I started this blog on my birthday back in February, and on Friday night I got to finally enjoy a belated birthday present from my wife - dinner at Maze restaurant in Grosvenor Square, Mayfair.
We took the opportunity to make a really decadent night of it - the kids were packed off for a sleepover at their Aunty's house, while we arranged pre-dinner drinks with friends and booked a 5 star hotel (cheaply!) on lastminute.com. We were most definitely having a night out!
Braving the torrential April showers on the way, we enjoyed some quality cocktails and 80s tunes at Mahiki with friends, something we haven't done in quite a while.
The cocktails at Mahiki We had to wrench ourselves away from what was obviously going to be a good night out, for what would prove to be an even better one at Maze.
The restaurant is in Grosvenor Square in the heart of Mayfair, and from the minute we walked in we were given top class service from a thoroughly competent and professional team.
We enjoyed a Gin Martini each, then with guidance from our knowledgeable and cheerful waitress I chose the 7 course tasting menu, while my wife opted for 4 dishes from the a la carte menu. Before you consider us complete and utter gluttons, a word of explanation: Maze is a "tasting" restaurant which means that all the portions are small yet perfectly formed.*
Our Sommelier, Jacques, helped us select "Flights" of wine to accompany our meal. If you don't know what that means (we didn't!), a "Flight" of wine is 3 x 125ml glasses selected to match your food. We decided that this was the most appropriate strategy, since we were having such a variety of food.
Jacques international background* and polished training, combined with his broad knowledge and open-minded approach to selecting the wines, meant that we tried several wine varieties that we would never have considered ourselves.
*He told us he has a French father & South African mother, to which my wife blurted out (much to her own amusement) "You must be confused!"
We then learnt that Jacques had been due to travel to New Zealand at the end of the year, to work at a South Otago winemaker. Unfortunately the business had recently suffered badly from the global downturn, and his trip had been cancelled even though he had just received his work visa. Through our own network of contacts, we're hoping we might be able to help him find another job in the NZ wine industry - I have his email address, so if anyone thinks they can help please get in touch!
Anyway, back to the dinner. To avoid turning this into foodie porn, I won't go into the exact detail (just have a look at the Maze website for the full descriptions). Suffice it to say that we were suitably astonished, delighted and thoroughly satisfied by the food and wine that we were served.
After the meal, I was even given a delicious portion of chocolate cake with a candle for my birthday to round the evening off, courtesy of our ever attentive waitress . Shortly afterwards as we wandered back to our hotel, we realised that we had been there for 4 hours!
I can thoroughly recommend Maze to anyone looking for a top class restaurant or a culinary adventure. It manages to deliver fantastic wine, food and service without being snobby or pretentious.
Now, I just have to convince my wife to take me to Maze Grill for my next birthday ...
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