Just St James – Infusing Style and Substance

Situated slap bang in the middle of London’s navy-blue suit wearing, Champagne guzzling, blonde foppish hair-swinging heartland, Just St James sits doing what all good Mayfarians do – wearing its wealth on its sleeve.

The building is a cavernous, opulent ex-Lloyds bank which, our host was more than happy to explain, was built in 1903 and at the time the cost of the Italian marble alone was in excess of £4 million. Impressive stuff.

My date and I have a quick drink in the bar prior to our dinner, and as it’s 6.45pm on a weekday it’s perhaps not surprising that its full of suits and secretaries. But the atmosphere is okay and much less testosterone-heavy or threatening than it would perhaps be if the place were picked up and carried a couple of miles down the road to The City.

The bar menu boasts a huge range of cocktails, spirits, wines and some barfood, but what’s more impressive are the prices: Cocktails start at £8 and a glass of wine could be yours for just £4.50. Hardly a bargain, you might argue, but when you think that in this part of town it’s nigh on impossible to get a glass of wine in a crappy pub for less than £6, suddenly it seems more reasonable.

The restaurant section is slightly raised and separate enough to ensure your meal isn’t spoilt by a group of braying young men, but not so separate that you can’t watch (and laugh at) them. The menu is slightly confusing as there are a few different ‘menus’ all boxed as distinct, yet all merged on the same large sheet. These are the grill dishes, the vegetarian options, the set menu, the light bites/starters section and the seasonal recommendations. All the dishes are, in general, the traditional, gout-inducing rich fayre of the English upper classes, with some modern twists. There are plenty of strong meats and game coupled with fruits and a good smattering of offal – crucial in any restaurant pertaining to offer traditional English food.

I opted for rock oysters followed by a fillet of sea bass in bacon broth with braised little gem lettuce. My date settled on foie gras to start, and a venison haunch with rosti, baby beets and a fig jus as her main. I was very curious to try the English blush wine (produced by the restaurant owner’s own vineyard in Sussex) and can honestly say it was fantastic. It was not dissimilar to a Pinot Grigio and on a dingy night in mid September, it tasted just like summer.

The oysters were good, not the best I’ve ever had in London, but still very good –  however it was my date’s foie gras that stole the show. It was softer than butter and tasted just as smooth. Amazing. The venison was a good size, the seabass/bacon combination worked perfectly, and as a massive fan of virtually any kind of cooked lettuce, I thouroughly enjoyed my main.

The desert menu, however was not particularly inspiring, nor home to quintessentially English puddings… although the cheese selection did contain a lovely Cornish Yarg which was salty, fresh, creamy and lovely.

The meal was, on the whole very, very good, but the service wasn’t great: unfortunately, the manager knew I was from the press and clearly instructed his team to treat us as such. However, even with this knowledge we were still brought the wrong wine twice and our coffees were forgotten, so God knows what it would be like normally!

The glitz of this place can give off the impression of it being all fur coat and no knickers. But happily, this was really not the case: it manages to pull off style and substance, and like a Marks & Spencer brief with a tasteful hint of lace, succeeds really quite well in fusing traditional English ways with something a bit more glamourous, while at the same time not costing the earth.

Just St James Restaurant
16 St James Street
Mayfair SW1A 1ER

Tel: 0871 332875