Mayfair Pizza Co. New Bond Street

First things first: congratulations to Mayfair Pizza Co. for making my latent childhood dream of eating chocolate pizza a delicious reality. My parents dismissed me – ‘they don’t go together, Chris!’ – but years later, Mayfair Pizza Co’s chocolate calzone has vindicated my fledgling tastes. Filled with marshmallows, chopped hazelnuts and Nutella, it’s as though the kitchen staff are taking orders from toddlers. And it’s fantastic.

There’s more. Banana tiramisu pizza, though less successful in its brave yet questionable attempt to marry coffee and amaretto-soaked sponge with the pizza base, still intrigues the palatte. I miss out on the Limoncello and Lime pizza, and the wild strawberry and white chocolate pizza, omissions which I blame on the calzone, our firm favourite. I’m already planning a return visit. My partner inadvertently reads my mind – ‘I need to come back when I’ve got the munchies’, she muses indiscreetly.

On the one hand, sweet pizza isn’t exactly the most radical idea. As a basic concept, sweet pizzas are merely the exotic cousins of the more homely crêpe (itself closely related to the humble pancake). But Mayfair Pizza Co. deserves applause for serving such a light-hearted and distinct desert, in a restaurant which aspires to – and achieves – smart, formal dining.

Buried within the labyrinthine alleys of quaint Lancashire Court, Mayfair Pizza Co. is ideally central and yet benefits from an off-the-beaten track feel. But it’s the dining room that truly captures the imagination. Broad, high-ceilinged, abundant with natural light from the enormous panelled windows and accompanying skylight, it has a breezy, continental feel. The floor-to-ceiling wine rack dominating the near wall is another nice touch. It all makes for a lovely place to eat.

Even if the idea of having your pudding on a pizza repels you, Mayfair Pizza Co. has an impressive and honestly-priced menu of apperitivos and main courses which are worth visiting for alone. Our pizzas are crisp, light and fresh, coming just over the £10 mark, and baked in the adjacent wood-fired oven. My gorgonzola and prosciutto pizza is well-balanced, each of the toppings tasting fresh and in harmony with its partners. Service is snappy, the waiting staff friendly, and the wine list veers from budget-friendly to billionaire’s baby.

Good practice extends to the starters, which can be accused of being on the pricey side but not of being short on flavour. Bresaola is partnered with shavings of gradano padano for an almighty umami hit. Squid rings are a reliably precise indicator of a kitchen’s competency, and reassuringly the batter is as crumbly and fine as you’d expect. The rest of the menu is divided between Italian classics (heavily skewed towards the pizza, naturally) and a few grill-based options for sceptics.

Mayfair Pizza Co. does the simple things very well, adding a dollop of dessert pizza into the mix for the playful. While pizza following pizza is a bit much – there’s only so many discs of dough you can slice through – both the traditional and the sweet varieties are well-crafted, aromatic and light. So good, in fact, that you can pretend that you’re not just there for the Nutella Calzone. Which, of course, you are.

Mayfair Pizza Co.
4 Lancashire Court
New Bond Street
W1S 1EY

Tel: 0207 629 2889