Novikov Asian

Novikov Asian

 50a Berkeley Street
Mayfair, London
W1J 8HA 

: +44 (0) 207 399 4330
E: reservations@novikovrestaurant.co.uk

Novikov by its very nature is one of the biggest new openings  on the London restaurant scene in a while owned by noted Moscow restaurateur Arkady Novikov. The site of the restaurant comprises of an Asian restaurant and Italian restaurant and a super deluxe bar based in the basement. The opulence of the restaurant bears witness to the fact that it was a building site for well over a year and in this time they have been able to turn the space into one of the most stylish restaurants in town. Quite a feat when you realise where it is. On the corner of Berkeley Street, this is an area of London that has some of the most popular restaurants in town and since they have opened they have made it one of the most successful in town. The money reputed to have been spent on it would make most people blanch but to be honest its money well spent. And the clientele are just the sort of people who will make the investment worthwhile.. The night we were there it was evident that there was still a lot of money floating around, lots of tanned people, tanned in a good way and not a spray booth tan in site.

The menu's on the large side, so while you're working your way through it wondering what to choose you could have some dim sum to start - we left the choice of these to the waiter and he picked a selection of  Dim Sum  to start with which I think is always the best way to have Dim Sum, wait for the surprise. He must have read us like a book as they were totally delicious. In fact so good was his choice we let him order the whole dinner and not one thing was bad. The one that stood out for me was the king crab with wasabi dressing, its been a long time sine I have had anything so good.

The mood of the room is very cleverly executed, although the tables are very close together, the lighting is dimmed to such a level as to make you not that too aware of it. The furnishings in the room show where a lot of the money has gone and only goes to make the whole experience that more enjoyable. As you enter there is a bar so you can have a drink while you are waiting and also acts as a catchment area for those waiting for a table. This wasn't busy when we arrived but boy was it busy when we left.

As I said its split into three levels. The Asian restaurant is on the ground floor, then down half a flight is the Italian restaurant (also packed out) and the their destination bar being in the basement (ditto)

The whole evening was memorable, the company, the look of the place but the food really was second to none. All brilliantly executed and presented and plentiful.

They have lucked out also with the waiters. They have product knowledge coming out of their ears. This to me, shows that the restaurant manager knows what it takes to run such a smooth running restaurant as he has. They also looked like they were enjoying themselves which was good to see.

To sum up. GO, if there is a queue wait and if not dive straight in. I really cannot imagine you wouldn't have a good time. There are too many goods things going on there for you not to have.