Bar des Prés Mayfair, the London outpost of celebrated French chef Cyril Lignac, has reopened at a new address on South Audley Street, bringing with it a refreshed menu, new cocktails and an expanded private dining offering. Originally the concept’s first international venture, Bar des Prés has become one of the most talked-about restaurants in Mayfair since its London debut, earning a devoted following for its singular ability to marry French culinary instinct with the clean, precise influences of Japanese cuisine. The move to South Audley Street is not a reinvention but a refinement, a restaurant that knows exactly what it is and has simply found a home that fits it better.
Cyril Lignac and the Language of Bar des Prés
To understand what Bar des Prés Mayfair is, it helps to understand who Cyril Lignac is. One of France’s most beloved chefs, Lignac has built a culinary empire in Paris that spans fine dining, patisseries and television, yet at every stage his cooking has retained a quality that is increasingly rare in restaurants of this profile: warmth. He does not cook to impress. He cooks to please. Bar des Prés, which opened in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés neighbourhood of Paris, was born from that philosophy. It is a restaurant where the food is technically impeccable but never cold, where the Japanese ingredients and techniques feel organic rather than imported, and where eating alone at the bar feels just as right as a long dinner with a full table.
The London iteration carries all of that through. The new South Audley Street address gives it more room to breathe, but the soul of the place remains unchanged. There is still that particular quality of light and noise, the sense that the room is genuinely enjoying itself. And there is still the food, which continues to be one of the most quietly thrilling menus in London.
A New Address, the Same Signature World
Designed by Lázaro Rosa Violán Studio, the interiors at the new South Audley Street address blend French decorative tradition with East-Asian precision in a way that feels considered rather than composed. Marble surfaces, polished wood and the restaurant’s signature peacock-embroidered textiles create an atmosphere that is immersive without being theatrical. The palette is rich but restrained. The details reward attention. It is the kind of room where the environment adds to the pleasure of eating rather than competing with it, and where you find yourself noticing something new each time you return.
The Lázaro Rosa Violán Studio is no stranger to creating spaces with a strong sense of identity. Their work across Europe and beyond has always been defined by the ability to build interiors that feel simultaneously designed and lived-in, and at Bar des Prés they have applied that instinct to a restaurant that needed its environment to reflect its food: precise, layered, warm.
The Robata Grill: A New Dimension
The most significant new addition to the menu is the Robata Grill section, a move that deepens the restaurant’s engagement with Japanese cooking technique while remaining entirely within Lignac’s culinary language. Robata grilling, a method that uses charcoal heat to cook slowly and evenly, produces a particular quality of smokiness and char that is difficult to replicate with other methods, and at Bar des Prés it is applied with the same intelligence that runs through the rest of the menu.
The section features Yakitori-style chicken satay, beef fillet and, as its centrepiece, A4 Kagoshima Wagyu rib-eye. Kagoshima wagyu is among the most prized beef in Japan, raised in the southernmost prefecture of Kyushu and known for its extraordinary marbling and depth of flavour. Served over the robata, it takes on a smokiness that plays brilliantly against its natural richness. It is the kind of addition that feels inevitable in retrospect, and it gives the menu a new register without disrupting the balance of what was already working.
Wagyu at the Centre
The arrival of the Robata Grill is part of a broader shift in the new menu towards Wagyu as a central theme. Cyril is not just a pastry guy and has always understood that the best ingredients need minimal intervention. The Wagyu dishes that now run through the menu demonstrate that understanding at its most confident.
The Wagyu tartare crispy maki is one of the most interesting new dishes: a crispy maki roll topped with Wagyu tartare and finished with chimichurri, a pairing that sounds unlikely but resolves into something coherent and memorable. The chimichurri cuts through the richness of the Wagyu, the crunch of the maki provides texture, and the tartare itself has the kind of clean, mineral flavour that makes you want another piece immediately. It is the sort of dish that only makes sense once you taste it.
The Bar des Prés Wagyu smash burger has its own story and is possibly one of the best in town. Originally introduced as a limited-time special, it proved so popular, particularly at the Dubai outpost, that it has now become a permanent fixture. A smash burger made with Wagyu is a different proposition to what the form usually offers: the fat content is higher, the flavour more complex, the texture at once crispier and more yielding. Served in the Bar des Prés style, it is a genuinely excellent burger, and its promotion from special to staple feels entirely deserved.
Reimagined Signatures
While new dishes have been added, several existing signatures have been thoughtfully reworked. The Chilean sea bass, which has always been one of the most compelling dishes on the menu, has been completely reimagined. Where the previous version leant into richness, the new iteration is lighter and more aromatic: the bass is now served with peas, wild garlic pesto and a delicate Thai broth that brings a fragrant, almost floral quality to the dish. The result is a plate that feels more in tune with the current direction of the menu and, in truth, more exciting than what came before.
The California roll with crispy prawns has also been enhanced. The addition of sobacha, a toasted buckwheat tea used here as a seasoning, and tobiko flying fish roe brings both texture and a subtle earthiness that elevates the roll without overcomplicating it. These are the kinds of changes that reveal the kitchen’s thinking: not alterations for their own sake but genuine improvements, made with a clear sense of what each dish is trying to do.
The crispy maki with tuna tartare has taken the opposite path, becoming simpler. Stripped back to highlight the quality of the fish and the brightness of the yuzu-soy profile, it is a dish that trusts its main ingredients to carry it, which they do. The tuna is impeccable, the yuzu-soy dressing clean and sharp, and the contrast between the cold tartare and the crisp maki is as satisfying as ever.
