1 Fine dining at “Upstairs in the Footman” we visit the footman Mayfair.
We hear almost every day about pubs closing down, and there is no doubt that pubs are generally experiencing tough times. However, you must be innovative and open to change to survive tough times. One innovation I’ve noticed is pubs adding a fine dining restaurant to their offering, and today, I’m lunching upstairs at The Footman to experience their restaurant.
I know of at least five pubs in Mayfair that now offer a separate restaurant upstairs. Downstairs, it is a regular pub serving pub snacks, but venture upstairs, and you are in a restaurant environment with a different menu.
It makes sense to turn an under-used part of a pub into a restaurant; usually, upstairs in pubs thas been traditionally used this area as an overflow area, soleless and away from the main pub.
I know and understand why a lot of pubs, have turned their pubs in to restaurants with only the smallest of bar areas but this way you keep the pub and gain a restaurant, a win win in my book.
It is worth noting the bar menu at The Footman looked excellent with usual pub classics; I was caught paying particular interest to the tables next to our lunch offering. It was a club sandwich, and I don’t think the recipient of the aforementioned sandwich appreciated my eagar glares. The things I do for research for this website.
So, on a wet Thursday in November, Leigh and I make our way to lunch at The Footman restaurant; it would not be me without saying that I have had a good study of the menu beforehand and even gone on to their Instagram page to look at dishes; hey kids look at me!
The Footman is situated on Charles Street, a hop, skip and a jump from Berkeley Square, a short walk from Green Park station and 10 minutes from Bond Street station.
2 Pub
We arrived early and decided to have a drink in the pub. Outside, the brick facade with the black window and shutters invites you in to see more. The pub has a lovely cosy, homely feel, just the ticket after a damp walk from the station. The wood bar is framed by an interesting curtain of mirrors that gives an art deco feel.
It took 20 minutes to drink our drinks, and by the time we left for the short walk upstairs, the pub was full.
The restaurant’s decor is classical with wood-panelled walls, three larger oyster shell padded seats with tables seating six people, and smaller tables for two, which is where we are seated. The room benefits from plenty of light from the large windows. This is a nice dining space.
3 The Footman Menu
Once seated, we were handed the menus; I’m not sure why, but I looked slightly surprised as if I was seeing the menu for the first time, but I think our waitress knew better.
At the top of the menu are four signature cocktails; it’s a bit early for cocktails, so we skipped that section.
With eight starters, a grill mains section with three beef choices and a pork chop, add to that another seven mains offerings, including vegetarian and two fish dishes. There is a separate dessert menu, and I like it that under each dessert offering, they had paired dessert wine on offer.
I realise that dessert wine does divide the crowd; well, that’s an understatement as amongst my circle of friends, it is only my friend Dan and me who like a pudding wine, but I appreciated the Footman’s efforts in that direction.
I will add links to the menu at the end so you can compare our choices to yours.
4 Starters
My research on the menu had left me no doubt of my choice: Haggis tart, baked Swede and crispy lamb belly. I have always liked Haggis, and you very rarely see it on the menu, so I could not resist. The lamb belly was a great addition and a good partner to the tart.
Leigh went for Seared scallops, toasted Fragola, Apricot Harrisa and preserved lemon. It’s nice to see a different twist for scallops. They arrived perfectly cooked, and Leigh enjoyed Middle Eastern flavours of Harrisa & preserved lemon, which were subtle enough not to overpower the Scallops. Fragola was a new one for both of us, and it was little balls of semolina flour that looked like couscous. Another clever addition.
5 Mains
So after enjoyable starters, we settle down and look forward to the Main course.
Leigh went with Cod supreme, garlic potato Kiev (the Kiev intrigued as both), leeks and a lobster sauce. I had two decisions on my mains: rosemary and garlic pork chop, pork rosti, cider jus, cabbage and crackling or roe venison haunch and potato pie, caramelised cauliflower puree, served with a bramble jus. What a decision to make.
To start with Leigh’s mains, I always think with cod or hake is easy to tell if they are cooked well. The fish will flake on the fork and have a bright white appearance. No need to worry it did flake and had a crispy skin; the lobster sauce was deep and rich. One slight disappointment was the potato Kiev. The filling seemed slightly stodgy; maybe it was a bad day for the Kievs, but that aside, this was a very good plate of food.
It was decision time for me, and I sided with the Pork chop. It was a good choice; the pork chop was lovely and cooked perfectly (I think it is easy to overcook pork chops), and the rosti was an excellent addition.
6 Desserts
Warning: the portion sizes are generous, and we requested a break before dessert. Even after the break, we decided to share a pud. A unanimous choice was the coconut and tonka bean pana cotta served with a mango sorbet.
The Pana cotta was lovely, smooth and full of coconut and tonka bean flavour. The sorbet was the perfect partner.
In case you are interested, yes, I did go for the dessert wine pairing. Surprisingly, Leigh also liked it.
We left the restaurant and had half an idea of popping in downstairs to the pub, but we were both full and thought a stroll to walk off dinner would be the best option. On the way out, I took a quick glance at the bar was still full.
We both agreed The Footman has a good thing going on with the duel pub and restaurant; both seem popular.
7 History
The Footman is one of London’s oldest pubs, having been established in 1749. Originally known as The Running Horse, it was a popular spot for footmen who served the households of Mayfair. The footmen would run ahead of their master’s coaches to ensure a safe path was cleared. As the footman profession decreased in popularity, one footman purchased the pub and renamed it after himself and called it The Running Footman.
The Footman
5 Charles Street
Mayfair
W1J 5DF
The Footman Menu
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