Wild Honey St James London

This is the reincarnation of the original Wild Honey in Mayfair by the same chef Anthony Demetre, who also owned Arbutus in Soho. This new version, opened in June 2019, is a lot more spacious than the first Wild Honey and holds a very pleasant waiting area and bar at the same time, catering for drop ins for food on busy nights. My drop in was spontaneous and I opted for two starters and dessert from the a la carte which totalled £39. They were small plates as a result but, the standard here was as high as I enjoyed and referred from the previous Wild Honey and so things are looking good here. Definitely, worth another visit for a more substantial meal and I like the fact they are open for lunch on a Sunday as well.

The menus vary from a very good value set menu of £23 for two courses, £27 for three courses and based on this first outing, I strongly suspect this will be a far better option and value for money than many other restaurants. The Sofitel that Wild Honey is next to opened in 2002 and although Wild Honey is a separate business, it is attached to the Hotel and accessible through the lobby as well the bustling Pall Mall.

The menus vary from a very good value set menu of £23 for two courses, £27 for three courses and based on this first outing, I strongly suspect this will be a far better option and value for money than many other restaurants. The Sofitel that Wild Honey is next to opened in 2002 and although Wild Honey is a separate business, it is attached to the Hotel and accessible through the lobby as well the bustling Pall Mall.

My meal started with decent sour dough supplied by The Bread Factory and my first course that was recommended to me was the Cacio e Pepe (cheese and pepper pasta) and this one served with boneless chicken wings. There was certainly no shortage of kick with the pepper but the cheese sauce was well done as was the choice to pair with the chicken. This was a simple & effective dish, with the chicken skin giving a pleasant crunch and saltiness to the macaroni.

I was not hugely hungry that evening so I opted to keep things light and have another starter instead of a main and was guided to the lacquered BBQ quail, turnip with peanut. This was an absolutely exquisite quail. The fire from the peanut sauce was definitely there and the cool from turnip ribbons was welcome to balance. The quail itself was gorgeously succulent and I ended up trying to scrape every last piece of meat off the bones. Cayenne pepper gave most of the heat from the sauce.

The chocolate soup was reminiscent of semolina in part (a good thing for personal preference) and the ice cream was a perfect accomplishment to the warm chocolate mousse. The portion size here was good and the puffed rice was another lovely touch for the dessert in general.

So, all in all, this was a very pleasant few samples and means it will absolutely be done again another time. This is traditional dining and for the better; no tasting menus and within its new setting, I think this is a lovely addition to the London dining scene. If a pre-theatre menu was added, I can only think this will be a superb move for those attending theatre performances on Haymarket or Lower Regent Street. But, will leave that with the restaurant to consider. Overall, I thoroughly recommend giving this a try.

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This is my third time to Wild Honey but only my second documented visit and I am glad to see that it is still doing what it does best – Michelin starred cooking for a reasonably price which I sincerely hope does not go away soon. The restaurant has been refurbished since my last time and the bar moved further down and on the opposite side to where it used to be to make more space and this is a good thing as it’s only restriction is its narrrow width. However, this adds to a more bustling atmosphere which will no doubt make a few first dates a little more relaxed if one came here. I do love the rounded sofa tables – I don’t think people comment on this when most will think the same which is that these do make a difference and are always nice to have at any time.

So on to the food of this visit – first impressions unfortunately were not great as the butter was hard which is a simple error, the waiter did not know what kind of bread it was or whether cooked on the premises and did not have the initiative to find out (he left it as a question mark) and I did not enjoy how large and hard the crust was. I know some will enjoy this, but it just makes it more of a real effort to enjoy so I was actually a little deflated on this opening. My spirits were thankfully held aloft when the crispy lamb salad which was absolutely lovely, as was the cod with pea puree and delightfully balanced jus.

So on to the food of this visit – first impressions unfortunately were not great as the butter was hard which is a simple error, the waiter did not know what kind of bread it was or whether cooked on the premises and did not have the initiative to find out (he left it as a question mark) and I did not enjoy how large and hard the crust was. I know some will enjoy this, but it just makes it more of a real effort to enjoy so I was actually a little deflated on this opening. My spirits were thankfully held aloft when the crispy lamb salad which was absolutely lovely, as was the cod with pea puree and delightfully balanced jus.

The sommelier did a good job of recommending a bottle of Sauvignon Richardson from New Zealand that did actually go well with all courses. I loved the puffed rice with the ice cream at dessert (childhood smiles brought back) and the petit fours were classic and equally lovely – fluffy on the inside but with just the right amount of naughtiness at the same time.

Overall I was very pleased and even though the opening started with dissapointment, the slightly higher moments during the meal puts the experience pretty much smack on par with the previous visit. It remains one of the best value restaruants in London at Michelin starred level and I will have to go back to the a la carte next time, to gain some overdue wild honey dessert. £61 each for a Michelin starred meal with a full bottle of wine to share with overall very good flavours – what more do you need for a worthwhile lunch?

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