Review of the Il Grande Sunday Buffet at Bocconcio Mayfair

We’ve sampled a few buffets in our time, from metal containers filled with anaemic slop to more upmarket options, with the occasional dish that can be ordered from the kitchen. With a name like “Il Grande Sunday Buffet”, Mayfair’s Bocconcino is suggesting something more, something special, something… well, fittingly Mayfair?

Located on Mayfair’s Berkeley Street, Bocconcino is a stylish affair. A spiral staircase provides a dramatic descent down to the lower floor, as if to grant you a 360° tour of what’s on offer below. There’s a muted sophistication of tan leather, dark marble countertops and chequered marble flooring, combined with almost industrial touches of exposed brick, chunky wooden tables and black columns.

The buffet sweeps around one side of the room with an impressive and colourful array of cured meats, cheeses, bright vegetables and grain salads, and the most spectacular seafood selection I’ve seen on any buffet.

By any buffet standards, this section alone is pretty impressive. There are mussels, prawns, rock oysters, lobsters, smoked salmon AND dressed salmon. Feeling almost self-conscious about loading my plate with an entire lobster, I take a claw and accompany it with a small sample of each item from the section. The oysters are meaty – a dash of Tabasco? Yes, please. The salmon is well dressed and tender, and all of it is super fresh and delicious.

Next up, some cured meats, beetroot salad, a spot of pear, Gorgonzola and chicory, and a selection of other vegetables. I even threw in a couple of pigs in blankets. The ingredients feel high-quality, and each salad is put together beautifully. It’s worth mentioning at this point that our glasses of Prosecco are being topped up regularly, leading me to think I have accidentally crashed someone’s wedding banquet.

As a live guitarist and vocalist serenades us with smooth acoustic music, we peruse the kitchen menu, which is also included in the buffet. The kitchen offers a mix of pasta, pizza and a Sunday roast. What day is it? Sunday? Well, the decision is made. Already feeling gluttonous after a decent roast beef with all the trimmings, our waiter brings over a small pizza to sample. It’s thin, crisp and, although simple, nicely flavoured.

The dessert section is a vast collection of bite-sized sweets. We opt for a rich chocolate and salted caramel brownie, an indulgent vanilla cheesecake and a rum baba. If I had one complaint about Bocconcino’s Il Grande Buffet, it’s that you’ll want to sample literally everything on offer. Our advice is to take your time, spend a long afternoon there, enjoy the conversation and live music, and sample the fantastic array of food at your own pace.

At £75 per head, £98 with bottomless Prosecco, or £115 with bottomless champagne, Il Grande Buffet perhaps feels on the pricier end of the buffet spectrum. But with everything on offer included, we actually think it’s pretty good value.

For more information and to book, click here.

Written by Rick Hartley

Photography courtesy of Bocconcio Mayfair