The Upcoming
  • Cinema & Tv
    • Movie reviews
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Show reviews
  • Music
    • Live music
  • Food & Drinks
    • News & Features
    • Restaurant & bar reviews
    • Interviews & Recipes
  • Theatre
  • Art
  • Travel & Lifestyle
  • Literature
  • Fashion & Beauty
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Competitions
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

CultureFood & DrinksRestaurant & bar reviews

Zaman in Mayfair

Zaman in Mayfair | Restaurant review
21 July 2012
Marion Rankine
Avatar
Marion Rankine
21 July 2012

Food

Marion Rankine3

Zaman

BarQuick & easyCasual foodFine dining
QUICKCASUALFINE DINING

Concept

Casual dining

Rating

★★★★★

Food ▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮

Drinks ▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮

Service ▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮

Links

FacebookNo websiteNo map

In 1992, Mahmud Zaman began working as a kitchen hand at The Sportsman. Last month, following his meteoric rise to the position of head chef, the restaurant was re-launched under Zaman’s own name. With his Bangladeshi heritage and passion for worldwide cuisines, Zaman has created an international menu with a strong emphasis on European and Middle Eastern fusion cuisine. 

Our first impression of Zaman was of a warm golden haze. The decor is simple yet gently opulent, a reflection perhaps of the gaming hall the restaurant is a part of (a less welcome reminder came in the form of a large television screen mounted prominently and inexplicably on a central pillar). Napkins are immaculately fanned, tiny bonsai perch on the tables, and attentive staff see to your every need. 

A basket of lightly toasted bread and four neat pats of butter soon arrived to ease our growling stomachs while we perused the menu. Indecisive people, be warned: the menu is large. With a comprehensive selection of appetisers and a mains section divided into Fish, Meat & Poultry, and Around the World, choosing food at Zaman is no mean feat. Options range from  traditional red meat dishes (T-Bone Steak with Hand-cut Chips or Lamb Cutlets, Sauteed Potato and Mint Jelly) to seafood with a twist (Pan-fried Fillet Halibut With Turmeric, Flavoured Courgettes Ragout And A Tomato And Olive Sauce) to quintessentially Asian and Middle Eastern (Singapore Noodle, Chicken or Lamb Biryani).

Eventually, we settled on starters of Char-grilled Asparagus with Warm Forest Mushroom Ragout and Garlic balsamic and the Grilled King Prawns, Lemon Butter with Fresh Red and Green Chilli, Lemon and Coriander, and a bottle of Pinot Grigio Delle Venezie.

The starters arrived promptly and beautifully presented. The asparagus was strewn with micro-greens and done to perfection: the initial crunch giving way to meltingly tender mouthfuls with just the right amount of char flavours. The ragout was light and flavoursome with warm chilli undertones, and the mellow sweetness of the garlic balsamic pulled the dish together perfectly. The grilled king prawns were equally impressive – plump, just done, and resting in a puddle of the best lemon butter I’ve ever tasted: light as air and zinging with coriander and chilli. 

For mains, we decided on Char-grilled Marinated Chicken Breast Served with Tomato and Black Olive Tapenade with Rocket Risotto, and the Bamieh – Okra Cooked with Tomato and Coriander. The risotto was excellent, moist but not overdone, the pepperiness of the rocket slicing through the creaminess of the rice. The chicken was drier than we’d expected, but with the other elements it was scarcely noticeable. The Bamieh was rich and tomatoey with tender okra pieces and a bowlful of fine, fluffed rice. It was tasty, but sadly it lacked the subtleties of flavour we had come to expect after the other dishes. While one would happily eat a bowlful at any given moment, it simply wasn’t in the same league as the others. 

The dessert menu threw us into further fits of indecision: Vanilla Creme Brulee with Lemon Sorbet or Creme Caramel with Vanilla Ice cream? The intriguingly named Passionfruit Dom, with Fresh Strawberry or Warm Sticky Toffee Pudding with Custard? We ended up ordering the Milky Chocolate Cheesecake with Banana Ice cream and the Coconut Mousse, Mango Sorbet Heart Garnished with Grated Glazed Coconuts. Two artfully arranged dishes arrived soon after, a ball of banana ice-cream nested in a tiny waffle basket, coconut mousse perched on a ring of delicate strawberry pieces. Like the Bamieh, the cheesecake was delicious but lacked the inspiration of the other dishes. The coconut mousse, however, was another story. Although the mousse itself was the texture of thick ice-cream rather than the light, foamy confection we’d expected, the balance of flavours was exquisite and very much reminiscent of the excellent starters we’d had earlier. 

The difficulty of running a restaurant within a larger venue like The Sportsman is that it must cater to a pre-determined audience within a pre-defined space. In Zaman’s case, this resulted in a venue rife with contradictions (bronzed opulence and full formal dining service colliding with casino advertising and television screens) and a somewhat disparate menu seemingly ruled by the need to provide as much choice as possible for a wide variety of guests. While everything we ate was of a very high standard in its own right, there were moments of brilliance that made me long for a smaller, more focused menu that played exclusively to Zaman’s considerable strengths. 

Marion Rankine

★★★★★

To book a table at Zaman call 0203 627 0879 or visit their website.

Related Itemsreview

More in Food & Drinks

World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2022: The new 51-100 list mapped out

Food Desk
Read More

Parisian bar Little Red Door to take over Adam Handling’s Eve Bar on 7 July

Food Desk
Read More

50 Next: London chef Santiago Lastra recognised in Bilbao as one of the 50 young people shaping the future of gastronomy

Food Desk
Read More

Taste of London 2022 at Regent’s Park: Creativity in gastronomy is alive and kicking

Ashiana Pradhan
Read More

Adam Handling’s Eve Bar launches new cocktail menu

Food Desk
Read More

Hotly anticipated Pan-African restaurant Tatale to open on 14 July

Food Desk
Read More

Taste of London returns to Regent’s Park next week

Food Desk
Read More

Paul Ivić takes vegetarian sensation Tian Bistro to Croatia for a summer-long pop-up

Filippo L'Astorina, the Editor
Read More

50 Best announce collaborative dinners in London: Where and how to book

Food Desk
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Food

Marion Rankine3

Zaman

BarQuick & easyCasual foodFine dining
QUICKCASUALFINE DINING

Concept

Casual dining

Rating

★★★★★

Food ▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮

Drinks ▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮

Service ▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮

Links

FacebookNo websiteNo map

  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • Beauty and the Beast: The Musical at London Palladium
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Paolo Nutini – Last Night in the Bittersweet
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • St Vincent at the Hammersmith Apollo
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • The Railway Children Return
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Netflix Walking Tour: From Bridgerton to The Crown, a free walking tour through the filming locations
    Cinema & Tv
  • The Throne at Charing Cross Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • “We really wanted to create a cabbage gun”: An interview with David Earl and Chris Hayward stars of Brian and Charles
    Cinema & Tv
  • Paolo Nutini – Last Night in the Bittersweet
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Viagra Boys – Cave World
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Ithaka
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Paolo Nutini – Last Night in the Bittersweet
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Viagra Boys – Cave World
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • The Railway Children Return
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Adele lights up Hyde Park for BST Festival
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Beauty and the Beast: The Musical at London Palladium
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why
With the support from:
International driving license

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

Spianata & Co: the Roman bakery comes to Mayfair | Restaurant review
In the Rings with Ali at the Smokehouse Gallery | Exhibition review