Our review lunch at Novikov’s Italian restaurant
Opened in 2012, Novikov has established itself as one of Mayfair’s most popular fine-dining restaurants. A quick walk around Mayfair will confirm that the high end of the restaurant market is a crowded space; many have tried and failed, but Novikov continues to pull in the crowds. Only 12 years late, I’m lunching at Novikov to discover what makes this restaurant so popular.
As previously mentioned, Novikov Mayfair was launched twelve years ago as a stylish dining venue that offers Asian and Italian cuisines. Its owner, Arkady Novikov, envisioned offering a unique gastronomic experience.
Having passed Novikov’s doors many times, the most surprising thing to me upon entering the restaurant was its size, which was much bigger than I imagined. The building is home to two restaurants and a bar: the Asian restaurant upstairs and the Italian restaurant downstairs, where we were to eat lunch. As you make your way downstairs, we pass the wine cellar, which was again impressive by the sheer scale. It was so big that they had a library-style ladder, which was needed as the wine racks stretched from floor to ceiling.
On entering the Italian restaurant, your senses screamed Italy, and to me, it took me to the Amalfi Coast. However, as we later found out that most of the staff seemed to be from Puglia, they would no doubt disagree.
A large open kitchen surrounded by an impressive display of baskets is filled with fresh vegetables, bread, and homemade pasta. The decor continues the Mediterranean feel; although it is a big restaurant, they cleverly made it feel smaller.
So, on to lunch, the menus arrive, along with a Tapenade of olives and aubergine and a basket of bread. It was lovely and gave us time to digest (not literally) the menu.
The menu is comprehensive, with the starter section split into salads, Carpaccio/Tartare, and popular Italian appetisers. Wood-oven pizzas, a large selection of pasta, grilled fish, and meats cooked on the josper and oven make up the rest of the menu. That’s a quick overview, but you will see the menu in all its glory online.
Whilst we were deciding on our tapenade, a plate of vegetables arrived, a trio of delights on the plate included aubergine puree, grilled cauliflower and a summer vegetable stew, a simple dish letting the ingredients take centre stage, a dish that could tempt the biggest carnivore to enjoy.
The starters were decided: I went for classic beef carpaccio, and Leigh, my wife, and the lunch guest went for the opulent king crab salad.
There was no hiding place in my carpaccio choice. It was served the classic way with parmesan shavings and a rocket salad. The beef was melt-in-the-mouth soft, just as it should be. There were no fancy bells and whistles; classic dishes are all about the quality of the ingredients, allowing them to should shine through.
Onto Leigh’s starter, which, to give it its full title, is King Crab, Avocado & Sicilian Datterino Tomatoes. It was a stunning plate. The King crab was so sweet and plentiful, and it balanced perfectly with the avocado and the Sicilian tomatoes. I have to admit that as much as I love beef carpaccio, I did have a touch of food envy, as the couple of spoonfuls I tasted were so good. Leigh did not help my envy when she said it was one of the best starters she had in a long time.
It was a great start, so it was time to focus on the mains. The menu had many great fish and meat options, but after all, we were in an Italian restaurant and had already been told how the pasta was freshly made, so for me it had to be pasta. The Black Tagliolini with Crab Meat & Courgette had my name on it. I often cook a simple courgette pasta with lots of parmesan, so adding crab meat and black tagliolini made my choice of a main easy. Needless to say, it delivered on all fronts, visually looked like a picture, and was packed with flavour.
Leigh went for Chef Special Baked Gnocchi, Buffalo Mozzarella and Tomatoes, if Gnocchi is on the menu, Leigh will have difficulty looking past it. This dish is what makes regional Italian dishes so good; in other words, it is simplicity—just three components to this dish. The gnocchi passed the Leigh test, so soft and fluffy and coated with fresh tomato sauce and stringing mozzarella was a delight.
We took a brief pause before looking at the desserts, which gave me time to mention that for lunchtime, the restaurant had a steady flow of customers throughout our time at Novikov, even when we left (mid-afternoon)customers were arriving. I was told that lunchtimes are steady and evenings are very busy, so busy they open the private dining area that adjoins the main restaurant to seat extra guests when not in use. The restaurant is also open to 1 pm which is unusual in Mayfair, so it is ideal for any night owls out there.
Back to our meal and the puds, Leigh decided on the Matcha Green Tea creme brulee served with guava sorbet, and I was persuaded to try a new dessert on the menu, The White Rose, which is Novikov’s take on an Eton mess with mango and lime and raspberry puree.
The brulee was lovely, and the Matcha balanced the sweetness. We both felt the brulee had a softer consistency than usual but had a nice crunch to the burnt sugar top—a lovely twist on the traditional brulee.
As you can see from the picture below, my pudding was not messy at all and would pass the most fictitious parade Sargent’s inspection. It was delightful, with cream topping and a white sphere. Inside the sphere were our mango and lime filling, all sat on a raspberry puree. Even the bowl looked like a large meringue nest. A lot of thought had gone into creating this.
I should mention that we did partake in the dessert wine pairings. I have mentioned it before, but I do like dessert wine. For my dessert, it was a glass of Italian Passito di Pantelleria, which had the most aromatic and amazing flavours of sweet apricots. It blows my mind to me that you start with sweet grapes and can produce a wine with such a distinctive flavour from another fruit.
So that concludes our visit to Novikov’s Italian restaurant. It is fine dining and opulent, but I really liked the relaxed and friendly atmosphere. The staff can often set the tone for the feel in any restaurant, and on our visit, they excelled at creating the vibe you should get from an Italian restaurant.
On the way out, we took a quick look around the Asian restaurant. As you would expect, it has totally different decor and boasts the most amazing fish counter, which would not look out of place in any good fish market. Also, we left at 4 p.m., and the Asian restaurant was full. Based on our visit to the very crowded London fine dining marketplace, Novikov seems to be getting a lot right.
Novikov 50A Berkeley St, Mayfair,London W1J 8HA
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