Bo London

Very friendly service. Food very nice but for the price not memorable enough. Therefore only 3 stars.

Beautiful décor and impeccable service. The issue I have is in the description of the food. It is a take on dim-​sum, but for dim-​sum junkies they don’t pull off the classics like they should We sampled two different xiao long bao’s and the wrappers just weren’t right. They were incredibly tasty and original, but too thick to really be a great xiao long bao. The cod was probably the best I’ve ever had. Worth going to check out the flavor profiles, but not what I would call a dim-​sum restaurant.

At only 4 months old as of the writing of this review, Bo London is Chef Alvin Leung’s beachhead into London, bringing the Demon Chef’s modern gastronomy to this side of the world – his other restaurant is Bo Innovations in Hong Kong.
We had booked in advance for a table at lunch, but it seems if you go around noon, you should have plenty of tables to choose from – for now. The lunch offering revolves around menu-​driven dim sum a la carte, a lunch special offering of a number of dim sum plates plus an entrée (and a dessert as an add-​on option), or – what we chose – the 8 course Chef’s Selection. If you have time, I’d highly recommend the Chef’s Selection as it gives you an entire experience arc from beginning to end. The entire affair took about 1 hour and 45 minutes.
While the entire meal was exceptional, a few items stood out. The opening dish – «The Dead Garden” – was easily one of our favorites. Composed of dried and crumbled morel mushrooms as dirt, similarly treated ginger as snow, the crumbles sat atop a foam of green onion and lime. Long freeze-​dried enoki mushrooms formed the stems of the «dead» plants. It’s a wonderful depiction of a British garden in the dead of Winter. It was also a delightfully surprising burst of umami to start out the meal.
The «Bed and Breakfast» followed, which was a smoked quail egg nestled within a crispy taro nest, topped with caviar and gold foil. Absolutely brilliant in presentation and a single burst in goodness in one bite.
The «Cloud» was an ephemeral experience for all the senses. The spoons that contain the hamachi and the taste ingredients come served on a bowl overflowing with a cloud of rose mist and vapor. Consume quickly as the rose vapor is filling your sense of smell, it is set to meld in with black sesame ponzu, ginger, and hamachi.
These three dishes that opened definitely set the bar high for the meal and, to us, were the highlights.
One item that I know may be a favorite to others but failed to really impress us was the Suckling Pig. It was well done, but did not rise to the heights of the other dishes. The suckling pig itself was well done, but not as tender as it could be, while inherently lacking depth of flavor, the Sichuan Vanilla Apple sauces managed to somewhat compensate. The skin was not crisp, but rather hard and tough instead, making it difficult to cut through despite the severely curved knife, which was meant to assist in the endeavor. The amount of pressure required to get through the skin unfortunately meant demolishing the elegant plating into a mash of ingredients. Still, it tasted good, was well presented – it just fell short of the rest of the delights on the menu.
We would be remiss to fail to mention the wonderful staff that helped make the experience a casual, friendly, and enjoyable one. From Billy who greeted us and chatted with us about the experience and other culinary possibilities in the Mayfair/​Soho area, to Abby who spent time telling us the stories of Bo London and Chef Alvin Leung’s vision for the dishes, to the brilliant gentleman (sorry, didn’t catch your name before we departed) who presented each dish to us with casual flair. The staff never missed a beat and was always warm, relaxed, and friendly. People like that make the best of restaurant experiences – especially in Mayfair.
I will have to say they are quite capable of catering to a range of clientele, as we were one of the most casual at the establishment. The rest were more typical Mayfair business clientele – well-​dressed from top to bottom, more than likely with more stringent expectations of decorum. Each of the front of house staff never missed a beat catering to their needs either. Hats off to them for being flexible matching the needs of both fronts.
If you’re reading this review and are considering a venture out to Bo London, you’d be smart to go enjoy this fine establishment before it becomes one of those places that requires a month to book a table. His other restaurant holds two Michelin stars. I can’t imagine this one not earning it’s stars soon.