On the seventh day of London Luxury week, MenStyleFashion visited the Novikov Restaurant & Bar. Located in the heart of Mayfair, Novikov Restaurant & Bar has two distinct restaurants – Novikov Asian and Novikov Italian as well as one stylish Lounge Bar. This Russian owned opulent bar and restaurant is the place to be seen in, with also royals like Prince Harry a frequent visitor.
Asian Food Market Display
As we took our seats at the Asian restaurant, the first thing that feasted our eyes on was a neat display of fresh fruits and vegetables, red peppers, yellow lemons, green avocado, grey mushrooms. The colours were so bright and smells so fruity that you will find yourself is in a excellent mood before you actually eating. Also, there were all kinds of seafood including cuttlefish, black grouper, crab, red mullet, etc. which were all imported from Portugal. They were extremely fresh and I know this because I observed the eyes of the red mullet fish which were clear and had distinct features. This is a small trick of ‘How to distinguish a fish is fresh’ that I learned from a trip to Malaysia in a local seafood market.
Glass Open Kitchen
You will also notice that there is a giant open kitchen that cannot be overlooked. The kitchen was entirely made of glass so you could clearly see the Asian chefs were busy preparing the delicate cuisine. The smoke was in full swing. You will definitely love the cozy and warm atmosphere here especially in a harsh cold winter in London.
See the chefs at work, through the glass open kitchen. Notice the fresh food on display.
According to the manager, the open kitchen evoked the atmosphere of Asian food market. The food market contains the food culture in every Asian country. Take Southern China for example, the food market brings together the most authentic local flavours and textures. In Taiwan, even the president would like to visit the food market frequently to enjoy the homemade cuisines. Furthermore, since the ingredients come from the local market they were generally affordable prices.
Chili truffles.
The Highlights
The dishes are served one by one. We were served specific salad, the British wild crab soup and the amazing beef tacos. For me, the most surprising dish was the Cantonese dim sum. As a big fan of dim sum, I found the the chef really grasped the essence of Chinese dim sum – extremely exquisite in a small amount; thin-skinned and a rich stuffing.
The typical one, shrimp & coriander dumpling, is rich in stuff but thin in skin. Almost transparent, the skin looked like jelly but was actually made by flour. All you need is to taste a small amount and the feeling will stay with you long after your meal!
Taking into account that London is a ‘world city’ and guests are almost from every country in the world, the chefs in Novikov’s Asian restaurant creatively combined the Eastern and Western flavours to make this pan-Asian and international cuisine.
In addition, we were pleased to be served a dessert called Mochi Selection containing Coconut, Pineapple, Green Tea, Salted Caramel And Mango. This dessert is originally from Hong Kong though there is another argument saying that it has been available as early as about 1960 in Singapore!
Mochi Selection containing Coconut, Pineapple, Green Tea, Salted Caramel And Mango
With the smooth, slightly flexible cool skin matched the melted sweet jam, it brought you a refreshing taste that you will never have experienced before.
In a word, Novikov Asian restaurant is rewarding for you to spend a specific evening to enjoy the essence of whole Asian cuisine culture. See my video review here of the whole experience.
Details
- Website: www.novikovrestaurant.co.uk
- Address: 50A Berkeley St, London W1J 8HA, United Kingdom
- Phone: +44 20 7399 4330
