Akira Back’s London debut at Lilli by Akira Back in The Montcalm Mayfair skips the social media hype in favour of quiet refinement. Led alongside Executive Chef Roger Hutchinson, the restaurant pairs British ingredients with Japanese precision and subtle Korean accents. Avoiding culinary gimmicks, the menu excels through balance and depth in its signature tuna pizza to expertly-executed miso black cod. Read on for our review of Mayfair’s best-kept fine dining secret.
For a chef with restaurants spanning Seoul, Dubai, Paris, Toronto and Las Vegas, Akira Back's arrival in Central London has been a surprisingly understated affair. There are no queues forming outside the door, no impossibly exclusive reservation lists and none of the feverish social media attention that often accompanies a major international chef's first UK opening. Instead, Lilli by Akira Back sits quietly inside the recently restored Montcalm Mayfair, a handsome Georgian mansion hotel just moments from Hyde Park. If there’s one aspect of this opening that comes across loud and clear, it’s that the restaurant is more than content to let the experience speak for itself. It’s no exaggeration to say that this feels entirely fitting.
Elegantly understated: the dining room at Lilli by Akira Back
Following an extensive refurbishment, the Montcalm has re-emerged as one of Mayfair's most interesting hotel openings and Lilli by Akira Back forms the culinary heart of the project. Led by Executive Chef Roger Hutchinson in partnership with Back, the restaurant brings together British ingredients, Japanese technique and subtle Korean influences in a way that feels thoughtful rather than forced. All of the above has resulted in a menu built around flavour rather than gimmickry, and after an evening spent working our way through some of its signature dishes, it became clear that this is a restaurant deserving of far more attention than it currently receives.
Signature Starters at Lilli by Akira Back
The signature tuna ‘pizza’ at Lilli by Akira Back, Montcalm Mayfair
Like many diners before us, we began with the Tuna Pizza. Rest assured, this isn’t a pizza in the Neapolitan sense, nor – thank goodness – in the American. It's a dish that has followed Akira Back around the world, and it’s very, very easy to understand why.
A delicate, impossibly thin cracker arrives topped with slices of lightly cured tuna crudo, umami aioli and white truffle oil. On paper, it sounds almost excessively rich. In practice, it is beautifully balanced: the crispness of the base gives way to the silken texture of the tuna, while a gentle but unmistakable chilli heat emerges just as the flavours begin to settle. The effect is subtle but transformative, lifting the dish and preventing it from becoming overly indulgent. I’ve delved into more than my fair share of ‘signature dishes’ in my time, and I’m more than comfortable saying that few deserve their reputation. Akira Back’s tuna pizza strips away excess and leaves you with the bare essentials of a great-tasting starter, crafted from simple ingredients paired perfectly.
Alongside it, and in accordance with our excellent and attentive waiter’s recommendations, the Mini Wagyu Tacos provided a vibrant opening to the meal, delivering precisely the sort of brightness and texture contrast that encourages you to keep exploring. However, the real showstopper of the first course landed impressively alongside: The Tiger Shrimp Dynamite may well be the restaurant's most visually striking starter. Listed simply as Tiger Shrimp Dynamite on the menu, the enormous crustacean arrives looking almost prehistoric – this is a 25cm behemoth of a crustacean, split down the middle to reveal pillowy, sweet flesh and topped with an assortment of aromatic dressings.
The flesh itself was succulent and cooked beautifully. However, this was one of the few moments where execution didn't quite match ambition. Given its almost ridiculous size, the prawn would have benefited from a little more preparation in the kitchen, as extracting the meat proved surprisingly difficult with the cutlery provided, requiring a degree of determination (and, let’s be honest, a slightly undignified series of maneuvers) that momentarily distracted from the quality of the ingredient itself. It's far from a deal-breaker, but it felt like an easy refinement that could significantly improve the overall experience, no matter how delicious it was when it finally reached out mouths.
Miso Black Cod and Beef Wellington: Lilli's Standout Main Courses
Glistening: Miso Black Cod by Akira Back
The menu's Miso Black Cod is hardly an adventurous order these days; in fact, I’ve eaten an inordinate amount of black cod over the past year in London, Abu Dhabi and further afield. It’s almost accidentally become one of my go-to dishes for measuring the success of Asian-inflected restaurants, and ever since Nobu helped establish it as a modern classic, it will surely continue to appear on countless luxury menus. Lilli by Akira Back's version serves as a useful reminder of why the dish became famous in the first place, cooked and delivered with what was fast becoming apparent as the restaurant’s signature precision and flair.
