Review: Lucky Cat Mayfair, Dinner With Claws

Lucky Cat does not whisper Mayfair. It purrs it, stretches out across Grosvenor Square, orders something dangerous in a coupe, then knocks restraint off the table just to see what happens.

This is not the place for a shy little dinner. This is black silk, sharp tailoring, a cocktail with consequences and the kind of evening that starts with “just one drink” and ends with everyone pretending they did not see dessert coming. Gordon Ramsay’s Asian eating house has been sitting pretty in Mayfair since 2019, but it still has the late-night voltage that makes a restaurant feel less like a booking and more like a scene you entered at exactly the right moment.

Inside Lucky Cat Mayfair

Inspired by 1930s Tokyo kissas and Shanghai drinking dens, Lucky Cat has atmosphere in its bones. It is dark, glossy and full of appetite, with low lighting, high energy and the kind of polished Mayfair confidence that says behave if you must, but honestly, why would you?

The menu takes its cues from Gordon Ramsay’s travels through Thailand, Vietnam, Japan and China, but this is not a polite, greatest hits tour with chopsticks and a passport stamp. The food moves through Asia with pace and precision, from sashimi and sushi at the raw bar to bao buns, short rib, hand-dived scallops with yuzu and the signature Korean spiced black cod. It is varied, generous and dangerously orderable, which is a problem if, like me, your approach to sharing plates is mostly pretending to have boundaries until the waiter appears.

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What to order at Lucky Cat Mayfair

Some dishes have become Lucky Cat signatures for good reason. The GFC, Gordon Fried Chicken, is exactly as unserious and satisfying as it sounds, crisp, indulgent and shamelessly moreish. The bonito fried duck leg bao has the sort of sticky, savoury pull that makes the table go briefly feral. Yellowtail sashimi keeps things sleek, while the hand-dived scallops with yuzu prove Lucky Cat knows when to let the ingredient prowl.

What works is the balance. Lucky Cat has polish, but it does not sit there licking its paw and pretending not to care. The cooking is elevated without becoming fragile. Flavour is allowed to be loud. Texture gets its moment. Heat, salt, sweetness and acidity move around the table like excellent gossip.

Ingredients with provenance

The sourcing sits quietly underneath all that glamour: fish from Japan and Spain, beef from Lake District Farmers, Wagyu from Japan, bespoke ceramics from Surrey Ceramics, and a London-made kimchi and yuzu hot sauce from Eaten Alive. It is the kind of detail you may not clock immediately because you are too busy deciding whether ordering another bao is a personality flaw or simply good judgement. For the record, it is good judgement. Cats do not apologise for wanting more. Neither should we.

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Cocktails and desserts

The drinks programme is just as seductive. The Lucky Negroni requires guests to roll the dice to determine their bespoke drink, which is exactly the sort of theatrical nonsense I fully support when dressed appropriately. Elsewhere, classic cocktails come with Asian flavour twists, while the wine and sake lists are extensive enough to make “just a glass” sound deeply unserious.

Then comes dessert, which Lucky Cat treats not as an afterthought but as a full plot twist. In Mayfair, the all-female pastry team folds rose, lychee and yuzu into dishes that are beautiful without being boring, delicate without being timid. Too many restaurants treat dessert like a polite exit strategy. Lucky Cat treats it like the final act. Naturally, the only correct response is to order pudding and purr about it.

Private dining and masterclasses

For those who want to go deeper, the restaurant offers more immersive experiences, including a Chef’s Table for ten with a bespoke menu, a Kitchen Table with elevated signature menus, private dining rooms and boutique masterclasses covering sake, sushi, desserts and cocktails. Lucky Cat is not just selling dinner. It is selling access to the machinery behind the glamour.

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The verdict

Service keeps the whole thing moving with exactly the right rhythm. Confident, polished, never stiff. The room works because the food, drinks and atmosphere all pull in the same direction.

The risk with a restaurant this glossy is that it could easily become all mood and no bite. Lucky Cat avoids that. It has claws. Beneath the velvet lighting and Mayfair sheen, there is serious cooking, a sharp drinks programme and enough energy to make dinner feel deliciously unsuitable for an early night.

Order the Negroni. Roll the dice. Let the cat misbehave.

@luckycatbygordonramsay | https://www.gordonramsayrestaurants.com/lucky-cat/

10 Grosvenor Sq, London W1K 6LB