The main ground floor dining space, taking up half of the ground floor.
What can you tell us about Maset?
This is the latest restaurant from Melody Adams, until now best known for two Spanish restaurants, Lurra and Donostia, both mainstays in Marylebone and which have some of best Spanish food in the area. However, this latest opening sees her moving out of that Basque Spanish comfort zone, as Maset takes its influences from the south of France, particularly the coastal Occitania region. Mind you, that region itself has some Spanish influences in the cooking, so there's still a link to what's come before.
Where is it?
While Lurra and Donostia are opposite each other, Maset is in a different area of Marylebone, on Chiltern Street. Launching while Chiltern Firehouse is closed (at least for another two years), makes this a very welcome addition to the area.
What's the layout?
Maset has taken over what was originally two shops and briefly a wellness cafe. The two rooms are now linked by a bar in the middle. It works very well in practice, so you have two distinct dining areas. There's the main dining space (pictured at the top of the page) and the other side of the bar has a few more high counter seats (probably best pitched at walk-ins).
The other half of the ground-floor dining space.
That's not all, though, as there's more dining space downstairs, which can also be hired out completely for private parties. And there's also a hidden-away private table - you can just about see it behind the curtain in the image above, but here's a better look:
The small private(ish) room tucked away off the main upstairs dining room.
Where should we go for a drink first?
Another new arrival on the street, The Hart, is the perfect choice if you're looking for a pub nearby (albeit a very upscale pub). But it's well worth coming to Maset for their excellent cocktails. While the restaurant is predominantly for dining, there are a few places by the bar area where you could grab a seat before or after eating. Regardless, do not miss out on drinks like these:
Saffron margherita (tequila, saffron, £14) and a nicely balanced Preserved lemon martini (vodka, lemon brine, £15) - chill rating 7.
Onto the food then, what can we expect?
As we've mentioned, all the dishes take their cue from southern coastal France and are also influenced by Adams' travels in the area. Layout-wise, the menu is a fairly simple affair - snacks ("Merenda"), starters ("Commencer") and then "Les Plats". We'd say go for 2-3 snacks in addition to the main three-course meal. On the snacks side, we missed out on the beignets de brandade, and we'd recommend you don't make that mistake, but the following are also easy recommendations:
Bouillabaisse croquettes (£9) - the genius of putting the famous seafood soup in croquette form.
Panisse + anchoiade (£8) - perfectly crisp panisse chips, with a deeply fishy anchovy-heavy dip.
While you could easily move from the snacks into mains, as the snacks are of a decent size, we'd also recommend the following - perhaps at least sharing the first one:
Pâtes au pistou (£15) - that's a classic Southern France dish with the pasta coloured with spinach and a basil, garlic, oil and parmesan sauce. A must-have and not too heavy as a pasta starter.
Seabass crudo, fennel, yuzu (£15) - continuing London's obsession with all things crudo.
As for the mains, you can go for some of the much larger sharing dishes. There's an ex-dairy cote de boeuf (£90) which looked incredible when it was served to the next-door table. If you've ever been to Lurra, you'll know how good the group's steaks are so you won't go wrong with that choice. The monkfish and lardo sharing plate (£90) also looked fantastic, as did the whole Dover Sole with hazelnuts and verbena (£65). So any of those seem like very good choices.
We, however, made the decision to go with two of the mains more designed as individual dishes - but still in generous portions:
Lamb cutlets, salsa verde (£40) - gorgeous, succulent and much bigger than expected, really very, very good lamb. Given the salad element, it's also a relatively low-carb way to go. But we still think you should also get the chips (see below).
Chicken, farcis Niçois, barley (£30) - one of those dishes that tastes about a million times better than its description. Honestly, a must-order.
One more thing. We annoyingly forgot to take a picture of them, but want to make a special mention of the absolutely phenomenal hand-cut frites, which were perfectly crunchy delights. Regardless of what you're ordering, get a portion (perhaps two portions) of these on the side.
And desserts?
The profiteroles with chestnut cream were very tempting, but if you're only going for one dessert to share, it has to be the fougasse:
Orange blossom fougasse, vanilla ice cream (£11)
Fig tart, crème fraiche, thyme (£12) - an excellent tart on any occasion, but overshadowed by the fougasse this time around.
What about wine?
The wines here are predominantly sourced from independent vineyards in France, Italy and Spain, with prices starting at around £38, which is pretty standard for this little corner of Marylebone.
Overall thoughts
We've been big fans of Lurra and Donostia since they opened over a decade ago and while this new restaurant sees them going in a slightly different direction, it's clear even on our early visit that the quality is there. It's a warm, welcoming place, the menu works incredibly well, and there are plenty of outstanding dishes. It already feels very at-home in Marylebone and we can see this one sticking around for well over a decade too.
More about Maset
Where is it? 40-42 Chiltern Street, London W1U 7QN
How to book: Book online or call 0203 822 0808.
Find out more: Visit their website or follow them on Instagram @maset.london.
Hot Dinners ate as guests of Maset. Prices are correct at the time of writing.
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