The chef, who does make multiple visits into the room to finish off dishes.
What can you tell us about Bonheur?
There are two key elements to this new fine-dining restaurant in Mayfair. To begin with, this is the first solo restaurant for Matt Abé, until recently head chef at the three Michelin-starred Restaurant Gordon Ramsay. The previous chef to move on from that restaurant was Clare Smyth, and she's certainly done rather well, so all eyes have been on Abé to see what he's doing with his solo venture. The restaurant has also received some backing from Ramsay himself.
The other key thing regarding Bonheur is that it's opening on the site that was once Le Gavroche. Michel Roux's restaurant was a big part of London's fine dining scene, so there's been a lot of interest to see what was taking its place.
If you're familiar with Le Gavroche, you'll recognise this door.
Where is it?
In case you haven't been to the building in its Le Gavroche days, you'll find Bonheur in the northwestern corner of Mayfair, just a street away from Park Lane and closest to Marble Arch station.
So what have they done to the place?
It's been a fair while since we were in Le Gavroche ourselves, and as much as we loved it, even back then we could tell that maybe the room needed a little bit of a brush-up and an update.
Well, Abé has done a whole lot more than that. The room has been opened up and clearly has fewer seats than before, as is the way with many fine-dining restaurants these days. There's a much lighter palette throughout, and in all it's been completely modernised. There are touches of the previous restaurant that can be seen (the tables in the alcoves, for instance), but otherwise this is a completely new look.
The main dining room at Bonheur. It's a room that's a little tricky to take a photo that shows it off, to be honest.
If you were a big fan of the old look, this will come as something of a shock, for sure. Generally speaking, it looks good and it's a really comfortable space - we also like the way the columns in the restaurant are hidden by being surrounded by glassware. Our one comment would be that they could knock down the lighting a little in the evening, to help make the space feel a little more intimate.
Also, if you're sat near the door to the kitchen, be prepared to be hypnotised by the sliding door quietly opening every time someone walks near it, giving you a glimpse of the kitchen behind. It's a little bit of shame that the kitchen isn't being shown off a little more, but there is a chef's table available in there if you want to see more of that.
So what kind of food can we expect?
Much like the food he was in charge of at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, we're very much in fine dining territory here, with tasting menus of various lengths the main draw.
Their own description of the restaurant talks about it being "the highest expression of hospitality" and having "relentless pursuit of perfection", while his cooking is described as "ingredient-led and classically rooted, yet modern in expression". But stripping some of the more flowery descriptions away, it all boils down to being a very accomplished fine dining restaurant, which clearly has taken its influences from modern European cuisine. Essentially, expect a parade of dishes created with an incredible eye for detail, and delivered by a relaxed, friendly team (it's definitely not a stuffy place).
Here's a taste of what that looks like in practice, starting with snacks:
Any great tasting menu has to start off with unbilled snacks and these are a really good example of this. These include two little tartlets - a Bluefin Tuna Tartlet (buckwheat tart with Bluefin tuna, ginger, wasabi and kinome) and a Chicken Liver Tartlet (chicken liver parfait with pecan crisps and maple syrup). There's also a beef broth that goes down very well on these wintery nights.
It comes a little later on, but there is, of course, a bread course. Keep some of this for the sauces - there are many sauces.
As for the main event, we had the Journey tasting menu. That's five courses for £195 and frankly, that was pretty well paced, particularly with the added extras above. There is the seven-course Dream menu too at £225, and it's interesting to note that it's a completely different menu. So if you are a fan of the restaurant, you could try both menus and have totally different meals. There is also an "a la carte" option, which is three courses for £165.
Right now, there's no sign of a lunchtime special set menu yet, but keep an eye out throughout the year as they might add one once they're a little more up and running.
Back to the Journey menu, here's more of that:
This was probably the dish that impressed us the most, partly because you can see the work that's been put into it. Billed simply as "Quiche Lorraine", it's a shortcrust pastry tart with gruyere, black garlic, leeks, and smoked pork belly and finished with Vin Jaune sauce. Beautifully created and presented, this was a lovely spin on a classic. While we really enjoyed everything that came after, nothing quite matched this high point and it really exemplifies the whole "pursuit of perfection" goals of the restaurant.
Cornish Turbot. This is one of those dishes that looks deceptively simple on first glance. However, in it, you'll find a filet of Cornish turbot with nori and salted kombu, pickled celeriac, lobster quenelle with nori and black shallot, finished with a hollandaise and lobster vinaigrette.
Aynhoe Park Fallow Deer - a saddle of Aynhoe Park venison, with beetroot and pine, pickled wild blackberries and Pontack and venison sauce.
The fourth course kind of does the job of a palate cleanser too, but one that's much sweeter than these interim dishes usually are. It's sheep’s yoghurt sorbet with lavender and vanilla mousse, honey tuille and bee pollen.
And finally there's toasted grains for dessert. This is a toasted grain parfait with smoked chestnut ice cream, buckwheat and puffed grain tuille and finished with a whisky caramel sauce.
Is there a cheese trolley?
We did see a trolley making the rounds. It's not as mammoth as the legendary cheese trolley at Le Gavroche, but it's still a sizeable affair.
What about drinks?
There is one room that we haven't mentioned yet, and that's the bar upstairs. It's a small space, but we'd highly recommend stopping there for a cocktail before you head down for the main meal downstairs. They're all priced at £20-£22, which is pretty standard for Mayfair and the list is made up of their unique takes on classic cocktails. We can certainly recommend the martinis.
A look at the bar upstairs.
Their two martinis, both made with "freezer block" spirits. The Vodka Martini with Belvedere pure vodka and Vault Coast dry vermouth and The Martini with Cambridge Dry Gin, Schofield's dry vermouth and lemon oil. Chill rating for both, a respectable 8.
As for wines, being in the heart of Mayfair, we're in punchy wine list territory with prices up to the £1000s if you fancy, but your actual entry point is £55 for red and £65 for white, but the majority of the wines on the list in the £100s. We don't have details of the wine pairing prices yet, but expect those to come.
Overall thoughts
When Le Gavroche closed, there were concerns that the space would never be a restaurant again. But Matt Abé (and Ramsay) have completely rejuvenated the room. It's not going to please all the fans of the original, but it does work very well at bringing the space into the 21st century. As for the meal, sometimes tasting menus can end up being a bit much as they go on. But this was well-paced, with clever touches and attention to detail throughout and a warm service. We really enjoyed our meal here and can only see things getting better as they settle in. If you're a fan of fine dining, you'll definitely want to try this out.
More about Bonheur by Matt Abé
Where is it? 43 Upper Brook Street, London W1K 7QR
How to book: Book on the website.
Find out more: Visit their website or follow them on Instagram @bonheurbymattabe
Hot Dinners at as guests of Bonheur. Prices are correct at the time of writing.
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