Lilibets, Mayfair
Lilibet’s is an opulent, seafood-led restaurant on Bruton Street in Mayfair, occupying the site where Queen Elizabeth II was born in 1926. The name comes from her childhood nickname, and the restaurant is imagined as the sort of glamorous Mayfair townhouse the young princess might have inhabited. The menu is shaped by the Mediterranean, combining British seafood with bold flavours from France, Spain, Portugal and Greece. It is currently listed in the Michelin Guide, and I visited to try its set lunch menu.
The Details
The set menu is available Monday to Friday at lunchtime and costs £29 for two courses or £34 for three. It is a fixed menu with no choices, so you do need to be open to whatever is being served that day. However, the first course included both starter dishes, which made the menu feel considerably more generous than the price suggested.
You can stick strictly to the £29 or £34 menu, or add a few snacks and sides. I particularly like this format because it gives you some control over both the experience and the final bill. There is also a second set lunch menu priced at £50 for two courses and £55 for three, should the cheaper option not tickle your fancy.
Interiors
The interiors are easily among the most impressive I have seen in a London restaurant of late. Designed by Russell Sage Studio, the space imagines an old Mayfair townhouse where family heirlooms, treasures brought home from travels and newer pieces have been artfully layered together. Each section has its own identity, defined by changes in flooring, wall finishes and upholstery, so moving through the restaurant feels like wandering between rooms in a private home. There are floral fabrics, jewel-toned banquettes, shell-shaped sconces, woven horsehair panels and a marble fireplace, with no two seating areas quite alike.
It is undeniably maximalist, but it feels considered rather than kitsch. The opulence is offset by the relaxed atmosphere, and the different spaces give the restaurant a sense of intimacy despite its scale. The seafood bar at the back was particularly beautiful, while the bold blue women’s toilets, inspired by Sèvres porcelain and decorated with delicate floral detailing, deserve a mention of their own.
Sea bream carpaccio with lemon, olive oil & verjus (incl. in the set menu starters) at Lilibets Mayfair
Drinks
We started with glasses of Deutz Champagne at £16.50 each, which felt very reasonable for Mayfair. We then ordered a carafe of the house Gavi di Gavi which was fresh, light and well suited to the hot weather, as well as to the seafood-heavy menu.
A glass of rosé to finish was also excellent. The coffees were the only real weak point and felt slightly out of step with the standard of the rest of the meal.
Starters & Snacks
The set menu included the burrata and caponata, and the sea bream carpaccio. The burrata portion was incredibly generous, with a lovely creamy burrata resting on a bed of rich caponata, deep with the flavour of aubergine and sweet onions.
The sea bream carpaccio had plenty of lemon and extra virgin olive oil, and was bright, fresh and delicious. I’m not a huge lover of raw fish although this did have me reevaluating my preferences.
We also ordered several snacks which were supplementary to the menu. The anchovy éclairs were intensely savoury and tasted of the sea floor which we thoroughly enjoyed. The little gilda was strong, spicy and peppery. I enjoyed its intensity, although it will not be for everyone. But the crab tartlet was the standout for me: delicate crab with grapefruit, and pastry that tasted almost like a croissant. Delightful.
Caponata with Burrata (incl. in the set menu starters) at Lilibets Mayfair
Mains
The main course was tuna pasta ragù, which arrived on a large sharing dish in the centre of the table. It was very generous and unlike any tuna pasta I have tried before. I do not always love seafood with a cooked tomato sauce, particularly when it leans more towards passata than fresh tomatoes, but this worked surprisingly well. It was unusual and perhaps slightly divisive, and certainly not my favourite dish of the meal, but I was glad to have tried it and did enjoy eating it.
The waitress sold us on the side dish of lobster mash, which was completely unnecessary but absolutely worth adding. The rich, buttery pommes purée came surrounded by lobster bisque and topped with fresh lobster claw meat. It was indulgent, excessive and one of the best things I have eaten in some time. I would return just for this.
The lobster mash of my dreams, at Lilibets Mayfair
Dessert
After mains we were pretty stuffed, but not wanting to miss the opportunity to try their desserts, we opted to share the île flottante with gooseberry and hazelnuts. The meringue was lighter than air, with the sharpness of the gooseberry cutting through the sweetness and the hazelnuts adding a lovely toasted note. It was a fantastic combination and a lovely light end to a meal that had otherwise been fairly rich.
Service
Service was excellent throughout: attentive without becoming overbearing. The team were welcoming and explained the menu well (there were a few other options besides the set menu we were testing), and the meal moved at a comfortable pace. They seemed very passionate about their restaurant and at the end, they gave us an enthusiastic tour of the different zones.
île flottant with gooseberry & hazelnut at Lilibets Mayfair
Value
The value here is undeniably outstanding. At £29 for two courses or £34 for three, this is a very accessible way to eat in Mayfair, particularly given the quality of the setting, the standard of the service and the generosity of the food.
The fact that the first course included two separate dishes made the menu feel even better value. I also liked that the extras felt genuinely optional. You really did not need them and would still have had a perfectly filling meal without.
Final verdict
Lilibet’s is one of the strongest-value menus I have tried in Mayfair, and one of my favourites in this series so far. The setting is beautifully opulent without becoming kitsch, while the food is rich, delicious and full of personality. They are not afraid to throw you around a bit with bold flavours and punchy ingredients, and I appreciate that.
Not every dish was an outright favourite, but the overall standard was high and the experience felt generous from start to finish. The burrata with caponata and the lobster mash were the clear highlights, although the snacks were all very good too. The lack of choice is the only clear drawback. Some diners may find a completely fixed menu restrictive, particularly if they have strong dislikes. For anyone happy to trust the kitchen, though, and I recommend that you do, it offers a lot for the price.
This is exactly the sort of place I would like to settle into for a long, boozy lunch, or bring my mum for her birthday.
This review was written as a paying customer, but with a few complimentary extras courtesy of the restaurant.