95 plus £75 for a ‘signature’ wine flight, or £130 for a ‘prestige’ wine pairing.  Being an old school gourmand (glutton) I thought the term was a thing of the past, replaced today by ‘tasting menus’, which sometimes can be frustratingly small on portions.  Only Hildon mineral water was available, which isn’t my favourite.

Canapés looked dull and boring, but they tasted good 8/10. We each had a cheesy/buttery biscuit topped with burrata and small cubes of roasted pumpkin, black pudding and apple on a crispy tuile, and a Thai style fishcake with sweet chilli sauce.

Bread was offered as a choice “white or brown” and served with salted or roasted pepper butter. I had brown bread and it was good and fresh.

As an amuse bouche we were served a small bowl of ‘cauliflower veloute’, which was nice without being special. 7/10

Our first proper course was “Seared hand dived scallop, celeriac and apple puree, roasted celeriac emulsion”, which was a competent dish, but for me, the scallop didn’t ‘sing’. My favourite bit was the very best battered onion ring I’ve ever eaten. 7/10

Course number two was described on the menu as, “Tortellini of Lobster, lobster butter sauce with black truffle”.  I had a jokey discussion with our (Italian) waiter when he served the dish, asking him why the menu didn’t state “tortellino” when there was just one of them, to which he replied “because it’s so big”. Indeed this was a large tortellino, packed to the seams with tender lobster. The sauce was more of a (delicious) bisque, but the sliver of black truffle lacked much flavour. A slice of roasted cauliflower and a cauliflower puree were, together, too strong a flavour to pair with delicate lobster; either one would have sufficed. 8.5/10

Our third course was seared foie gras with figs poached in red wine, fig puree and a tasty reduction. A gingerbread crumb added texture to round off a good but uncommon way of serving foie gras. And, of course, I would have liked more foie. 8.5/10

Our main fish course was “roasted turbot with crushed Jerusalem artichokes, butter roasted chicken wings and yellow leg chanterelles”.  Although the fish was beautifully cooked I found its flavour was obscured by the dominance of the JA puree. A crispy JA skin was a good addition, for texture, and the chicken worked well. The mushrooms were ‘meh’ but I would have loved some more of the chicken gravy. 6.5/10

The main course was described on the menu as “Saddle of Cumbrian Venison, Salt baked Crapaudine Beetroot, Juniper jus” and it also came with fondant potato and salsify. Everything was perfectly cooked, well balanced and tasty.  It confused me though, why this was the only dish on our menu which mentioned the provenance of the main ingredient.  BTW the ‘crapaudine’ beetroot has the shape of a carrot.  8.5/10

A pre-dessert of lemon posset was served, and it was just perfect; properly set, sharp and refreshing lemon flavour balanced with rich creaminess and the sweetness from caramelised pistachios on top. 10/10

We passed on the optional cheese course and proceeded to our dessert, which was a coconut parfait with mango, pineapple and passionfruit (a classic flavour mixture), which was refreshing and not too sweet. 9/10

Lunch was rounded off with a very good (and strong) double espresso, which was served with a lovely selection of 7 petit fours, each displaying different patisserie cooking techniques.  I do like a restaurant that offers petit fours, and makes a good show if it! 9/10

Mr A and I were both very satisfied with our first visit to Seven Park Place: the well-balanced menu of well prepared luxurious ingredients and the relaxing ambience of the dining room.  I should note that the service was good, but became excellently friendly once we had engaged in conversation with the staff, especially with the Italian gentleman and the ‘tortellini’. I imagine it’s a challenge for waiters to judge how their customers want to be treated in a ‘high end’ restaurant, with many diners not wanting to be interrupted or disturbed, but for Mr A and I, the more relaxed and informal, the better.  Overall 8/10

Total bill for 2 people, water, coffee, 2 wine flights (one of which was the ‘prestige’ pairing, which was very good indeed) and service came to £454.58

An interesting collection of paintings adorned the walls of the restaurant and the bar area, which I felt gave the feeling of a personalised, non-corporate or generic design.  I shall definitely return.