Scott’s - My Favourite Apple Pie
Scott’s has been one of my favourite restaurants but purely for their gorgeous apple pie. The crumbly pastry resembles the finest shortbread with beautifully soft apple chunks, topped with a rich vanilla ice cream (or custard). The perfect texture, the perfect balance between hot and cold sensations, simply the best apple pie I’ve come across in London and such a comforting classic on a wintery day. The pie filling changes on season, but the greengage pie I had last time just wasn’t as good as the apple one. Those of you who has never heard of Scott’s before, it’s not a dessert bar or cafe but a long standing seafood restaurant that has attracted a-list celebrities for many years. You can easily sit next to famous people from all around the world without knowing who they are.
Scott’s belongs to the same group as J.Sheekey and the Ivy. It’s in the heart of Mayfair, surrounded by 5 star hotels like the Connaught and many luxury boutiques. This means everything at the restaurant is expensive. For two, our lunch topped £160, including two mains, some sides and one shared apple pie (we did order two glasses of expensive white wine around £27 each). Perhaps affordable for the locals, but for many of us this would be a solid price for special occasions.
Despite being so expensive, Scott’s is a really comfortable restaurant to dine in. Classic British with elegant service and a beautiful, spacious room where tables surround the mouthwatering seafood bar. It’s one of those places I’d bring a foreign friend to experience traditional British high dining. The crowd is a good mixture of full on business suits, families who have been regulars for years and know exactly what to order and those with expensive handbags, super high heel Louboutins and a-list celebrities.
The menu includes fresh oysters, extravagant caviar, comforting soups, fish on the bone or fillet with beautiful dressings and delicious sides of roasted vegetables, chips and colourful heritage carrots. If you’ve been dragged into a seafood restaurant and want to order something else, meat and game dishes are also available. The highlight for me has always been the dessert menu at Scott’s, full of British classics like pie, Bakewell pudding, trifle as well as cheese and sorbets. Always difficult to decide what to order (though I always go for apple pie in the end, probably should change soon).
Selection of bread
A good selection of different breads and all warm on the hand.
Roasted monkfish tail with saffron potatoes and gremolata - £28.75
Out of the two fish dishes we ordered, this was clearly the better choice because the sauce had a rich tone of tomatoes flavours, beautifully matched with the perfectly tender monkfish tail. The saffron potatoes were soft rather than mashy.
Roasted cod with mixed beans, chorizo and padron peppers - £23.50
The cod was cooked to perfectly tender but the sauce (barely any) was salty. After pouring the monkfish sauce into this dish, everything became perfect, the beans got a wonderful stew flavour and the padron peppers added some spice.
Sides - roasted squash and heritage carrots
Really loved all the sides here, we also ordered some steamed spinach.
Apple pie - £8.75
I’ve already said so much about this apple pie, so without mentioning anything else, you should really try it out for yourself. Sometimes I simply walkin to the seafood bar and order the apple pie with tea!
Verdict - 4/5 and of course 5/5 for the apple pie!
Food (the best apple pie ever) - perhaps it’s insulting to remember a seafood restaurant by its apple pie but it has the most crumbly pastry, heartwarming apples and a rich vanilla ice cream, the perfect balance of hot and cold sensations. Such a British classic! The seafood here are good too, the monkfish was correctly tender with a beautiful sauce.
Service (elegant yet busy) - it’s a really busy restaurant but booking can be easily made, the seafood bar is always available for walkin. Superb service that’s elegant and charming. The crowd is a mix of business men, families and over the years regulars who seem to know all the staff names.
Cost (£80pp) - very expensive restaurant in Mayfair. Two of us billed £160 including two classes of white wine at £27 each, one main each and a shared apple pie.
Contact Info
Tube: Green Park / Bond St / Marble Arch
20 Mount Street
London W1K 2HE
020 7495 7309
