+44 (0)20 7408 5155 enquiries@residentialland.com

Mayfair is one of London’s hottest areas, full of trend-setting restaurants, bars and shops. But while anyone can google the most popular places in Mayfair, only Residential Land residents have the benefits of our friends in the area, who will always be able to offer you a helping hand.

We took a tour of the area between our Duke Street and Green Street apartments and had a chat with local businesses about about some of the amazing treats and services available to our our residents….

 

Popina

Popina (latin for Canteen) have made a home for themselves in this viaduct. Popina built their reputation by selling at farmers’ markets all over London, so they pride themselves on their fresh, artisanal produce. They’ve now chosen Mayfair as a permanent home for their cosy cafe, opened just three months ago and run by Isidora Popović and her husband. We sat down for a chat with Isidora, and a sample of Popina’s delicious Carrot cake…

How would you describe the food at Popina?
I’m Eastern European by origin and I derive from a little bit from French, Italian, British – so a mix of things! We call it artisan Europe – a mix of classics from different places.

What drew you to this location?
We really love Mayfair. We sell our food at 25 different farmers’ markets but we thought it would be really lovely for our product to be with locals. There are loads of locals; there’s office people, there’s tourists – we think it’s such a fabulous area.

Your favourite thing on the menu?
Ooh our tortilla is amazing! And all our egg dishes are amazing. We source our eggs from Tilly’s Traditional Eggs (a friend of ours at the farmers’ market) and all the chickens are grass fed, running around as they should be, and you can see it by the colour of their eggs. They’re properly exercised chickens.

We’ve been around for quite a while –  since 1999 – and since then we’ve won many Great Taste awards. We were also Waitrose Small Producer of the year in the Bakery category.

 

H.R. Higgins (Coffee-Man) Ltd.

H.R.Higgins is home to coffees from all over the world. A selection of beautiful vintage copper urns are filled with different beans which you can smell and sample, and then staff will weigh you out your own bag of beans to take home with you. Or you can sit in their cafe or even grab a coffee to go, with the beans ground and brewed in front of you. This cup of joe is simply unbeatable. We got the lowdown over an Ethiopian coffee…

How long has H.R. Higgins been here?
in this premises? Only since 1986… H.R. Higgins had a premises in South Molton Street since 1942. Look at the walls – we’ve covered them in pictures of the old shop, and the vintage equipment we used to use.

Do you have a favourite coffee?
It’s almost impossible to choose a favourite coffee – we have over 40 different coffees, different blends, single origins. Some are stronger, some less so, some fruity and some chocolatey… there’s a coffee here for all different tastes.

What drew you to this location?
My favourite thing about being in Mayfair is our customers. They’re great – so friendly, lovely and interested in what we do and the story of where we came from.

 

Roka

A table at the Mayfair branch of Roka is top of every Londoner’s wishlist. This Japanese restaurant is stylish and sophisticated. We spoke to manager Ben, a good friend of Residential Land, about what makes this spot so special.

How long has Roka been here?
We’ve been open here for almost 4 years now, but we have three other branches that have been open much longer. Rainer Becker is the visionary behind all the restaurants. They all have their distinct styles: from a modern contemporary New York grill style, to Japanese-styled modern contemporary – like Roka.

What’s your favourite thing on the menu?
I’m the wrong person to ask because I love everything! My favourite thing at the moment has to be the lamb cutlets, I love the lamb cutlets here. And also the crab hot pot is really good – actually, it’s perfect.

Drinks wise, are you known for any specific tipples?
The Negroni is always very popular both here and within the Roka family. A lot of people visit us for the Sake, so we have our very own Roka Sake which is the first choice for a lot of Sake drinkers.

What do you like about working in Mayfair?
One thing I love about Roka Mayfair is the diversity. So many people from so many walks of life are able to come here: whether you’ve saved up all year to come here or you own half of Mayfair, everyone has the opportunity to come here and dine. The menu is diverse: you can choose from so many different dishes. The staff here are simply amazing, and it’s not just this restaurant – it’s the whole company. It is a place where the food and drinks are appreciated, but the guests are appreciated at the same time. It’s all about the experience you have when you come here.  

 

Deliciously Ella Deli

This deli is the flagship store for Instagram guru Deliciously Ella. Everything here is plant-based and gluten free, so if your body is a temple then this is the guilt-free lunch spot you’ve been dreaming of. We spoke to deli supervisor Sophie about life in Mayfair…

How long has the deli been here?
For about a year and a half now. I actually only moved to London about a year ago and I wanted to work here mainly because of the plant-based menu – I’m a vegan.

What’s your favourite thing on the menu?
For Breakfast it’s definitely sweetcorn fritters with avocado smashed on top. Then for lunch it’s the make-your-own salad where you choose 3 salads from the counter. There are so many good ones, like the new potato, samphire and green asparagus salad. The slaw is really lovely as well and the sweet potato is awesome. I want to say everything really!

Oh – and dessert! We have a lemon cake and it’s so yum. There’s some sticky lemon jam in between and then coconut yoghurt icing on top – so nice!

What’s your favourite thing about being located in Mayfair?
It’s really central, but not hectic at all. Oxford street is just around the corner but Mayfair is still rather quiet compared to Soho.

What kind of customers do you get?
We get a real mix! Obviously Ella’s famous all around the world, so we get tourists who have specifically planned to have a meal here. But we also have our regulars who come every morning and have a chat so it’s a real melting pot. We get people coming back every day for breakfast and lunch, so it creates a real family atmosphere because you get to chat with them. What I really love about this restaurant is that it feels like a living room. It’s so lovely!

 

Gould Pharmacy

Alpesh from the Gould Pharmacy has spent years creating a one-stop-shop for our residents. The Gould Pharmacy has everything one could ever need – from household supplies, to medicines, to lotions, potions and beauty balms from all over the world. We spoke to Alpesh about his business and his relationship with the local area, including our residents…

What services do you offer?
Often, the tenants at Residential Land properties need over-the-counter medications. Whether it’s emergency things or they aren’t sure where to find what they need, they come to us. We’ve been here a long time (this is our 25th year) and whenever people want help with anything we’re here. We deal with a lot of emergencies and we have a doctor here 6 days a week, so if people can’t get to their GP on the weekend they can come here. Embassies and hotels use us too, so we often cater to people who are on their travels.

We’ve been told that if you need anything under the sun, you can find it here…
What sets us apart from a lot of high street shops is that customers that come here are coming from abroad and they live on social media. So if they’ve heard about a product and they want it then we’ll get it in for them (not prescription items, just over-the-counter stuff). For example we have the Sugar Bear hair vitamins which people can’t often find offline so we try to cater for even the smallest requirement. We always try to complete orders, if somebody wants six of something and there’s only three, we’ll try and get it for them. We do a lot of deliveries to the hotels and the apartments, so it’s a different type of service.

What do you like most about being in Mayfair?
Nice people in the area! It’s a good community, and you get to know a lot of people who are all very pleasant. Whoever you meet you just try to help and eventually it can turn itself back into business, so while you have the money aspect it is also a relationship. We have a lot of chauffeurs and domestic servants who’ll just come by to say hello and have an orange juice or a coke – that’s the whole point of having a community business. The same people work here all the time – if i’m absent I’ll have relatives and people who’ve worked with us for a long time and they’ll know how to find something.