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Review: The Grill at the Dorchester
The Grill at the Dorchester has a new, easy-going atmosphere, but the food is serious: from punchy beef wellington to grown-up tarte tatin, says Dan McEvoy
The Dorchester has been a byword for Mayfair opulence ever since it opened in 1931, and its newly revamped restaurant The Grill is a fitting tribute to this history of classic style. Under new culinary director Martyn Nail, formerly executive chef at Claridge's, The Grill delivers timeless, familiar dishes with class and elegance in a setting that is at once flamboyant and welcoming.
The décor has been tweaked; red leather-trimmed circular booths and a fantastical embellishment on the chandelier add a touch of modernity to this mood-lit space, just off the hotel’s bright white atrium. Opposite the entrance, the open kitchen is now backed by copper rather than wooden panels, which catch the low-lighting appealingly and add a focal point to the room. It’s all quite fun; the children on the table next to us have been given mock chef’s hats, and Ronnie Scott’s jazz club has a residency here – though on the night I visited the playlist was an eclectic mix of easy-listening jazz, blues, swing and some modern, poppier fare.
This is the Dorchester, though, and these easy-going, modern touches are still playing out in a grand setting. They might have funked up the chandelier, but they haven’t removed it. Most of the restaurant’s design has remained unchanged: shimmering brass panels adorn the walls.
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Crucially, the menu also reflects a more relaxed setup. This isn’t the place for the sort of fiddly morsels that characterise many fine dining restaurants; the new-look Grill is happy to leave that to Alain Ducasse, and instead offers a robust, indulgent spread of popular favourites – steaks, seafood platters, rack of lamb and the like – done exceptionally well.
Perhaps it’s the extravagant surroundings that led me, like the gluttonous fool I am, to dive rashly into ordering the Welsh rarebit crumpet (£15) to start and the beef wellington (£125 for a two-person portion) for my main, without sparing a thought for the amount of dough I was committing myself to. Thankfully, the crumpet is heavenly: light, fluffy and zingy with the tang of good cheese and plenty of Worcestershire sauce. I also sampled the beetroot and goat’s curd salad (£16), which would have been an astute choice if I’d been in a less indulgent mood: refreshing, tender and slightly-sweet beetroot with smooth, creamy goat’s curd, the natural nuttiness of which is amplified by pecans and radicchio.
(Image credit: The Dorchester Collection)
The welly is solid; golden pastry encases a spinach crepe and a chicken mousse that sings with herbs, all wrapped around a perfectly cooked slab of tender beef. Accompanying is a thick, glossy red wine sauce which, fittingly, carries plenty of welly itself, and a creamy, well-rounded bearnaise. Both of these work well with the wellington in isolation, but if you’re the type to mix and match I found them even better combined. On the side, we ordered roasted Cornish new potatoes (£7) and grilled green beans in sun-dried tomato butter (£8). The beans were great - tender and bouncy with a bit of natural sweetness that the tomato helped bring through. The potatoes were a revelation. Without wanting to give away any trade secrets, these are effectively triple-cooked new potatoes that have been expertly crushed and crisped along the way; the outside is perfectly crunchy, the inside exquisitely soft.
For afters, I chose apple tarte tatin (£15). This is a very grown-up rendition of what I’ve always considered an indulgently sweet dessert; no thin, flaky slice of caramel here, but rather a deep chunk of tender, paper-thin apple ribbons, drizzled with calvados for a touch of boozy bitterness. The chocolate mousse (£12) is also top class: intense and warming with deep chocolate flavour and a smooth, airy texture.
(Image credit: The Dorchester Collection)
The ethos behind The Grill is to create a place that people enjoy, and want to come back to. A simple enough goal on paper, but the execution behind it, from the friendly, attentive staff through to the fine details (like the elaborate tea strainer with which I grappled like a chimpanzee presented with a rudimentary puzzle), is carried off superbly.
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Dan is a financial journalist who, prior to joining MoneyWeek, spent five years writing for OPTO, an investment magazine focused on growth and technology stocks, ETFs and thematic investing.
Before becoming a writer, Dan spent six years working in talent acquisition in the tech sector, including for credit scoring start-up ClearScore where he first developed an interest in personal finance.
Dan studied Social Anthropology and Management at Sidney Sussex College and the Judge Business School, Cambridge University. Outside finance, he also enjoys travel writing, and has edited two published travel books.
