Gaia: The Restaurant Bringing Boujee Mediterranean Flare To Mayfair
Mayfair‘s packed with astronomically expensive restaurants – those postcodes don’t pay for themselves, after all – yet they just keep on coming. While a low-key, small plates spot in Hackney is probably more my style, there’s something genuinely fun about dipping your toe into the boujee side of W1S. It’s the thrill of being in “proper” London, the undeniable glamour, and, of course, the people-watching.
What sets it apart
Gaia, a relatively new opening right on the corner of Piccadilly and Dover Street (you don’t get much pricier than a row of private art galleries as neighbours), nails all three. It also comes with prices that’ll bring a salty feta brine tear to your eye – expect to pay just under £30 for a Greek salad – but if you’re after a ritzy restaurant that truly transports you to the Med, this is it.
It also comes with prices that’ll bring a salty feta brine tear to your eye
Greek cuisine is what Gaia’s all about, and they do it exceptionally well, with flair and refinement. It still feels a bit like a family taverna, albeit a remarkably expensive one. But Gaia knows its clientele. Following in the footsteps of successful ventures in Dubai, Qatar, and Monte Carlo, they know they can and will charge those prices. You get the picture.
The menu centres around classic Greek, family-style dishes: think succulent lamb cutlets with juices just begging to be mopped up by pita, seafood-filled orzo pastas, and excellent dips (it would be a crime not to order bread for the table here). You’ll also find fresh Mediterranean salads, perfectly plump stuffed vine leaves, an entire caviar section (a food group in itself for Mayfair regulars), and, the star of the show, a dedicated raw menu. More on that later.
Our experience
We visited on a Tuesday night, and the place was buzzing. The crowd ranged from big families tucking into feasts to West End girls ordering caviar and not looking up from their phones once. Businessmen sealed deals over second bottles of red, while date-night couples flirted over who’d get the last of the very expensive but excellent dips.
The space itself is grand, with beautiful interiors where no expense was spared. Think cool black and white photography adorning clean white walls, crisp white tablecloths, and open shelving showcasing a curated collection of terracotta and whitewashed vessels. Flos-style chandeliers make up a sea of light across the ceiling – there’s pretty much one over every table.
Then there’s the impressive open seafood bar, piled high with stunning raw fish – a tempting display that could easily push your bill into eye-watering territory. From oysters and plump prawns to bream and tuna, it’s all there.
Despite the size, the tables are tightly packed, but that kind of adds to that buzzy Mediterranean feel, as you slink past people to get to your table. There’s that clatter of plates and energy you only get when you’re on holiday, bringing a fun and a little frantic Med charm to the heart of Mayfair.
What we ordered
Playing into the traditional taverna style, dishes arrive at the table as soon as they’re ready. First up was the Greek salad, because, well, when in Athens, right? While it’s tough to truly mess up a Greek salad, especially for a Greek restaurant, this was arguably one of the best I’ve ever tasted. It featured incredibly juicy, flavourful tomatoes (definitely imported from the Med), crisp cucumber, and wonderfully pickled olives that delivered a delightful ‘cheek pinch’ moment. Drizzled with an incredibly good extra virgin olive oil, it was crowned with a large piece of barrel-aged feta, ceremonially smashed at the table. Salty and fresh, it set the bar for what was yet to come.
Next, the Varelisia Feta Psiti arrived: a shallow dish of baked feta, gooey and warm within, topped with a crisp honey ‘glass’ and scattered with raisins and very on-trend pistachios. The waiter once again took the liberty of smashing it tableside, turning it into a savoury, Greek take on crème brûlée. It was made up of simple ingredients, like a lot of Gaia’s dishes, but genuinely top quality and delicious, much like when you’re getting the real deal on a sun-drenched Greek island.
For mains, we went for the lamb cutlets, which had a gloriously charred crust and were beautifully trimmed, making it impossible not to pick up the bone to scrape every morsel of perfectly cooked meat. This was served with sharp tzatziki that married together with the lamb juices to be mopped up with puffy pieces of pitta.
Then came the undisputed star of the show, and the dish that alone would guarantee my return to Gaia: the whole sea bream carpaccio. I’ve never encountered a raw dish so exquisitely presented. Perfect, zingy bites of white fish were artfully positioned on the plate, emerging from the bream’s head. It was accompanied by three types of dipping oils in satisfyingly miniature corked bottles, ranging from very lemony olive oil to delicately infused truffle tinctures. If there’s one thing the Greeks excel at, it’s extra virgin olive oil. I honestly could have downed each one; they were that delightful and rich in flavour. It’s no wonder Greeks reportedly consume the most olive oil in Europe – a supposed 26 litres per person annually.
Fun, light, and a perfectly shareable ending that pleased everyone at the table.
Finally, we rounded off our meal with the restaurant’s signature dessert: a whipped Greek yoghurt tower with honey and caramelised walnuts. At over £30, it certainly isn’t cheap – but then, nothing here is. Still, it was a fun, light, and a perfectly shareable ending that pleased everyone at the table.
The verdict
Let’s be real: Mayfair restaurants aren’t typically for regular visits, unless you actually live in Mayfair and have pockets as deep as the Aegean Sea. But Gaia is genuinely fun, and its food strikes a fantastic balance between family tradition and refined indulgence. If you’re a fan of raw fish, it’s absolutely worth checking out – just be mindful of how much you order unless you’re looking to drop some serious cash. And if nothing else, the people-watching is simply brilliant.
50 Dover St, London W1S 4NY
