Mimi Mei Fair
Address: 55 Curzon St, London W1J 8PG
Nearest Tube: Green Park
Buzz Factor 4/5 stars
Food 4.1/5 stars
Value for money 3.8/5 stars
4 Yummy Stars
Price dim sum: £6.50-£20; soup/starters: £8-£28; mains: £21-£49; vegetable and tofu: £11-18; desserts: £8-£10 (at time of writing)
Mimi Mei Fair opened to much fanfare in the autumn of 2021, painting a colourful picture of a menu revealing the culinary secrets of Empress Mimi, whose existence has been doubted by some. The food is curated by Executive Chef, Peter Ho, who has worked in Michelin-starred Lei Garden Singapore, My Humble Kitchen Beijing, HKK and Hakkasan London. Instagram photo-ready food is presented in the uber glamorous interiors. Is it worth your hard-earned cash?
Cocooned in a townhouse in the middle of Mayfair, its small frontage gives away very little. Behind the dinky reception lies a row of wood-panelled booths where you feel as if you have been airlifted onto the Orient Express. Up the narrow stairs, a different world opens up. You step into a bygone era of old China with a kaleidoscope of vivid colours cheerfully greeting you. A Georgian house, with its glorious cornicing, has been transformed into a sophisticated and beguiling setting. It has the vibe of an exclusive club with a pink-themed room and a green-themed room, brightly painted doors and Venetian glass chandeliers.
The vibrant interiors has spilled over to its individually coloured “Xiao Long Jewels”, comprising chicken, chilli crab, king prawn, purple yam and pork soup dumplings. Their daintiness belied the flavoursome soup enveloped inside the dumplings. Having at least 2 with the same filling would have made sharing these a little easier, obviating the need to be polite...
As is traditional with dim sum, we ordered Chinese tea. Whoever made the tea should have gone to SpecSavers, as the very few tea leaves in the pot did little to make it taste like a proper brew. More infuriating was the fact that the waiting staff declined to refill the pot with hot water, as is the custom in Chinese restaurants. Service was otherwise perfectly adequate; staff were attentive, courteous and helpful with menu explanations.
Lunch continued apace with Wagyu beef puff which offered a superb mouthfeel, with tender beef, buttery flaky pastry and soothing heat from the peppery notes, though the price tag of £16 for 3 mouthfuls was less soothing. If you haven’t tried sea urchin before, their Sea Urchin turnip puffs would be an indulgent introduction. The crunchy layers of the outer casing were a perfect receptacle to the sweetness from the turnip and the creaminess of the sea urchin with a gentle minerality.
The Spicy Sichuan wontons were also pleasant, offering manageable pungency. The Peking Duck bao had a smidgen of duck and to me, did not taste much like Peking duck particularly when paired with a barbeque sauce.
Peking Duck is a dish that I wouldn’t normally like to miss. I pre-ordered half of one (as is acceptable at another esteemed Chinese establishment) on reserving a table. Sadly, no one from the restaurant contacted me to say that it was a “no can do” situation and only a whole duck could be ordered. We were otherwise rewarded by a stonkingly scrumptious meal with dishes including beautifully cooked succulent Baked Chilean Seabass, tickled by sweetness from the raw flower honey, and Black Pepper Beef with all that piquant goodness. Of equal deliciousness were the Claypot Black Bean Aubergine, sponging the flavours from the chilli, garlic and spring onion, as well as the earthy Braised Truffled ‘Trio’ of Mushroom (of shimeji, shiitake & eryngi). The pièce de resistance came in the Singapore Chilli Prawn. The sambal sauce was a real hit, both in terms of taste and heat. This was a dish delivered with aplomb by Chef Peter Ho (from Singapore) who cleverly accompanied it with gently fried sesame mantou cigars. These dough sticks were a perfect implement for dipping into and in my case, scouping up the sensational sauce.
With high quality ingredients treated with such care and attention and superb cookery, all was forgiven. We will return for a whole Peking Duck at Mimi Mei Fair, a sparkling multifaceted jewel in the fiendishly dining competitive space of Mayfair.
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