Order a Napoleon Reserve from a regular Mayfair bar and, in line with industry standards, you are guaranteed a cognac that is at least six years old; ask for a Napoleon Reserve at Playboy Club and you might get more than you bargained for: as one of the best stocked bars in the world, they carry a bottle of 'Napoleon Reserve' dated 1796, a year bang in the middle of the French Revolution and three years before Napoleon would stage a coup d'etat and seize power in France. For this is no ordinary bar, rather, it is Playboy's downstairs lounge bar created by cocktail legend Salvatore Calabrese. It is unique bottles of this kind that allowed the Salvatore at Playboy bar win the prize for 'Best Drinks Selection in the World' at a recent industry awards ceremony in New Orleans. Not for the last time tonight I think, 'I'm in heaven'.
We're trying the house cocktails, a Spicy 50 (vanilla vodka, elderflower, lime, honey and chilli), a Japanese Peach Tree (Yamazaki whisky and peach), and the unofficial Playboy signature cocktail, Bunny Bubbles (champagne and raspberry). They are amongst the best cocktails I've ever had, perfectly balanced, no rough edges what so ever. In the Japanese Peach Tree, it's hard to believe there's whisky in it, the components are seamlessly blended and the drink has taken on an identity all of its own.
We're taking a moment after our tour of the club, conducted by VIP Bunny Host, Bunny Sara, who is charming and intelligent in equal measure. Work in progress for this tour, the old nightclub area of the building is being refurbished and replaced with a vintage champagne bar (Baroque) that is to open soon. Then there's the 'Player's Lounge' a general and sports bar with a casual atmosphere and a bit of noise drifting through from the adjacent gaming floor: as a club and holder of a gambling licence, there's an active casino with Blackjack and Roulette as the main games. Three card poker is played though sadly no Texas Hold'em, but perhaps that's for the best in saving me a small fortune on the night. There's the Dining Room, more of that shortly, and an outside terrace for smokers.
And while it is a private members club, it is at times open to non members also with The Dining Room open to the broader public every day for lunch, with the three course set menu including a glass of wine/champagne priced at a very reasonable £35. Worth mentioning, in case your minds are going there, it's a proper Mayfair club and there's no 'funny business' taking place within the club. While the Bunnies act as croupiers and will shuttle drinks for you while you are gaming, in the restaurant there are no Bunnies and it is male waiters who will be bringing you your food.
We're trying the house cocktails, a Spicy 50 (vanilla vodka, elderflower, lime, honey and chilli), a Japanese Peach Tree (Yamazaki whisky and peach), and the unofficial Playboy signature cocktail, Bunny Bubbles (champagne and raspberry). They are amongst the best cocktails I've ever had, perfectly balanced, no rough edges what so ever. In the Japanese Peach Tree, it's hard to believe there's whisky in it, the components are seamlessly blended and the drink has taken on an identity all of its own.
We're taking a moment after our tour of the club, conducted by VIP Bunny Host, Bunny Sara, who is charming and intelligent in equal measure. Work in progress for this tour, the old nightclub area of the building is being refurbished and replaced with a vintage champagne bar (Baroque) that is to open soon. Then there's the 'Player's Lounge' a general and sports bar with a casual atmosphere and a bit of noise drifting through from the adjacent gaming floor: as a club and holder of a gambling licence, there's an active casino with Blackjack and Roulette as the main games. Three card poker is played though sadly no Texas Hold'em, but perhaps that's for the best in saving me a small fortune on the night. There's the Dining Room, more of that shortly, and an outside terrace for smokers.
And while it is a private members club, it is at times open to non members also with The Dining Room open to the broader public every day for lunch, with the three course set menu including a glass of wine/champagne priced at a very reasonable £35. Worth mentioning, in case your minds are going there, it's a proper Mayfair club and there's no 'funny business' taking place within the club. While the Bunnies act as croupiers and will shuttle drinks for you while you are gaming, in the restaurant there are no Bunnies and it is male waiters who will be bringing you your food.
The bar at Salvatore at Playboy
Not quite Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite: 1796 Cognac
Salvatore at Playboy lounge area
Bunny Bubbles
The Dining Room at Playboy is headed up by Chef Judy Joo, perhaps best known for her TV work on Iron Chef UK. Cooking wise, she learned her craft within the Gordon Ramsay Group and spent time at Hospital Road, Maze, Petrus and Claridge's making her a contemporary of fellow London chefs Jason Atherton and Alyn Williams. What is less well known about Chef Judy is that she also has an engineering degree from Columbia University and has previously worked on Wall Street at leading US investment banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley selling fixed income derivatives. Even now, she can probably explain the European debt crisis to you and why Germany's TARGET2 surplus is disastrous for them if Greece abruptly leaves the eurozone. Put another way, this is one talented woman indeed.
