Restaurant Review: Corrigan's, Mayfair

Rolled suckling pig, sautéed squid and parsley

You hear young children being told “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all”. It’s a mantra I generally stick to while I’m writing my blog, especially restaurant reviews. I don’t think of my blog as being in anyway influential, far from it. However, I would not like it if my own small business was slated on the internet and therefore I try not to do it to others.

Sometimes I just can’t bite my lip and this is one of those times. I had dinner at Corrigan’s last Saturday and, as you might be able to tell, I wasn’t particularly impressed.

What upset me the most was the value. Value isn’t about the absolute costs, but the relatively quality of what you get in return. We paid £100 a head at Corrigna’s. At The Ledbury, Medlar and NOPI we paid less and the food was better. To me they represented a lot better value. It felt like we were paying heavily for the Mayfair postcode and not getting much in return.

The second thing that annoyed me, particularly with the dessert menu, was the description of the dishes. They had names like Cox apple, malt, butterscotch or Chocolate & pistachio, salted caramel. Is the apple cooked or is it served raw? Is that a chocolate mousse, tart of soufflé?

Finally (and this should probably be the most damning, but I still can’t get over the value) is that I didn’t think the food was that great. My starter of rolled suckling pig, sautéed squid and parsley was the most disappointing thing that I ate. The squid was good, but the rest of the dish had no balance. Huge leaves of parsley and pieces of raddish dominated the flavor of the suckling pig. The cold and pressed suckling pig just seemed a complete waste of the little piggy’s texture.

There were some highlights. I thought that the old school service was the best I’ve had in a while. Ladies were served first and plates were served from the right and cleared from the left. I liked that they adhered to the principles of silver service that seem to have gone out of fashion

The buttermilk cream that came with my dessert was delicious and the Jersey Royal potatoes we had as a side order were pretty good too. Sadly, in my eyes, they weren’t enough to redeem the meal.

As you might be able to tell, I won’t be going back in a hurry.

Steak and kidney pie with rump steak

The rump steak was served closer to rare than the medium-rare ordered. The pie filling was solid with a mixture of textures. (There were tender chunks of meat and some finer pieces which looked like they had been pulled too.) I wasn't a fan of the hot water pastry (I think) which I found quite drying in the mouth.

Butter milk cream, blood orange, doughnut

The butter milk cream was the most enjoyable thing I ate all night. The doughnut was, well just a doughnut, but aside from that the dessert was good.

Corrigan's
26 Upper Grosvenor Street,
Mayfair
London
W1K 7EH