Coya Mayfair: Incredible food, vibes and atmosphere - review

That sets the precedent already, and you know it’s bound to be good, but nothing beats being in the boujee environment in the heart of London’s Mayfair with good vibes and atmosphere.

My boyfriend and I were lucky enough to try Coya on a Friday evening for a much-needed date night and were mesmerised from the second we walked into the restaurant.

(Image: Immy Share, Newsquest)

The Mayfair restaurant has an aesthetic and cool separate bar room with a DJ for those wanting to drink and party before, after or instead of the food, and once you walk through into the restaurant seating area there is an open kitchen.

It’s got a dark, sexy atmosphere with a Latin American jungle décor to go with the Peruvian basis for the menu.

There are global signature dishes as well as unique dishes inspired by the city and country of each Coya.

Our waiter was helpful in giving recommendations for food and drink – and we both decided to go for cocktails from the Pisco bar.

(Image: Coya)

Pisco is the national spirit of Peru and is a delicate liquid developed by Spanish settlers in the 16th century by distilling fermented grape juice.

It can be characterised with the soul of tequila mixed with the complexity of gin and the versatility of vodka and a lot of the cocktails at Coya have this as a basis.

My boyfriend went for a Pisco sour, and myself a Pisco-type Pina Colada – both delicious, maybe a bit too delicious, and we could have drunk them all night.

My only complaint about the evening, the restaurant and the experience is that the menu is far too good to be able to choose just a few things to try – genuinely, I’d have tried it all.

(Image: Immy Share, Newsquest)

We went with a mix of what we liked, what we were intrigued by, and what our waiter recommended, starting with some smooth guacamole with corn chips.

My boyfriend got some pulled wagyu bao buns which come with truffle emulsion and rocket cress – he didn’t struggle to demolish all four of them, and that probably says it all.

We shared tuna corn tostadas, tuna tataki and tone bass ceviche, and I will hands-down say this was the best fish I’ve ever tasted.

The flavours were bursting, they complemented each other, and it was good quality, authentic and just all-round delicious.

Coya Mayfair starters (Image: Immy Share, Newsquest)

We couldn’t get enough, and my favourite was the tuna corn tostadas which I’ve been dreaming of ever since.

For main course my boyfriend had lamb chops, paired with red wine, and I had Chilean sea bass and rice paired with Whispering Angel rose wine.

(Image: Immy Share, Newsquest)

We shared a miso aubergine dish too, and to be honest we barely spoke because we were so indulged in what we were eating and telling each other how good the food was.

The prices at Coya aren’t cheap, and sometimes it’s hard to justify expensive prices at restaurant, but I well and truly would justify these and recommend Coya for any special occasion to anyone.

(Image: Immy Share, Newsquest)

We were full but the dessert menu was far too good to resist, and although it was a difficult decision we went for Peruvian chocolate souffle and Black sesame chantilly cream, meringue, raspberry sauce and black lime sorbet.

I mean, food coma or what, but that food was the best I’ve had, and every single mouthful was even more divine than the last.