TLDR - Awesome experience - but that's all of food, service and vibe - rather than solely on food. A frequent hazard I encounter with far in advance Saturday reservations is being hungover. And sure enough, I ended up dining at Mãos after back-to-back 4am boozy nights and spent much of the day trying to energise myself (think coconut water, juice, caffeine and dim sum). The day was definitely a bit of a struggle but it's a testament to Mãos that the second I actually got in, my struggles came to an end.
Booking process/communication: more of a mission than it should have been.
Atmosphere/service: Incredible! Feels like you're at a friend's house
You enter into the kitchen where you're greeted and offered a drink. You then get a tour of the premises (kitchen, dining room and cellar) and are served the first two snacks in the kitchen.
They seem to have assembled some of the nicest friendliest people to work there, both front of house and in the kitchen. The staff are cheerful, energetic and clearly very proud to show off the space, the food, and in the case of Alex and Sarah, the wines.
The kitchen is fairly small adding to the friend's house feels (if said friend was a professional chef) and the chefs are working right next to you and happy to answer any questions you may have.
The Cellar is similarly small but well-stocked with perfectly cosy feels. This is also the only place where the wines by the glass are displayed (along with the prices for these. From memory, generally in the low to mid-teens).
Finally the dining room consists of a single large 14-seater table. My only gripe is that the table is somewhat wider than I would like. Undoubtedly designed so that if you are a couple it's easier to ignore the other couple opposite if so desired. However on our night there were three groups of four and the other two groups of four got the two other corners so we were sat two and two across the table and had to shout across the whole night (said shouting made easier with each drink of course).
Despite the price tag and the find-dining nature of the menu, it was a very relaxed affair. The aforementioned friendliness of the staff plays a big part and a special shout out to the head chef, Edoardo Pellicano (formerly at Portland) who was probably the friendliest of an incredibly friendly bunch and despite all his work in the kitchen, took the time to explain each dish to us in detail, and just generally chat with us about pretty much everything.
They emphasised the ability to move across and just do as you desired in the space and we took full advantage of this by walking to the kitchen midway (primarily to not have to shout across for a bit) and watched the chefs work for a while and were also served a full course in there! Kudos to them for managing to deal with people moving about and adjusting as needed.
Added advantage is that where I had initially not intended to take off my jumper for fear of feeling under-dressed as I was wearing a Starcraft tee underneath but it got warm and I felt fine taking it off and didn't feel out of place in the slightest (though our table was probably the only one dressed relatively casual).
Food: Mostly amazing and incredibly pretty to boot.
In terms of highlights:
scallop as the first snack was a tasty way to begin;
their take on chawanmushi as the first non-snack course at the table was stunning, I remember thinking the olive oil was overly prominent on the first bite but a few bites in decided that they had absolutely nailed it;
the prawn dish where they explained that there's a particular species of prawns where all the good stuff in the prawn brain grows into a membrane sac which can be extracted. And sure enough, breaking this over the prawns resulted in you being able to enjoy the flavour from all those juices when you suck the prawn's head at the same time as the prawn;
the bone marrow and onions was perhaps particularly memorable as this was the dish they served to us in the kitchen but it was a stunning onion dish beating out Tom Seller's at Story for me; and
the Iberico Presa - I didn't think it was a pork dish when I saw other diners being served but it was and it was perfect.
Overall:
If my friends are much of a measure to go by, it's kind of bitch to be a chef at the moment as diners' expectations are a bit ridiculous. At a nice restaurant, you're expected to get perfectly composed and perfectly executed dishes as a base line. And if you do that, you fall into the good but forgettable category.
It takes either exceptional food or an overall exceptional experience to stand out and Maos certainly achieves that. read more