Created by the Thesleff Group, MA/NA makes its mark in Mayfair.
Only a month after opening directly across from Hyde Park, MA/NA Mayfair already feels exactly like what’s needed for this well-heeled neighbourhood at the top of the Monopoly board. The concept has been created by the Thesleff Group, which is behind the FACT Dining Award London nominees Los Mochis, LUNA and JUNO, and the popular OKKU Dubai. Now, it is aiming at the Nobu crowd rather than at sticklers for tradition.
The design, by the LA-based studio Ov & Co., aims for 1970s Tokyo nightlife retro-chic – all browns, curves and intimate lighting. Yet, it also adds a calming dash of Kyoto Zen. Spectacular bonsai stand in every alcove. The ruched fabric on the extraordinary 3D tapestries calls to mind the patterns raked in the sand of a temple garden – but frozen, tilted 90 degrees, and stuck on the walls.
In keeping with this twin aesthetic, the whole place is divided into two. It starts with a long bar area with a magnificent curved banquette that snakes like a dragon along the whole space. The bar itself is almost as big, with mirrored ceilings that make it seem larger, as befits a place that takes its drinks very seriously.
We’d recommend starting – and finishing, since later on there’s a more clubby vibe – your evening there. We stepped in from a blisteringly hot afternoon and were immediately soothed by the comfy upholstery, the chill-out music, the magnificently balanced cocktails, and the windows draped with linen so as to shut out the day and slide you straight into MA/NA time without jet lag.
So what of the food in between, served in a large, relaxed dining space with 160 covers? Laudably, Executive Chef Leo Tangay has created the world’s first fully gluten-free Japanese restaurant, Coeliac UK-approved and entirely nut-free. Not that you feel this as a lack: everything on the extensive menu we tried is delicious, occasionally verging on greatness.
We started with some flavourful Edamame Beans with Himalayan salt, and an O-toro Tartare – that’s fatty bluefin tuna with avocado, truffle soy, kaiware, tobiko, daikon, shallots, fresh wasabi and rice crisps. Quite the mix. The fish was excellent, though we didn’t finish the salad.
The Rainbow Maki, a new addition to the menu, looked and tasted spectacular. As the name suggests, it’s a mix of various kinds of sushi rolls, all bursting with flavour and succulent mouthfeel. Highly recommended.
And a special shout-out goes to the Avocado Aburi, which arrives at the table literally on fire. Inside a half-avocado skin is a mix of grilled avocado (yes, grilled – surprisingly, it works), Japanese teriyaki mushrooms, asparagus, spicy aioli and spring onions sprinkled with sesame seeds.
But the best was yet to come. Wagyu is a speciality here – MA/NA Mayfair is one of the few London restaurants certified to serve authentic Kobe beef. Ours came perfectly charred on the outside and pink inside, absolutely melt-in-the-mouth tender. With it, we had a delirious Truffle Fried Rice. With the restaurant’s usual flair for theatre, they grated fresh shavings into it at the table from a huge truffle. “I don’t usually even like rice,” my companion admitted. “But this is one of the best things I’ve ever tasted.”
Even the dessert was a show-stopper. Coconut Panna Cotta with ginger-yuzu sorbet and Japanese Sansho pepper arrived with a beautiful Sansho tuile on top, elegantly latticed and curved like an angel’s feather, making the whole dish resemble a fascinator at Ascot. It felt almost sacrilegious to eat it, although any guilt was swiftly erased by joy.
None of this comes cheap – this is Mayfair, after all. But everything is so good, so plentiful, that you never feel taken advantage of. And the service is universally top-notch: warm, welcoming, free with a joke, and ever-attentive without being pushy.
In fact, for our wine choice, we gave ourselves over to the Swedish sommelier with a striking First World War pilot’s moustache, who recommended, at different stages, an excellent sake, Sancerre and Pinot Noir.
Halfway through the meal, we overheard the Maître D’ call him over to a table. “This woman has a problem,” he announced darkly, with the usual MA/NA Mayfair flair for the dramatic. Then, breaking into a smile: “She can’t decide whether to have wine or sake!” The sommelier pulled up a chair like a concerned counsellor and got to work.
The whole set-up is unbelievably assured for a new restaurant just a few weeks old. And the fact that it took them a couple of tries to secure a booking, and that even on a Monday, it was nearly full of diners spanning all ages and multiple nationalities, shows it has already become Mayfair’s hottest ticket.
Where: MA/NA, 30 Upper Grosvenor Street, Mayfair, London, W1K 7PH
When: Open daily from 5.30pm to 1.30am
Contact: https://manarestaurants.com