Apr 27, 2016

Best Mayfair Restaurants

Mayfair is awash with fabulous restaurants for business lunches and dinners. What’s less well known is that many of the top restaurants in the area also have private rooms designed specifically to cater for their corporate clients – whether that’s a working lunch meeting, a post deal celebration, business dinner, board meeting or networking event.

Boardroom favourites

Mayfair in particular has some truly special venues in this genre. From Corrigan’s, with its stunning board room style private room, designed in an elegantly traditional décor, the Lindsay Room is perfect for up to 30 guests who want a luxurious feel around a stunning oval table. We also love the private room at The Square – with its deep blue décor and modern art, it’s the perfect space for a discrete two Michelin-starred lunch or dinner and is often used by the local businesses for deal-making and celebrations. For 8-18 guests, especially useful is the fact that guests do not need to walk through the restaurant to get to the private room, as it’s located just before the bar.

A Berkeley Square favourite has long been the Michelin-starred Benares. The Asian- influenced style creates a chic & timelessly elegant space no matter what time of day or year. There’s a variety of private rooms from The Chef’s table for smaller parties of up to 6 guests to the Berkeley Room (16) and larger Dover Room for larger business dinners or lunches up to 36 – all have boardroom-style long tables.

At wine merchant’s Berry Bros & Rudd the Townhouse boardroom can seat up to 14 in plush comfortable surroundings and ultimate discretion, while the myriad of other rooms within the site enables meetings and break out facilities as well as the opportunity to have a wine tasting pre or post meal.

But perhaps our favourite hidden gem for this type of business meet is the private room for up to 14 within The Wolseley – with views over the restaurant, The Ritz and The Strand, it’s first floor location is so discrete that it’s easy to miss but a fantastic domed ceiling and central table gives the feeling of being inside a Faberge egg. Perfect for those who want to see, but not be seen.

Semi-private options

For more exposed corporate dining – sometimes it’s nice to feel part of the restaurant and soak up some of its ambience – a semi-private area can be perfect.

Avenue and Sartoria both have great rooms with glass panels providing a combination of privacy and ambience.  Avenue’s private room seats up to 20 and offers a specially designed two course business lunch menu (£25pp), while in Sartoria, the two rooms (for up to 24 each) can have their glass panels open or closed depending on the type of event and level of privacy required.

At Maze, the Somerton and Hampton private rooms upstairs are ideal for private meetings up to 40, while the Dalby room is used for more intimate meetings and business dinners for up to 10. For semi-private dining, Maze View and Butcher’s Block areas are often requested for their great views of the kitchen and main restaurants.

Iconic British

Iconic British institutions of Scott’s & Bentleys are sometimes perceived as more old school favourites, but we find that they are also supremely popular with younger businessmen too, because of their exemplary service and food – providing top British fish, seafood & meat time and again.

Scott’s timelessly elegant room can seat from 12-40 and there’s no room hire, while Bentley’s offers the Crustacea Room for up to 12 guests and the two Swallow Street Rooms for 60 altogether or less when broken into reception, meeting, and dining areas.

For more relaxed and feminine ambience Hush’s Silver Room for up to 40 is located just off the main bar area. It’s the perfect space for networking or a relaxed business lunch for the many fashion, beauty and lifestyle businesses nearby.

And finally – one that may sometimes be overlooked on account of it being a ‘private club’ is the Fox Club – with its separate building with two self-contained private rooms, perfect for small meetings and intimate dinners from 10 – 30 guests. It’s possible to hire separately or together, using one as the meeting room and the other for the meal. Both rooms have stunning original features and huge windows letting in natural daylight –always a plus for keeping the creative juices flowing.