The menu at The Dining Room is extensive and varied for the clientèle here is both diverse and significantly international as Playboy Club members can use clubs across the world. Chef Judy with both Asian and American heritage brings these strands together well with her classic Ramsay French training culminating in a menu of broad appeal. Indeed, narrowing your food choices down to a manageable level is the hardest part, and most kindly, Chef Judy allowed us to try a few extras so we wouldn't miss out.
The menu at The Dining Room is extensive and varied for the clientèle here is both diverse and significantly international as Playboy Club members can use clubs across the world. Chef Judy with both Asian and American heritage brings these strands together well with her classic Ramsay French training culminating in a menu of broad appeal. Indeed, narrowing your food choices down to a manageable level is the hardest part, and most kindly, Chef Judy allowed us to try a few extras so we wouldn't miss out.
the dining area
brown sour dough, focaccia
In the starter camp, I plump for oysters Rockefeller. Now, I'm mostly of the view that a simple raw oyster cannot be improved on but a plate of these would hardly be a challenge whereas the Rockefeller is a touch trickier. Mission accomplished however because the Rockefellers totally rocked. With the parmesan, mustard and cream fully dressing the half shell, even with the bivalve despatched, I found myself chasing the last of the crusty coating around the empty shell not wanting these flavours to end. A totally phenomenal start.
Elsewhere, an Asian style steak tartar brought Scottish beef together with Nashi pear and sesame soy dressing, pine nuts, garlic, ginger, mirin, pepper, lemon and salt served alongside black pepper prawn crackers. Having eaten all together too many steak tartars for recent blog posts, this was a welcome change up from the norm which is very much what Chef Judy does here, that is, putting her very personal touch and style in to familiar things and making it a little different, but never spoiling the essence.
An unmistakable Chef Judy dish is the Bo Ssam Buns being a steamed bun generously stuffed with thinly sliced pork belly, ginger and garlic marinade, cucumber and spring onions. This is a variation of a traditional Korean dish where the pork is wrapped in lettuce. The buns, made famous by Korean American Chef David Chang are huge in the States and Chef Judy has now brought them here. While we demonstrate initial curiosity - this is my first Bo Ssam after all - it takes again only a bite to realise this is an old friend with a new twist and thegorgeous Bo Ssam was soon demolished.
Elsewhere, an Asian style steak tartar brought Scottish beef together with Nashi pear and sesame soy dressing, pine nuts, garlic, ginger, mirin, pepper, lemon and salt served alongside black pepper prawn crackers. Having eaten all together too many steak tartars for recent blog posts, this was a welcome change up from the norm which is very much what Chef Judy does here, that is, putting her very personal touch and style in to familiar things and making it a little different, but never spoiling the essence.
An unmistakable Chef Judy dish is the Bo Ssam Buns being a steamed bun generously stuffed with thinly sliced pork belly, ginger and garlic marinade, cucumber and spring onions. This is a variation of a traditional Korean dish where the pork is wrapped in lettuce. The buns, made famous by Korean American Chef David Chang are huge in the States and Chef Judy has now brought them here. While we demonstrate initial curiosity - this is my first Bo Ssam after all - it takes again only a bite to realise this is an old friend with a new twist and thegorgeous Bo Ssam was soon demolished.
Asian style steak tartar
Scottish smoked salmon, Charlotte potato and herb salad, crème fraiche, lemon
Baked oyster Rockefeller
Bo Ssam Buns (pork, ginger and garlic marinade, steamed buns, cucumber, spring onions)
There's a lot of humour around the Playboy Club and we simply couldn't resist sharing The Hef Burger as an intermediate course, having already put a smile on our faces just reading about it on the menu. Described as 'rich in every way', we like aged beef but we hope that it's not quite going to be as aged as Hef himself; we needn't worry, this is a burger made from Chilean Wagyu with grade 9 marbling. Given that fact, the Hef burger comes at a Hef(ty) price (£36) and while delicious, I have to be honest and say that with my few Wagyu experiences, I'm not entirely convinced the extra costs incurred with Wagyu fully translate into an incremental enjoyment bonanza.
The Hef Burger
Somewhere along the line a truffle & cep mac 'n' cheese finds its way to the table. Here, the kitchen has been able to balance the truffle with the cheese rather than (as is all too often the case) simply allowing the truffle to overpower the whole thing. With a crunchy top and small macaroni beads, it's a great mac 'n' cheese. As we nibble, we're aware that our mains are still to come and we're filling up fast.
