A kitchen with dozens of talented chefs, an obsessiveness with even the minutest detail and a charming front of house service – these are three of the key elements that help Gordon Ramsay’s Maze restaurant maintain consistently high standards.

The Venue
Grosvenor Square reeks of money; you can smell it in every corner of this high-rolling part of Mayfair. Maze, the infamous restaurant where Jason Atherton made his mark before departing to open his own Pollen Street Social restaurant, sits at one end and is divided into two spaces – the modern, slick fine dining of the titular restaurant and the Maze Grill, a slightly less fussy restaurant but one that nonetheless commits to posh dining.

The décor is reminiscent of a high-end hotel. Creams and browns provide the colour scheme, and high glass partitions with prints prevent prying eyes; they’re discreet but also impair views across the room. Gold ringlets curve round one end of the restaurant like a giant piece of bespoke jewellery from Liberty or Selfridges but, aside from that, there’s no artwork – something that would give them room more character - to speak of.

The Atmosphere
Maze attracts a mix of curious foodies, in to see what the current chef Alex Marks is doing on the tasting menu, alongside couples celebrating an occasion and flashy groups of attention-seeking girls and guys in suits blowing expense accounts and bonuses.

The Food
You can either opt for the tasting menu – 6 courses for £70 – or you can order individual dishes off the main menu (3-4 are recommended per person). These are divided into cold and warm; fish and meat. Whatever route you choose, you should definitely save room for puddings as this is one of most enjoyable parts of the sitting.

The first plate to arrive, a mushroom soup with a duck egg, is a dish you can find at many French-leaning, ambitious restaurants, but this version is outstanding: waves of wild, earthy, creamy mushroom flavours linger among the richness of the perfectly set yolk. Less successful is a Salcombe crab served with wasabi ice cream and traffic light coloured spots of grapefruit sauce, a dish that nods to the restaurant's 'French cuisine with Asian influences'. Top marks for experimentation but the contrasting flavours end up jarring against each other on the tongue.

The next two plates to arrive are a crisp-skinned breast of quail on a garlicky, buttery, slightly spiced bed of cauliflower, and sea bream (daurade on the menu) with squid bolognese and some fabulous chorizo. Both dishes are flavourful and cooked to very high standards.

The final plates include a meaty halibut with a zingy citrus coating, which has been caramelised so it’s almost like a melted down toffee orange - beautifully done. Another dish of veal with a truffle and artichoke reduction again shows a deft hand and a dedication to cross-hairs precision in the kitchen.

Two desserts hit the outstanding buttons. “There’d be a riot if I took the peanut butter with cherry jam sandwich off the menu,” head chef Alex Marks comments afterwards during a quick tour of the kitchen. You can see why when you tuck into sticky, crunchy peanut butter biscuit, the indulgent ice cream and the intense cherry sauce. It's a dessert for big kids to get excited about. The miniature lemon meringue pie is a thing of wonder, too, and it is served with an unusual but very effective basil sorbet.

The Drink
Glasses of Ayala are served for those wishing to start the evening off with a bit of fizz, while a comprehensive tome of wine from all the major wine producing nations also includes unusual selections from lesser-known countries like Germany, Austria and Switzerland. A French pinot noir has a smoky quality alongside fresh, ripe, juicy fruit for around £48 per bottle. Cocktails also seem popular in the bar area, where you can enjoy a drink and order a couple of dishes in a less formal fashion.

The Last Word
An iconic name with an iconic address, Maze has much to live up to and it manages to do so through an attention to infinitesimal details and a commitment to exactingly high standards, both in the kitchen and at the front of house.

venue information venue map view london review user reviews (13) image gallery (14) book a table