With exotic locales around the world, from Dubai to Mykonos, how does the luxury dining destination translate to an urban locale?
Born on Psarou Beach in Mykonos in 2003, Nammos has built its reputation on a seductive combination of Mediterranean cooking, champagne-fuelled lunches and a jet-setting clientele. What began beside the Aegean has subsequently travelled to destinations including Dubai, Cannes, Limassol and Sardinia. London, however, presents a different proposition. There is no beach, no bobbing superyachts and little chance of a Mediterranean sunset breaking over Berkeley Street. Instead, Nammos London is attempting to bottle its particular brand of summer and serve it in Mayfair.
Officially billed as Nammos’ first urbanised location, the restaurant occupies a two-storey address at 15 Berkeley Street. The building previously housed Il Borro Tuscan Bistro, an internationally minded Dubai import that ultimately struggled to establish longevity amid Mayfair’s ferociously competitive dining scene.
From the pavement, Nammos London presents a surprisingly restrained face. A cream façade, striped awnings, white planters and palms hint at warmer climes. Inside, things become more recognisable. Curving ceilings, pale timber, textured walls and soft sand-toned furniture are illuminated in flattering amber light. Arched recesses glow along the walls, greenery sprouts liberally around the room, and a sweeping central bar provides the visual anchor. The design channels the Aegean without relying on blue-and-white clichés.
We are greeted by the unmistakable aroma of truffle upon entering a busy downstairs dining room. Tables are close enough to create atmosphere without feeling cramped, while the music builds gradually as evening edges towards night. Despite its reputation for excess, Nammos London feels surprisingly convivial.
The menu is similarly broad. Mediterranean cooking provides the foundation, but Japanese specialities and Italian classics create a globe-trotting selection of pizza, pasta, sushi, seafood and grilled meats. The approach mirrors the wider Nammos culinary philosophy, which combines Mediterranean flavours with Asian influences.
We begin closer to Greece with the Mediterranean Spread Platter, a handsome procession of hummus, melitzanosalata, taramasalata with bottarga and tzatziki, accompanied by warm, charred pitta. The smoky aubergine dip is excellent, while the taramasalata offers salinity without becoming overpowering. Tzatziki is thick, cooling and herbaceous. The hummus is the anomaly. Dry and oddly anonymous, it tastes more supermarket than superyacht and feels conspicuously ordinary alongside its companions.
Things improve considerably with the Baked Spicy Crab Maki. King crab, asparagus and tobiko arrive beneath a burnished blanket of sauce, producing a roll that leans unapologetically towards richness. Sweet crab and creamy heat make for a textural triumph, while asparagus provides enough resistance to stop the maki collapsing into softness.
Nammos signatures are present and correct, including the photogenic Aubergine Mille-Feuille. Crisp discs of aubergine are stacked with generous layers of feta mousse, forming a playful architectural tower surrounded by basil oil. The cheese provides considerable heft, its salty tang cutting through the fried aubergine. It is indulgent, robust and marvellously moreish.
Pasta brings further reassurance. Veal Cheek Rigatoni takes 24-hour slow-cooked meat and folds it through pasta that retains a satisfying bite. The sauce clings rather than pools, carrying the deep richness of the veal into every tube.
The Pappardelle Baked With Tomato Sauce And Burrata offers a sweeter counterpoint. Broad ribbons of pasta glisten beneath a vibrant tomato sauce, topped with bulbous pieces of burrata that slowly surrender their creamy interiors. Tomato acidity keeps the dish lively, although like much of the cooking here, generosity wins out.
Drinks continue that philosophy. The Hidden Guit combines feta-infused Belvedere vodka with passion fruit, lychee and rose, while the Red Desert brings together Don Julio Blanco tequila, blood orange, yuzu, lime, agave and sage. Both demonstrate that the bar programme is willing to have some fun, adding terrific twists to classic cocktails without becoming unnecessarily theatrical.
Dessert is pure Nammos decadence. The Classic Nammos Chocolate Mousse combines dark, milk and white chocolate in a vast bowl before being ceremoniously scooped and dolloped onto pristine white china tableside. It is deliberately simple, deeply chocolatey and built for sharing. In a restaurant associated with spectacle, its unfussy nature is strangely endearing.
Perhaps the biggest surprise is the service. Nammos once carried a reputation for exclusivity that could tip into pretension, yet little of that remains here. The team is warm, attentive and generous, navigating an extensive menu with confidence while allowing the table to set its own pace.
The fundamental question remains whether Nammos works without the sea. Mostly, yes. London can never recreate the sun-soaked hedonism of Psarou Beach or Dubai. Instead, the restaurant translates the brand rather than replicating it. There is glamour, certainly, but there is also good cooking, relaxed hospitality and enough energy to make a gloomy London afternoon feel considerably brighter.
With the recent opening of Nammos Resort and Residences AMAALA on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast also forming part of the brand’s expanding hospitality ambitions, Nammos is moving well beyond the beach club that made its name. In Mayfair, the tide appears to be moving in the right direction.
Where: Nammos London, 15 Berkeley Street, Mayfair, London, W1J 8DY
When: Open daily from 12pm to 3:45pm and 6pm to 1am
Contact: www.nammos.com