Mere – restaurant from Monica Galetti

Mere in London is the restaurant of celebrity chef and MasterChef: The Professionals judge Monica Galetti.

Mere celebrates Monica Galetti’s Samoan heritage, with a menu that focuses on bringing a modern and refined spin to traditional Pacific Island cuisine.  During my visit I chose the six-course tasting menu, with accompanying wine selection – and if you’re looking for a pre-dinner cocktail, I can highly recommend Mere’s bar above the restaurant, which has some very enjoyable original creations.

First Course: Yellowtail kingfish ‘oka’

Oka is a traditional Samoan dish, similar to ceviche, but made with coconut milk as well.  The yellowtail kingfish in this version melted in your mouth, and the rich creaminess of the coconut milk was cut through with spiciness from sliced jalapenos and citrusy bite from the shiso leaves, while the diced cucumber brought a touch of freshness to the dish.

Yellowtail kingfish ‘oka’

Second Course: Salt beef ‘boil up’

Boil up is a traditional Māori dish consisting of a meat and vegetable broth with flour dumplings called ‘doughboys’.  The broth in this version was incredibly packed full of flavour, and the interpretation of doughboys were lightly fried and bite-sized to add some contrasting texture, rather than being the traditionally soft dumplings.  The salt beef at the centre of the dish was so tender, no chewing was required!

Salt beef ‘boil up’

Third Course: Stone bass with beurre blanc, and pak-choi with burnt lemon gel

The fish course was a delight - the meaty stone bass fillet accompanied perfectly by a rich and indulgent beurre blanc flavoured with herring roe, while the burnt lemon gel hidden in the pak-choi was the surprise highlight of the dish, adding a little citrusy sweetness to cut through the richness of the butter-and-wine sauce.

Stone bass with beurre blanc, and pak-choi with burnt lemon gel

Fourth Course: ‘Palusami’

Palusami is a traditional Samoan dish based around stuffed taro leaves in a coconut-based sauce.  This version brought an element of refinement by incorporating roasted veal sweetbread and smoky Morteau sausage into the dish, and accompanying it with a potato and onion terrine.  The result was a dish that felt surprisingly hearty and flavoursome, combining elements of French cuisine and Pacific Island cooking in an interesting and original way.

‘Palusami’

Fifth Course: ‘L&P’ sorbet

The first of the two dessert courses was a refreshing sorbet flavoured with ‘L&P’, a lemon-flavoured soft drink popular in New Zealand.  The sorbet itself was a delight – cleansing the palette after the richness of the previous course – while the almond crumble base added a nice contrasting texture, and accompanied by a garnish of raspberry and lemon-flavoured meringue.

‘L&P’ sorbet

Sixth Course: ‘Hokey Pokey’

Hokey pokey is a popular ice cream flavour in New Zealand, consisting of vanilla ice cream with pieces of honeycomb toffee.  This version took that basic concept and elevated it into the stratosphere – the end result was certainly my favourite dish on the menu.  Centred around a deliciously indulgent salted toffee honeycomb ice cream, it’s accompanied by a light chocolate cake topped with crémeux flavoured with Vanuatu cocoa and aerated chocolate, with dark Vanuatu chocolate grated over the top at the table.  A chocoholic’s dream!

‘Hokey Pokey’

We ended the meal with coffees and petit fours (which were delicious).

“…provided fusions between European haute cuisine & traditional Pacific Islands dishes that I had never tried before…”

Overall impression:  I had a thoroughly enjoyable evening at Mere – the staff were welcoming and friendly, without being overbearing, and the bar area above the restaurant was a lovely spot for a pre-dinner cocktail.  The décor throughout the bar and restaurant is contemporary and sophisticated, but with some interesting artwork connecting to the Pacific Island heritage of the restaurant.  I had the wine pairing with the tasting menu, and although I’m by no means a wine expert, I thought the wine pairings brought out of the best of each dish.  The menu itself managed to provide me with taste combinations and fusions between European haute cuisine and traditional Pacific Islands dishes that I had never tried before, and was a truly original culinary experience.  Plus, the evening was topped off with an appearance by Monica Galetti herself, who graciously took the time to greet and chat with all of the diners in the restaurant towards the end of the service.