Lunch at MNKY House, Mayfair

And these are just the 'starters'...

If you remember my last post reviewing the brunch menu at MNKY house, you might remember my awe at the sophisticated setting, the incredible food, the impeccable service.... and the down right INSANE Belgium waffles with fresh fig and red fruit sauce.

So, when I was invited back a few weeks later to review their newly launched lunch menu, it didn't take two thoughts on whether or not to accept. I was there in a shot!!

MNKY House at Christmas 

Whilst I didn't think much could top the brunch experience, I was about to proved wrong. Very wrong!

Sitting down a Saturday afternoon with a glass of Rose, our eyes light up as we glanced over the Latin American themed menu of deliciousness...

Lunch Menu

"The dishes are designed for sharing, so we'd recommend ordering a few different options," the waiter helpfully pointed out. VERY helpfully, since Sana and I wanted pretty much everything on there! You'd be amazed at how much two little people can put away between them :P

Monkey time!

Eventually, we settled on four different starters (see what I mean!)....

Prawn Tostadas

First up, Prawn Tostadas. Three soft corn tortillas, toasted to perfection and topped with fresh prawns, a spicy yet manageable (even for my sensitive little palette!) jalapeño dressing, and lashing of purple potato mayo. In one word - DREAM.

Chu Toro Tartar

Next, the Chu Toro Tartar. Raw, cured tuna, topped with yuzu soy, samphire and crispy quinoa. Whilst I'm not usually a fan of tartar (I'm not one for creamy textures), there's no denying blew all previous tartar experiences out of the water. The crispy quinoa topping gave it a nice 'bite', while the yuzu soy was had the perfect amount of sweetness to add to the flavour.

Smoked Heirloom Tomato Salad

Third up is the obligatory 'we really should order some vegetables' dish. A salad, but not your usual salad, this one was composed of smoked heirloom tomatos, avocado, radishes and a morita oil dressing. OK, so I'm not going to lie and say it could QUITE compete with the cured fish and tostada options, but as far as a vegetable dish goes... it was pretty damn good!

Hamachi Truffle Ceviche

Finally, though, the highlight. It might not look like much, but trust me, if you go to MNKY House without ordering this, you shouldn't be allowed to leave. A definite 'must have' - the Hamachi Truffle Ceviche. Fresh yellowtail fish, topped with black truffle in the most incredible sweet truffle dressing, I think I could quite happily live on this for the rest of my life. Because that truffle sauce, it IS life.

Great minds order alike :-)

Just as we were polishing off the last few mouthfuls of our starters, out came our mains - two GIGANTIC portions of delicious, freshly cooked, chargrilled crispy octopus. Literally in heaven. Despite being my favourite dish on the planet, rarely do I find octopus on a UK menu - and whenever I do, it generally has that  bland 'I've been sat in the freezer for a few months' taste to it.

Definitely not at MNKY House. Full of flavour, perfectly tender with a slight chewiness on the inside, yet crispy and charred on the outside. Whilst the warm avocado puree it sat on wasn't quite to my taste (I don't like avocado at the best of times, let alone WARM avocado!), I would - without a doubt - 100% - advise you put it on your order!

We'll just 'look' at the desert menu.... PAH HA HA!

Absolutely stuffed and about to call it a day, we suddenly spotted some incredible deserts coming out to the table next to us, convincing us to take 'just a look' at the desert menu. Doh - big mistake, resulting in two big orders!

Dulche De Leche Mousse

First up, the Dulce De Leche Mousse. A sort of 'deconstructed banoffee pie' like desert, consisting of creamy mousse, banana, biscuit and popping chocolate candy on top, it wouldn't be the kind of thing I'd usually order, but after seeing it hit the table next to us, and hearing their yelps of appreciation, we couldn't see what it was all about. And glad of it, too! An extremely generous portions with what felt like hundreds of layers of different goodies, the more you ate, the more you uncovered, and the better it got.

Just look at those layers though....

For a couple of chocoholics, however, we couldn't leave without trying out that Smoked Chocolate Fondant. A rich, gooey chocolate sponge, oozing THE most incredible chocolate caramel sauce from its centre, with a side of cherry ripple ice cream, it was literally like we had died and gone to heaven. Chocolate heaven. And what better heaven than that??

Can we just appreciate that gooey centre, that ripple ice cream, that biscuit crumb? PERFECTION.

So, if you're thinking about dropping into MNKY House to try out their new lunch menu, all I can say is DO IT! Whilst the brunch was amazing, this was incredible and I'd definitely say - as a more upmarket establishment - it's the lunch menu, featuring the seafood, meats and rich deserts, where you get to experience their strengths the most.

Monkeying around :-) 

Like the majority of good things, lunch at MNKY House does come at a price - around £130 for lunch for two. Having said that, this is based on the dishes Sana and I ordered and, given we probably consumed about a weeks worth of food in one sitting, you could argue it was actually pretty good value!!!!

OK, so I'm pushing it a bit there, but genuinely if I was going to spend that on a delicious meal out, you can guarantee I'd be doing it a MNKY House. <3