Lilibet’s

2 Rosette Award for Culinary Excellence

A century after the birth of the late Queen Elizabeth II, a luxurious seafood restaurant named after her, and loosely inspired by her, has opened at the Mayfair address where she was born in 1926. The original townhouse is long gone, but Australian chef-restaurateur Ross Shonhan (Nobu, Bone Daddies) has conjured a home worthy of a young royal – all chintz, ruffles, florals and plenty of pictures of dogs. It's camp but as cosy, comfortable and cosseting as a Sunday at Sandringham. Shonhan's menu seeks to please and amuse his imagined young princess with dainty anchovy éclairs, sugary princess cake, and mashed potato lavished with lobster bisque – dishes that this lowborn reporter found among the least interesting on a surprisingly high-minded menu. Shonhan and head chef Alex Harper (the Harwood Arms, The Ledbury, Le Manoir) know their seafood, and skilfully balance old Mayfair tastes (Dover sole with Café de Paris butter) with new ideas (red prawn carpaccio and lobster rolls), while opening a conversation about sustainability. Hake head, garfish and fluke count as unsung heroes, while 'triptychs' serve the whole fish, tail to gill, in three courses: raw, grilled and in a soup. Alternatives to fish abound, including delicate agnolotti filled with lemony ricotta, ribeye steaks and chicken milanese. As for desserts, expect luxurious old-school classics, from daily tarts and crêpes Suzette to chocolate mousse and strawberry cheesecake. For those wishing to dip only a toe in the water, the set lunch is good value at £34 for three courses. The cheapest wine, however, is £55.

Taking its name from the childhood nickname of Queen Elizabeth II, Lilibet's occupies a site that was once the address of a Palladian mansion that was the birthplace of the late monarch before it was demolished. Now it's once again a venue of beauty and grace having been transformed into a seafood restaurant that is a celebration of the past but also of London's high-end dining scene. The man behind it is former Bone Daddies founder Ross Shonhan, who has drafted in Alex Harper, whose experience includes time at The Ledbury and Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons to bring his ambitious seafood-led menu to life. Dishes are cooked over embers on the kitchen's impressive bespoke grill and includes oysters fire-roasted with aged beef fat and seaweed butter; or fried and served with yuzu kosho and preserved lemon; opulent seafood platter; and pasta and rice options such as lobster spaghetti; and baked rice with Spanish prawns. There's also a few curve balls along the way, such as a section for the 'unsung heroes' of the sea, with species such as squat lobster, sea cucumbers, and garfish on display in the restaurant's 'marinarium' and the 'fish triptych', an ingenious celebration of the whole fish in three preparations – served raw, grilled and then finally as an 'a la minute' soup with the bones cooked to order in a pressure cooker. If that wasn't enough, on the dessert menu is a prego - because after eating a lot of 'sweet' seafood all you really want is a steak sandwich to finish things off. Lilibet's interior been designed to subtly feel like a set of adjoining rooms as if it still were a private residency where areas had been renovated at different times - the floors, walls and ceilings have different finishes as you move around the room, but all still feel connected. Even Shonhan's now passed lurcher Cookie has been immortalised in the kitchen tiling as was the trend of classic English country homes of the time. As restaurant's go, they don't come statelier than this.