There is always something a little uncanny about restaurants that are sat in the confines of a luxury hotel. Sometimes they’re ensconced in the bowels of the building, causing diners to pass through atriums and front desks and enter lifts with real guests, larping as the sort of person who can actually stay at, like, the . Others act as classy little shopfronts, separate from the monolith of the hotel, but trading in each other’s prestige. Mazarine, a French seafood restaurant in Hanover Square’s Mandarin Oriental, is the latter, though it didn’t stop me accidentally attempting to enter the hotel, surprised that some sort of anti-poverty alarm didn’t go off when I did.
Mazarine, which opened in November 2025, is tastefully decorated, maybe to a fault: beige and cream dominate the colour scheme, with pumice-textured walls and an undulating wave-like ceiling. I suppose for Mazarine’s general clientele - wealthy hotel guests and influencers with ring lights - this is the typical environment they operate in. ‘Mazarine’ the colour is a rich shade of deep sea blue, and the room could do with a splash of it. But while the style is a little underwhelming, there’s a great deal of substance in the food being served.
It’s been some time since I, or anyone, has seen the words ‘hors d'oeuvres’ on a menu, so naturally they had to get got. A ‘croque Mazarine’ with lobster and black truffle was carefully executed, considering the concept and capital-L-luxury ingredients. Same goes for a smoked eel croquette with comte, placed on a dollop of garlicky lovage gel and topped with horseradish, deliciously dab-handed.
A ‘croque Mazarine’ with lobster and black truffle was carefully executed
A smoked bonito rendition of a vitello tonnato changed the character of the dish, swapping delicate veal slices for almost peaty fish, with tangy roasted capers and immaculately crisp and wafer-thin salt-baked celeriac. A pared down tuna tartare had obvious quality, though was a little austere, dressed in slightly too much nice olive oil and not much else.
That Mazarine is obviously High End™ didn’t stop them serving a cracking Provençal bouillabaisse with classic seaside accoutrements: a psychedelically rich rouille and a massive thing of gruyere cheese. The ’baisse itself was thick and silky, little islands of fish popping up through the soup like an archipelago of luxury developments in the Persian Gulf. Dover sole meunière was filleted tableside by one of Mazarine’s exceptionally attentive and friendly staff. A side of fries was unnecessary but welcome, while grilled savoy cabbage with anchovy sauce and some extra bits and bobs, could be a proper dish in its own right, being one of the best treatments of cabbage I’ve had in recent memory.
A caramel mille-feuille was advertised with in-season strawberries but we appear to have been just out of season, because it came with figs. Not quite the same thing but still a great, hearty pile of cream and pastry that we came nowhere close to finishing. The wine was recommended by an extremely busy sommelier who, nonetheless, took her time with us and told us about her cycling holiday across Spain, where she found the crisp and moreish albariño we polished off. God has his favourites.
Mazarine is pretty bold-faced about its desire for a Michelin star - a member of staff telling us as much. With a couple of very minor tweaks, you imagine they’ll get one, and the Loro Piana-clad touristas of Mayfair will have another officially designated place to burn through their endless piles of cash. For the rest of us, it’s a place where a special occasion will be just that.
The vibe Upmarket French seafood in the Mandarin Oriental Mayfair.
The food Modernist takes on Provençal classics.
The drink Dig into a well-chosen wine list, or try the refreshing rose, peach and champagne fizz which will get you in the mood for a long, relaxing dinner, like a cool hand towel to the face.
For the love of God you have to get the savoy cabbage. It’s the savoy cabbage all other savoy cabbage wants to be.