Heddon Street Kitchen - Mayfair, London

Mayfair is Gordon Ramsay's hood. It's here that he launched his career in the 1990s, working at Le Gavroche with Albert Roux and Le Tante Claire with the inimitable Pierre Koffman… so it's nice to see him returning to the area where he cut his teeth as a rising celebrity chef to launch his newest project, Heddon Street Kitchen.

The restaurant is tucked away on the eponymous street adjacent to Aubaine and just across the thoroughfare from Piccolino. We visited on a Monday evening and held the door open for David Walliams and Jimmy Carr who were attending a private dinner party upstairs. The front-of-house was the consummate professional, quickly leading us to our comfortable ground-floor table before escorting the celebrities upstairs. We were very pleased with our lot.

Heddon Street Kitchen has been designed to resemble Bread Street Kitchen, one of Ramsay's most lauded openings. Spread over two floors, the room is replete with masculine design accents including splashes of neon, industrial stainless steel ventilation ducts, slick buttonback banquettes and dark wood tables unadorned with cloths. There's additionally a wine bar, cocktail bar and open plan kitchen, instilling the room with a dramatic flair.

Kitchenwork comes compliments of head chef Maria Tampakis, most recently of Bread Street Kitchen but formerly of the three Michelin-starred restaurant Jean-Georges in Manhattan. Her talent was certainly evident in the starters. Tuna tartare was given a spicy savour with chili garlic sesame oil, and complemented with some buttery, friable wonton crisps. Fried rock oysters were given a golden crisp panko batter crust and served with confit fennel and lemon on the half shell - they were some of the more accomplished deep-fried oysters we've had in London.

Moving on to the mains, spiced halibut was given a North African / Mediterranean interpretation, served in a casserole dish with piperade, chorizo, cauliflower purée and parsley oil. It handily demonstrated how a white fish can tick all of the boxes as hearty winter fare. From the grill menu, an English rose veal chop was chargrilled to perfection, the centre hot crimson with a black crust. Dessert was a bit of an undertaking after the generous servings dished out through the meal, but a chocolate fondant with mint chocolate chip ice cream, one of Ramsay's signature puddings, was a great note to finish on. It paired up elegantly with the Showstopper, a hard shake mixed with crème de cacao, Rosso vermouth, Branca Menta and vanilla ice cream.

For solid cooking, ample apportioning and reasonable prices in Mayfair, Heddon Street Kitchen is a strong option. Ramsay continues to show off his chops as a restaurateur, even when an international one.

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