Truffle & cep mac 'n' cheese
My friend M accompanying me today had early on opted for a more conservative main with fish and chips though having now had a good taste of food across the menu admits to wishing he'd been more adventurous. I on the other hand had opted for the lobster and Cornish crab open lasagne which comes with a shellfish bisque. Again, everything here was right, the pasta thin and silky, the crab and lobster generous in meaty layers, a beautiful lobster claw on top and continuing the theme, another very rich dish.
The lasagne of Dorset crab with shellfish cappuccino is a signature dish of Michelin starred The Square and since enjoying it there back in 2010, I've been pretty much disappointed with every seafood lasagne tried subsequently. On one level then, I think I chose the dish here at Playboy Club knowing that it would given the kitchen a stern test against a ridiculously accomplished benchmark, but again, they came through with flying colours and no complaints from me. A very well realised dish, I'd even go so far as to say that I'll dream about this Poseidon of lasagnes from time to time.
Given how full we already were, the empty plate that was returned to the kitchen says it all.
The lasagne of Dorset crab with shellfish cappuccino is a signature dish of Michelin starred The Square and since enjoying it there back in 2010, I've been pretty much disappointed with every seafood lasagne tried subsequently. On one level then, I think I chose the dish here at Playboy Club knowing that it would given the kitchen a stern test against a ridiculously accomplished benchmark, but again, they came through with flying colours and no complaints from me. A very well realised dish, I'd even go so far as to say that I'll dream about this Poseidon of lasagnes from time to time.
Given how full we already were, the empty plate that was returned to the kitchen says it all.
Fish & Chips
Lobster & Cornish Crab open lasagne
Seeing our delight at the meal thus far, when it came to dessert, Chef Judy pulled out all the stops to end on a high note, sending out one of the most stunning tasting plates of desserts I've ever seen. Sweetly, she said she didn't expect us to finish it but thought we might like to get a full view of the dessert menu. I'm in another heaven now but cursing the devil that I'm so full. There's fondant cake with raspberry coulis, vanilla cheesecake, a signature 'Snickers' dessert (with peanut parfait, salted butter caramel, chocolate mousse, praline), there's a Knickerbocker Glory, a green tea panna cotta and a lot more. It was all so very good, and shamefully, we did almost finish it all.
Dessert tasting plate
chocs away
We were lucky enough to get to meet and talk to Chef Judy at length during and after the meal and found her every bit as impressive as her CV suggests but in addition, warm, down to earth and friendly with it. She clearly enjoys her role as Executive Chef at the Playboy Club and her enthusiasm for it and The Dining Room is contagious. And on the strength of the meal we enjoyed, she can also be justifiably proud of her team for faithfully and skilfully executing her vision.
Chef Judy Joo with the Bunny Julia and Bunny Natalie
At the start of the evening, ahead of entering the club, my friend and I met up in a pub and discussed the night ahead, what we thought and what our expectations were. We had the usual cynicism, discussed the merits of the Playboy brand all these years on and wondered whether the club could offer anything beyond the obvious attraction of the Bunnies. By the end of the evening, all our cynicism had faded and we were genuinely enjoying one of the best nights out either of us could remember for some time. Salvatore's cocktails were sublime, Chef Judy's food was astonishingly good and the service levels of all staff throughout the club including the many male staff cannot be faulted.
The environment is more inclusive than you might imagine and we saw both couples and all women parties enjoying themselves on our midweek visit there. Membership details can be found on the website if you want to enjoy everything the club has to offer or, as noted, facilities within the club are open to non members everyday for lunch. In conclusion, we enjoyed a truly first class night in an environment that is deadly serious about the customer experience but that is laced with good humour throughout, and we will undoubtedly return in the future.
Return to homepage
Related links:
Playboy Club homepage
Judy Joo's homepage
Disclosure: given the sensitive nature of cameras in a private members' casino, our visit was agreed in advance with management and a discount to our final bill was kindly given by the club.
The environment is more inclusive than you might imagine and we saw both couples and all women parties enjoying themselves on our midweek visit there. Membership details can be found on the website if you want to enjoy everything the club has to offer or, as noted, facilities within the club are open to non members everyday for lunch. In conclusion, we enjoyed a truly first class night in an environment that is deadly serious about the customer experience but that is laced with good humour throughout, and we will undoubtedly return in the future.
Return to homepage
Related links:
Playboy Club homepage
Judy Joo's homepage
Disclosure: given the sensitive nature of cameras in a private members' casino, our visit was agreed in advance with management and a discount to our final bill was kindly given by the club.
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