At five o’clock, Marylebone is caught in that pleasant pause between afternoon and evening. Seymour Street is still busy, but step inside MOUR and the pace changes almost immediately. Set within a gorgeous London townhouse, the restaurant has a modern-classic aesthetic that feels particularly at home in this part of London. High ceilings and warm, creamy walls are offset by elegant banquette seating and aged brass details; contemporary touches prevent it from feeling overly traditional. There is a richness to the interiors, but it is nicely controlled rather than showy.
Hidden beyond the main restaurant is MOUR’s Italian-inspired secret garden, where we ate. Trellised walls create the feeling of a secluded courtyard, with brown-striped seating bringing a distinctly Mediterranean note to the space. It feels intimate and rather removed from the London street just beyond it, especially lovely for an early dinner, when there is still plenty of daylight overhead.
MOUR may be relatively new, but the hospitality behind it is not. The restaurant grew from a family history in hotels spanning more than three generations. That heritage has been brought into a more contemporary setting here, with a menu that takes British seasonal produce and looks towards the Mediterranean for inspiration.
Dinner began with warm sourdough and whipped thyme brown butter, followed by the graffiti aubergine with baba ganoush, sesame and salsa verde. The aubergine was exceptional. Smoky and yielding, with layers of flavour from the baba ganoush and nuttiness of sesame, it was lifted by the freshness of the salsa verde. There was plenty going on, but nothing felt superfluous. It was one of the best dishes of the evening. For the main course, our two pasta dishes took quite different directions. The beef ragù pappardelle, finished with Parmesan, was the richer of the two and the clear standout, the perfect dish for the coming autumn months. Wide ribbons of pasta and slow, deeply savoury ragù made for the sort of dish that looks deceptively straightforward but depends entirely on getting the fundamentals right. This one did.
The tiger prawn tagliolini was much more restrained, with fine pasta, excellent prawns, a delicate prawn bisque and chives. The sauce was very light perhaps unexpectedly so, but that will appeal to anyone who wants seafood pasta without the weight of a richer sauce. Most importantly, the prawns remained very much the star.
We ordered the vegetables to accompany the mains: charred broccoli with rocket dressing and dukkah carrots with balsamic. The broccoli had that slightly smoky bitterness that comes from a good char, sharpened by the dressing, while the carrots were sweeter and earthier, with spice from the dukkah and acidity from the balsamic. Together they brought colour and contrast to the pasta rather than simply filling the role of obligatory side dishes.
To accompany our meal we opted for a glass of the Papale Linea Oro Primitivo di Manduria from Varvaglione, from Puglia in southern Italy. Made from Primitivo grapes and aged in French and American oak, it is a generous, full-bodied red, with ripe dark fruit and a lovely rounded richness. It was delicious and particularly well suited to the beef ragù. One of those rich wines which cling to the glass, smoky and luxurious.
We finished by sharing the layered vegan apple tatin, with Grand Marnier, fine puff pastry and vanilla ice cream. This was beautifully judged: thin, delicate layers, very little overt sweetness and a portion that didn't undo everything that had gone before. The vegan vanilla ice cream deserves a mention of its own; surprisingly rich, creamy and deeply vanillary, it was difficult to believe it contained no dairy.
What stayed with us about MOUR was the relaxed European feel; the townhouse setting is unmistakably London, while the garden, food and wine gently pull things towards the Mediterranean. Neither idea overwhelms the other.
Address: 13 Seymour Street, Marylebone, London, W1H 7JW
For more information click here.
Written by Claire Bloom
Photography by Nyla Sammons
