Harden's survey result
Summary
Other than for a deeply cosseting afternoon tea, it’s hard to be too thrilled by this blue-blooded hotel’s luxurious conservatory dining room. Although it’s branded with the name of the famous NYC chef, it’s difficult to discern any trace of JGV’s fingerprints in the design of the ubiquitous, international-luxe menu of caviar, fish, posh pizza, burgers, salads and so forth. Of course, if you find yourself in Mayfair, and are sanguine about spending £30+ for a bowl of mushroom bolognese or shrimp salad, it’s a jolly pleasant experience. Viewed through a more demanding lens, though, it can seem “overpriced” for something with little in the way of distinctive culinary personality.
Summary
It’s primarily as an afternoon tea haunt that this Mayfair base for the NYC star-chef attracts attention in our diners’ poll, for its “excellent sandwiches and beautiful pastries that almost look too good to eat” (“staff always ask us if we would like more… we always do”). At other times, this plush conservatory serves a pretty conventional brasserie menu (with little hint of the south east Asian specialities that established JGV’s Manhattan reputation), and on which one of the most popular items is, curiously, pizza.
Summary
French-born, NYC-based mega-chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten is playing the British at their own game with a “most delightful and luxurious afternoon tea” – “perfect, memorable cucumber sandwiches” – served at his all-day conservatory brasserie in Mayfair’s Connaught hotel. The room itself, as plush as you might imagine, is “very impressive, very romantic, with impeccable service”. For more substantial meals, though, his diverse menu inspires a range of reactions – mostly positive but including the odd disappointment.
Summary
It’s as a site for an exceptional afternoon tea – with fusion-flavoured finger sarnies adding some brio to the traditional experience – or a “chic brunch” that this posh brasserie, in a conservatory addition to Mayfair’s most upper-crust of hotels, excites enthusiasm. When it comes to star NYC-chef, Jean Georges Vongerichten’s “unusual” main menu – from pizza to caviar via truffle cheeseburger (and minus the SE Asian notes for which the chef is most famous) – it can seem like a “stunning and relaxing” experience… or merely “overpriced”, “tired and lacking flavour”.
For 33 years we've been curating reviews of the UK's most notable restaurant. In a typical year, diners submit over 50,000 reviews to create the most authoritative restaurant guide in the UK. Each year, the guide is re-written from scratch based on this survey (although for the 2021 edition, reviews are little changed from 2020 as no survey could run for that year).
Have you eaten at Jean-Georges at The Connaught?
The Connaught, Carlos Place, London, W1K 2AL
Restaurant details
Prices
 Drinks |
|
|---|---|
| Wine per bottle | £60.00 |
| Filter Coffee | £8.00 |
 Extras |
|
|---|---|
| Bread | £0.00 |
| Service | 15.00% |
The Connaught, Carlos Place, London, W1K 2AL
Opening hours
| Monday | 7 am‑12 am |
| Tuesday | 7 am‑12 am |
| Wednesday | 7 am‑12 am |
| Thursday | 7 am‑12 am |
| Friday | 7 am‑12 am |
| Saturday | 7 am‑12 am |
| Sunday | 7 am‑12 am |
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