The fish arrived beautifully glazed, caramelised in all the right places and cooked with impeccable precision. Beneath the lacquered exterior, the flesh separated into delicate pearlescent flakes at the gentlest encouragement from a fork, and the multi-layered marinade of den miso and hajikami pierced through the upper layers without interrupting the natural sweetness of the fish. Rich without becoming cloying and deeply savoury without overwhelming the palate, it was an accomplished example of a dish that many restaurants attempt but relatively few truly master.
It’s worth pointing out that as much as I enjoyed the cod itself, it wasn't the element I found myself reflecting on most after the meal.
Beef Wellington: a classic delivered with reverence, not reinvention
That distinction belonged to the accompanying small mountain of seafood rice, which more than compensated for the slightly diminutive portion of fish on my plate. It’s always thrilling when a supporting act steals the show, and spoonful after spoonful reveals depths of flavour that went above and beyond any expectations. Cooked in what tasted like an intensely reduced shellfish stock, every mouthful carried the unmistakable richness that comes from properly utilising every part of various denizens of the deep. There was sweetness, salinity and an almost bisque-like intensity that elevated the entire dish, all of which made abundantly clear that, behind the scenes, there’s a kitchen team paying real attention to every conceivable detail.
Across the table, my companion opted for the Beef Wellington, another of the restaurant's must-try dishes, and a decidedly fitting one for its Mayfair location. Now, there is a temptation nowadays to deconstruct, reinterpret or modernise every British classic that crosses a menu. Lilli by Akira Back wisely resists – the Wellington is treated with respect, allowing perfectly cooked beef, crisp pastry and careful execution to carry the plate rather than unnecessary reinvention. It’s also a very, very generous portion, featuring two hulking cuts of the wellington itself, a silky gravy and a mound of pureed potatoes and lightly steamed vegetables.
Baked Alaska and Desserts at Lilli by Akira Back
A resounding final salvo: Baked Alaska at Lilli, Mayfair
Dessert often feels like the point at which even excellent restaurants begin to lose momentum; a phenomenon driven by a dearth of talented pastry chefs working in UK kitchens in recent years. I’m pleased to say that this wasn’t the case at Lilli by Akira Back, and the menu’s closing salvos were decidedly impressive and left us resoundingly satisfied.
I think every restaurant critic has a small handful of dishes that, if they crop up on a menu, they simply have to be tasted. I have quite a large handful, as it happens, and they include taramasalata (or anything made from fish eggs, if I’m honest), the aforementioned black cod, lemon meringue pie and baked Alaska. Yes, my taste for sweet things leans rather retro, and I’m not remotely ashamed to admit it.
Lilli by Akira Back's Baked Alaska possibly deepened my devotion to this 70s classic – beneath a perfectly torched meringue sat layers of raspberry cream and vanilla ice cream, delivering a combination of acidity, sweetness and richness that felt indulgent and remarkably well judged. It was elegant yet not fussy and nostalgic without feeling dated, and more than anything, it reminded me why certain classics endure year after year while dining fashions come and go.
Atmosphere, Service and Setting at Lilli by Akira Back
Many contemporary luxury dining rooms seem designed around visibility, with every element carefully calibrated to ensure guests can see and be seen. Lilli by Akira Back takes a different approach; the room is softly lit, generously spaced and genuinely comfortable, meaning that conversations remain conversations rather than performances. There is no pressure to rush through courses or vacate a table, and instead, the restaurant encourages precisely the sort of long, meandering dinners that so often become the most memorable.
That sense of calm is undoubtedly aided by its location. Despite being firmly within Mayfair, the Montcalm feels slightly removed from the neighbourhood's busier social circuit, lending the restaurant an appealing sense of discretion. Credit must be given to Abubakar, our server, who’s attentive and knowledgeable approach resulted not only in some valuable insights into must-try and popular dishes, but also a banging Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon which, frankly, I wouldn’t have selected myself but which hit all the right notes as night fell.
A Mayfair address worth visiting
Verdict: Is Lilli by Akira Back Worth Visiting?
There is a tendency in London's restaurant scene to focus attention on whatever is newest, loudest or hardest to book. Lilli by Akira Back is none of those things, offering instead something rather more appealing: a beautifully designed dining room, thoughtful service and a kitchen capable of balancing technical precision with real flair and genuine pleasure.
For a restaurant carrying the name of a globally recognised chef, it feels remarkably free of ego, and perhaps that's exactly why it works so well.
Hungry for more central London restaurant reviews? Check out our review of Lucky Cat, Petrus by Gordon Ramsay, Tortello in Bayswater and House of Ming at St James Court Taj Hotel.
