It’s worrying. At the moment each restaurant I visit seems to be good or very good, perhaps I am just in the middle of a very lucky run and should wander down to the bookmakers and see if the good fortune extends to outsiders at Perry Bar. How can you expect more good luck when the Kiwis and Ostralians have already packed their bags and flown south leaving the Rugby World Cup mercifully free from their bluster and self-regard?

Wild Honey opened in July and by September it has already picked up one “Best Restaurant of the Year” award, (I suppose it’s just tough if you’re planning an opening in October, November or December). Mind you, it will be very good restaurant that is better than Wild Honey. This new restaurant that has taken over the site that was formerly Drones Club in Mayfair has an excellent pedigree. It is the second venture by those wonderful people who brought you Arbutus. The head chef  is Colin Kelly (who comes to Mayfair via Putney Bridge and Arbutus) and  the front of house is David Durack who comes from Knightsbridge fish Mecca One-O-One.

The food is the best kind of rich, hearty, honest, and downright delicious. Starters range from a terrine of foie gras, quince and hazelnuts; warm smoked eel, roast Provençal fig jam, and a raw vegetable salad. The braised pig’s head, potato purée, and caramelised onions was a classic of its kind; and the Cornish razor clams, shallots, chilli and parsley was a wholly successful dish. Consider the plat du jour: a daube of beef, salsify and sauté of ceps – genuinely worth a detour, a large lump of tender slow cooked beef, the salsify braised and melting, a few mushrooms adding an extra texture. Not merely poetry on the plate, but poetry with a good rhyme scheme. Then there’s saddle of venison with Savoy cabbage and roast turnips; or halibut with a mushroom risotto and purple sprouting broccoli. All really good dishes. You could also enthuse about the puds treacle tart; Savarin of Williams pears; wild honey ice cream.

As to the rest of the checklist, the room is comfortable; the service is silky; and the wine list offers platoons of wines by the 250ml carafe (like Arbutus) so you can explore a different glassful with each dish. Starters run from £7.95 to £13.95; plat du jour £13.95; mains from £14.95 to £19.95; puds from £5.95 to £6.95. Very competitive indeed for the heartland of Mayfair. There’s even a three course set lunch for £15.50. You may have gathered, by now, that Wild Honey is a stunning restaurant. 

Charles Campion

Wild Honey, 12 George Street, W1 (020 7758 9160)

Arbutus, 63 Frith Street, W1 (020 7734 4545)