The Connaught Grill’s historical grill room now features new seasonal dishes, a weekly changing set lunch menu and reimagined classics in time for spring and summer, after extensive refurbishment.
Open from Wednesday to Sunday, the restaurant, overseen by Executive Chef, Ramiro Lafuente Martinez, celebrates British produce served from the restaurant’s open kitchen, with tableside theatrical touches such as carving and flambéing dishes on the original silver service trolley, used on the original 1955 site.
With a few dishes taken directly from the original 1955 grill menu, starters include grilled Scottish scallop with seaweed and herb butter; and heirloom beetroot with wood-roasted beetroot, avocado and chilli aioli.
Options from the raw section include just-shucked Gillardeau oyster from County Cork, yellowfin tuna carpaccio with mustard, fried capers and pickled shallots, and beef tartare with crispy potatoes.
Mains include Charlois black Angus fillet served with Diane sauce and milk-fed Barnsley lamb chop – all cooked on the charcoal grill.
Guests can also opt for A5 Ribeye Kobe from Hyogo Prefecture in Japan.
An array of seafood options are also available, from Isle of Skye Lobster, to signature seabass en croûte with artful pastry fish scales, carved and plated in front of diners.
Head Sommelier Imre Somogyi has curated a wine list, drawn from The Connaught’s extensive wine cellar, including vintages from Burgundy’s Domaine Leroy in Vosne Romanée and Riesling from Mosel’s Egon Müler Scharzhofberger alongside an extensive selection of Champagne from Bollinger to Pol Roger.
Highlight cocktails include a Tommy Simmons made with Billecart Brut Reserve NV, Everleaf Forest Bourgoigne Verjus, Sauvignon Blanc juice, grapefruit and basil spray and a Cherry Manhattan, which mixes Mitchers Bourbon, sweet vermouth, tonka bitters and Sangue Morlacco.
The Connaught Grill has been redesigned with by George Nakashima Woodworkers with a nod toward the heritage of the site.
Handcrafted American black walnut runs throughout the space – in the structure of the dining booths, the free-form edge tables, signature Conoid chairs, and the solid back panels.
All the wood was carefully chosen, polished, cut and trimmed in the Nakashima workshop in Pennsylvania and assembled at The Connaught under the watchful eye of the late woodworker, architect and furniture maker’s daughter, Mira Nakashima.
The Connaught Grill is open for dinner from Wednesday to Sunday and for lunch from Thursday to Sunday. Bookings can be made on the website.