I credit chef Richard Corrigan with bringing my attention to, and then making me greatly appreciate, the produce and cuisine of the place of my birth, the island of Ireland.  Back in the day I had some terrific lunches in Lindsay House, his tiny restaurant in a Soho terraced house, which deservedly won a Michelin star for it’s refined Irish food.  In the many years since, I’ve admired Corrigan on TV for his skills, knowledge and cheeky humour, but I never made it to his newer London restaurants, when Lindsay House closed.

A long time friend of mine, Miss C, has decided to emigrate to Ireland and I decided I wanted to have lunch with her before she left. And with it being just four days before Paddy’s Day, I felt we just had to eat at Corrigan’s Mayfair, to celebrate our mutual Irishness!  Looking at their website I saw the ‘Seasonal Lunch’ menu, but the a la carte was only shown as being for dinner. The set lunch, though, looked pretty inviting and was only £34 for three courses.

I got to the restaurant on Upper Grosvenor Place, just off Park Lane, on time at 12:30, to find Miss C in the bar already sipping a G&T (£13.60). We went straight through to our table, where I ordered a glass of house champagne (Paul Dethune at £15.95) to try to catch up with Miss C!

The dining room was smart and restrained and completely empty when we sat down. After bringing water, some bread and “lincolnshire butter” the staff left us a while to chat and catch up, which was appreciated.  It turns out that one can eat a la carte at lunchtime, and that menu had some dishes which caught my eye, such as venison tartare and glazed duck, but because I’d been anticipating the set menu I was happy to stick with that. £28 for two courses, £34 for three.

My starter was lightly pan fried Mackerel with horseradish and rhubarb (but no custard!) and a mustard vinaigrette. The fish didn’t have any cooking oil taste (which made me wonder if it had been grilled, not fried); just brilliant fresh omega-3 rich mackerel flavours. For me the quenelle of horseradish cream lacked punch. The rhubarb was sharp, not sweet, and did work with the fish, but seeing pink Yorkshire rhubarb on the plate was a little out of place. Maybe a punchy horseradish and rhubarb cream combo would have looked simpler and more elegant? 7.5/10

We both opted for the ‘Todenham Park Pork’ for our mains and we each received two thick (3cm), juicy, part-boned chops, sitting on a some pickled apple slices and colcannon, with a light jus. I had actually requested colcannon as a side, even though it wasn’t on the menu, because chef Corrigan’s kitchens always do a good one. The pork chops were so flavoursome, slightly pink, moist and tender and were definitely the best pork chops I’ve ever eaten! 10/10

With just a little abdominal pain I was still keen to have a dessert and chose the ‘Sticky Toffee Pudding and Vanilla Ice Cream’.  It was great: a moist and light sponge, smooth, rich ice cream and a sensual toffee sauce (extra was voluntarily served in a small jug).  I had a glass of Tokaj Aszu at the commendation of the waiter, which was pure nectar with this dessert.  BTW I think the lighter sponge was the key to it being IMHO even better than Cartmel’s famous product. 9/10

Getting to this point had taken 1 hour 45 minutes, which felt very comfortable for we two friends catching up with each other. We wound things up with a coffee; mine, a double espresso, was a good sized portion of strong robust coffee, with just a light foam. An interesting rose flavoured dark chocolate accompanied our beverage nicely. 7.5/10

I was quite surprised that there were only six other covers for lunch. Corrigan’s offers a very competitively priced menu with sufficient choices of beautifully prepared British cuisine.  Portions were good, service was professional and friendly, tables are properly presented with table cloths, and seating is comfortable.  The final bill for two people, with two gins, one champagne, mineral water, a very pleasant £59 bottle of Washington State chardonnay, one dessert wine, two coffees and service was £221.51.  Quite a jump up from the headline £34 for three courses, but that’s what happens when you drink booze!

Overall 9/10 – a very enjoyable lunch and I’d be delighted to return.