The Dishes That Stay
Not everything changes, and some things should not. The dishes that have defined Bar des Prés London remain at the heart of the menu, and rightly so. The crunchy crab and avocado galette continues to be one of those dishes that sounds simple and delivers something considerably more layered: the galette base is thin and deeply savoury, the crab is sweet and generously portioned, and the avocado brings a creaminess that ties it together.
The Label Rouge salmon California roll with avocado, jalapeño and sriracha is another mainstay that earns its place every time. Label Rouge is a quality designation that guarantees particular standards of production, and the salmon here is visibly different from the everyday: the colour is deeper, the flavour richer, the texture firmer. The jalapeño and sriracha bring just enough heat to make the roll interesting without overwhelming the fish.
The marinated sea bass with yuzu, dry miso and rocoto remains one of the most elegant dishes on the menu. The combination of citrus from the yuzu, umami depth from the dry miso and the particular fruity heat of rocoto pepper creates a marinade of considerable complexity, and the sea bass absorbs it beautifully. The beef gyoza, with its precisely pleated skin and intensely flavoured filling, continues to be the kind of dish that disappears from the plate faster than expected.
The best of the rest
The addition of the Robata section sits alongside the existing range of hot dishes and small plates, giving the overall menu a pleasing span from the very light to the richly substantial. The avocado dishes that have become something of a signature visual at Bar des Prés, with their characteristic fanned presentation, continue to appear on the menu in various forms, and their precision of preparation speaks to the kitchen’s insistence on treating even the most familiar ingredients with care.
The spinach and truffle salad, with its generous shavings of truffle over dressed baby leaves, is a reminder that not every dish at Bar des Prés needs to arrive in a bespoke ceramic or announce itself loudly. Some of the most enjoyable moments in the meal come from dishes like this: considered, properly seasoned, made with ingredients that need little beyond good handling.
A visit here is not complete without trying the very famous millefeuille. Impossibly crisp, lacquered layers of pastry that shatter at the touch of a spoon, giving way to a cool, silken cream beneath. It is rich without being heavy, precise without feeling clinical. A final flourish of caramelised crunch and creamy softness makes it less a classic revisited than a classic made flirtatious and fun.
New Cocktails
The drinks programme has been refreshed alongside the menu, with three new cocktails joining the existing list. Each takes a classic format and applies an Asian lens to it, following the same creative logic that runs through the food.
The Japatini is a sweet and citrusy take on a martini made with Ketel One vodka, Aperol, mango, yuzu and togarashi. The togarashi, a Japanese spice blend typically containing chilli, sesame, orange peel and ginger, brings a warming finish that keeps the drink from being simply sweet. It is an excellent aperitif, the kind of cocktail that makes the transition from the street into the room feel immediate.
The BDP Café riffs on the Espresso Martini, one of the most enduring cocktails of the last decade, and improves on the formula in several ways. Neft vodka provides a clean base, honey miso adds a depth that straight sugar cannot, and tonka brings a warm, vanillic quality that carries the coffee note forward. It is a more sophisticated version of a drink that often suffers from being too straightforward.
The Miso Mary completes the trio. Made with Neft vodka, Nigori sake, tomato, miso kimchi and yuzu, it reimagines the Bloody Mary as something lighter and more complex. The sake softens the spirit base, the miso kimchi adds fermented depth in place of the usual Worcestershire and Tabasco combination, and the yuzu brings a freshness that makes the drink feel cleaner than most versions of the classic. It is genuinely worth ordering.
These join the signature Tokyo Garden cocktail, one of the most regularly ordered drinks on the list, made with Tanqueray No.10 gin, shiso, Isake sake, lychee and yuzu. The full cocktail list is backed by an extensive French wine selection that reflects Lignac’s roots and provides a natural counterpoint to the Asian-inflected menu.
The Salon at Bar des Prés
Hidden discreetly behind the restaurant, The Salon at Bar des Prés offers a setting for private dining that matches the elegance of the main room while providing considerably more intimacy. The space has been designed to work across a range of occasions, from small celebration dinners to larger seated events, and it manages the not inconsiderable challenge of feeling both private and connected to the energy of the restaurant.
It is the kind of offering that Mayfair has always done well, and Bar des Prés brings to it the particular advantage of a cuisine that works at every scale, from a single piece of crispy maki to a full progression of courses. The Salon will inevitably become one of the more sought-after private dining rooms in this part of London.
Overall
Bar des Prés Mayfair has always occupied a particular position in London dining: not the most formal restaurant in Mayfair, not the most casual, but one of the most consistently enjoyable. The food has a quality that is rare, which is the ability to feel both effortless and precise at the same time. The new South Audley Street address gives it a home that matches that quality, and the refreshed menu gives returning guests reason to come back and discover it again.
The new Robata section and the expanded Wagyu offering deepen the menu without complicating it. The reimagined classics are, without exception, improvements. And the three new cocktails are among the most enjoyable additions to any drinks list in recent months in the capital. Bar des Prés Mayfair is not a new restaurant. It is a familiar one that has taken the opportunity of a new address to become a more considered version of itself, and that, for anyone who already loves it, is very good news indeed.
For more information, visit Bar des Prés
View this post on Instagram
All Images Courtesy of Bar des Prés.