Mayfields

A friend suggested eating here and i had heard good things so was happy to give it a try. The menu was interesting but some of the ingredients made me think that they were included to show off rather than for flavour. I was forced to try new things with the menu as there wasn’t a straight forward dish on it. Great friendly service and with such a small restaurant it was a tight squeeze but a nice setting. I wasn’t sure whether i just made bad menu choices or its was badly put together. I had the scallop for start which was fine but the lemon sole, daikon, citrus butter and liquorice was vile. It was incredibly sweet, sickly and overpowering. My friends didn’t have great meals either so we won’t be returning.

I’m really surprised by the rave reviews thus far… I went for dinner for two here and we each just ordered a main as we didn’t think we were that hungry and the costs were pretty high for Hackney (approx £15 for a fish main) and the amount of food we got was so tiny that we ended up eating more elsewhere later! The fish that I ordered was pretty plain and the flavour combos just didn’t really work.
I had heard mixed reviews previously, so maybe we just managed to get there on an off day, but it seemed very overpriced and not at all worth it, especially when there are so many other good restaurants in the area.

Mayfields had been on my restaurant todo list since receiving glowing reviews from Chris Pople and Jay Rayner when it opened last year. I managed to finally make it along last night, and it lived up to my expectations and more. The menu is a sharing style, and they recommend two plates per person, so with only eight dishes on the menu, we managed to try all but two. The menu changes fairly regularly, but last night it was heavy on the fish, which suits me. The brill, lemon sole and mackerel were all excellent. The lamb dish was cooked perfectly, and served with sweetbreads, which I’m sometimes not a fan of, but last night’s were very tasty. Of the two asparagus dishes, we went for the white one, which was served with parmesan cream, egg yolk, and delicately wrapped in lardo. To accompany the meal, we were brought lots of delicious bread with good quality olive oil. We finished the meal off with a milk sorbet with ginger granita, which was an excellent palate cleanser. The wine was excellent, and the meal for three with a bottle of wine and service (which was very friendly) came to only £95. Highly, highly recommended.

Went for dinner on Wednesday and when we arrived early it was quiet and debated coming back later but glad we went in. The food quality and combinations were so good. We had around 4 starter plates and two if the larger mains, wine, beer, apéritif and desert and it still was less than a fairly mediocre restaurant in angel the week before. Some flavour combos were less successful but worth a visit. The service was relaxed and pleasant and well worth a visit.