Combining with Japanese, Chinese and Spanish cooking techniques, all can be enjoyed amongst the setting of bespoke hand-carved furnishings, Peruvian trinkets and contemporary artwork.
Some Mayfair restaurants can come across as being a little ostentatious and unwelcoming, but on a recent lunchtime visit to COYA Mayfair, we are greeted like long-lost friends and find the cosy surroundings conducive to a very long and enjoyable lunch indeed.
Settling into royal-blue velvet chairs with a glass of Champagne, our friendly waiter Antonio talks us through the menu. Packed with ceviche, tiraditos, chargrilled skewers and daily selections of fish and meat, it’s a nigh impossible task to narrow it down to a manageable feast. We leave it in his capable hands in the end and he picks out a great array of dishes for us. We start with guacamole prepared at our table and before we’ve even made a dent in that, the banquet commences with sea bass ceviche served with red onion, sweet potato and white corn; corn tostada with yellowfin tuna, seaweed salad and spicy mayo, pillowy bao buns with tender pulled wagyu beef and a truffle emulsion, and delicious yellowtail tuna and green chilli decorated with radish and orange tobiko (a Japanese flying fish roe). Bigger dishes come next including Chilean sea bass and chargrilled seabream, ají amarillo (a Peruvian yellow chilli pepper) and runner beans, and a side of miso-soaked aubergine. All beautifully presented on gorgeous ceramics, every dish is a taste sensation and we savour each one.
For desserts it would be so easy to order the top choice on the menu, orange and lime churros, but we’re feeling adventurous and opt for ‘tres leches’, a three milk cake with salted dulche de leche, and it’s sweet and soft in its simplicity. ‘Barra de Oro’ is a powerhouse of sweetness, a salted caramel and peanut chocolate finger, like a majorly upgraded chocolate éclair.
COYA has recently become synonymous with unique, handcrafted pisco infusion cocktails so it seems churlish not to try a pisco sour while we are here, and it’s the perfect palate cleanser. Surrounded as we are by happy festive groups of friends and colleagues, it’s really hard to leave our cosy spot, but we have Christmas shopping to take care of and Selfridges is conveniently just a stroll away. We make a pact to come back again once we hit the new year sales.
There’s still time to reserve a table this December and to make the holiday season even more special, COYA Mayfair will also be hosting its iconic Golden Inca Empire themed New Year’s Eve celebration, promising an unforgettable start to 2024. COYA’s NYE party will take guests on an immersive journey through Latin American culture with expertly curated Peruvian cuisine, innovative cocktails, music and the glorious gold decoration throughout the venue to celebrate everything that encompasses the true COYA lifestyle experience.
