Mimi Mei Fair: Chinese Fine Dining

Mimi Mei Fair, in my personal opinion, is an absolute gem of a place to have fine dining style Chinese food. The "mimi" in the name means "secret" in Chinese, and together, Mimi Mei Fair is alluding to the fact that this place is the best kept secret in Mayfair. Smart word play, I thought.

Given it's location, it's no surprise that this is an upscale eatery with a higher than usual price tag. That being said, from the interior to the food, everything was top notch. Ever since my first visit back in 2021 when they first opened, it's been at the top of my list whenever people ask me for a good place for Chinese food in London.

Each time I've been back I've been impressed with the high quality food and service. The decor is of an old Shanghai style, which to me is super nostalgic as that's where I was born and grew up. Service, to me, has also always been impeccable so despite being somewhat pricy, I personally think it's totally worth it, especially for a special occasion.

And don't just take my word for it, it was also featured in the 2023 Michelin Guide.

Anyway, here's a rundown of a few of my favourite dishes at this opulent Chinese restaurant because I know that's what you care about the most.

Starters

To begin, we ordered the XIAO LONG JEWELS, which was a selection of their soup dumplings filled with chicken, chilli crab, king prawn, purple yam & pork, and classic pork.

The chili crab one was my favourite from this selection, aside from the classic pork, of course. The way each of these little parcels were so perfectly steamed and burst open full of the juicy soup contained inside was phenomenal. We almost wished we'd ordered two portions of this given how much fomo I felt watching my friend devour a flavour that I didn't get to try... regardless, definitely don't miss those if you love soup dumplings. 8/10

We also got the LANTERN CHICKEN which was a dry stir fry of chicken pieces with Sichuan peppercorns and dried chillies. It was tasty but nothing that memorable if I was honest. 5/10

The STEAMED XO OKRA was delicious though, and I really liked that. Given how okra is typically not a standard feature on Chinese restaurant menus, I thought this was great. I really liked the additional textures from the crispy shallots and enoki mushroom crumble. The combination of the soft okra with the umami packed XO sauce, with the crunchy texture was excellent. 7/10

Last starter course that we ordered was the WASABI PRAWNS. This was actually one of our favourites from this selection. As the name suggests, these were lightly battered deep fried king prawns covered in a creamy wasabi mayonnaise, topped with some crispy seaweed. Quite a simple combination but one with a great flavour profile. The hint of wasabi was thoroughly enjoyable, especially if you're slightly afraid of the punchiness that wasabi typically offers. I'd happily give this one an 8/10.

Mains

Now that we've covered the starters, let me tell you about the highlight of our meal: the APPLE WOOD-FIRED ROASTED PEKING DUCK

‍

You can only imagine the way we all collectively shuffled in our seats with excitement the moment the waiters brought over the tray table as they prepared us for the main event. PSA: the restaurant requires you to pre-order your Peking ducks 24 hours in advance so do that ahead of time to avoid disappointment on the day!

Once we were set up, the chef brought over the whole roasted duck and began carving in front of us. The aromas from that beautifully glistening duck had us salivating as he meticulously placed slices of the crispy duck skin in front of us. The skin is served by itself, as it's recommended that we dipped it lightly in sugar before consuming. This resulted in a flavour bomb that was both sweet and savoury and crunchy in texture.

Then came the slices of duck meat along with the skin. The meat was lightly pink, with a moderate layer of fat and a chunky slab of crispy duck skin. Sensational, just on its own and without any condiments. 10/10

Of course, it would be a crime to not wrap the duck meat up in a homemade pancake with strings of spring onion, smeared with a teaspoon of the signature sauce. It's no wonder why this is the most mentioned dish on their Google reviews. It's always good to know an opulent restaurant like itself can be matched with high quality food and service. The theatrics of watching a chef carefully carving a duck at your table is always going to elevate the experience.

Note: this duck does come with a hefty price tag, currently at £118 (May 2024) so yeah, definitely a special treat in my eyes.

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