The Cocochine

Discreet elegance is the Cocochine’s stock-in-trade, perceptible from the moment you step into the ground-floor dining room or ascend to the intimate chef’s counter above. While there’s a palpable sense of luxury and ease, it’s the innate sense of hospitality from the front of house staff matched with the creative, inspired and personal cooking from Sri Lankan-born chef Larry Jayasekara that makes the place memorable. Jayasekara’s gastronomic signature is the artful incorporation of Sri Lankan nuances and seasoning into technically dazzling modern food, its roots embedded in his classical training in France and Britain. To get a glimpse, the ridiculously good-value three-course set lunch is a great intro; otherwise, it’s eight seriously impressive courses. Technique is used to enhance rather than overwhelm ingredients, and the result is a stunning showcase for prime British produce. A pick of the early courses was an enormous langoustine served over seaweed and green lentils, paired with Jerusalem artichoke purée and finished with a rich lobster bisque. Later, a dish of meltingly tender roasted sika deer with coconut sambal, chilli, beetroot soubise, a peppery nasturtium purée and a red wine jus, captured on one plate Jayasekara’s ability to tease flavours from ingredients and combine them into coherently delicious, strikingly beautiful food. It's normal practice for fruits seasoned with chilli and salt to be sold on rail and bus journeys in Sri Lanka, and the diced pineapple with lemongrass sorbet, chilli flakes, coriander oil and lemon balm proved to be a brilliant homage. A sensational collection of some 1,400 bottles majors on prestige estates from Burgundy and Bordeaux with astonishing breadth and value elsewhere. Prices start at £33 and there are two dozen by the glass from £15. It’s worth noting, too, that the top floor is where you’ll find ‘possibly the most sensational private room in town’.

3 Rosette Award for Culinary Excellence

Chef Larry Jayasekara launched The Cocochine in 2024 in relatively low-key fashion with an à la carte menu only. More recently, it has introduced a tasting menu that explores Jayasekara's Sri Lankan roots and also allows the ex Petrus by Gordon Ramsay and Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons to show off his considerable culinary chops. The Cocochine isn't a fusion restaurant, but there are subtle nods to Sri Lankan flavours and ingredients throughout. There's a Ceylon curry-inspired crab dish, for example, and a striking lobster course where native lobster is cooked in banana leaf. That's not the only thing that sets Jayasekara's cooking apart. Most of the restaurant's produce is sourced from a Northamptonshire estate. And it's not just vegetables - much of the protein comes from there too. The restaurant also has access to seafood from a private island in the Inner Hebrides. As a result, The Cocochine is one of the most self-sufficient restaurants in the country - not something you'd necessarily expect given its W1 postcode. On Bruton Place in Mayfair, a street where luxury whispers rather than shouts (unlike nearby Berkeley Square), it sits within a cluster of quietly high-quality hospitality openings in recent years. While the tone is understated, the luxury is unmistakable inside the impressive four-storey townhouse. The space is filled with original artworks from renowned artists — there's even a Matisse in the loos. Jayasekara's sleek, modern, fully open kitchen is also something to behold. Then there's the wine cellar, overseen by young Canadian sommelier Antoine Fournier. Valued at around £1m, it focuses on classic regions, particularly Burgundy and Bordeaux. Mark-ups are among the lowest in Mayfair, with bottles starting at £33 - remarkably accessible for this part of town and for a restaurant with such an overt luxury positioning.