A Matter Of Taste

Kai Mayfair celebrates its 10th year of the Michelin star, retaining the coveted hallmark for 2019. We sit with its Malaysian owner Bernard Yeoh and head chef Alex Chow to celebrate the momentous occasion and discover the restaurant’s secret recipe for success.

- Mindy Teh

Never tell Bernard Yeoh the odds. The protean restaurateur has been posed challenges so many times, he relishes the chance at taking up a dare – and excelling in it. Yeoh’s restaurant, Kai Mayfair, is a good example. The success of this Nouvelle Chinese restaurant has been largely fuelled by what Yeoh facetiously calls “a healthy grudge”, formed many years ago when he had met the author of a now-defunct, previously acclaimed food guide. Yeoh had noticed that most restaurants serving European cuisine at the time had garnered a full page in the guide, while those serving up Asian food were relegated a mere sentence or two. Despite what seemed like prejudice from the outset, Bernard had “accepted this because we (the Chinese food scene) were simply not presenting a full experience for Chinese cuisine. I approached the author, made this observation, told him I wanted to do better and if he had any pointers.” The author replied: “Do you know where you are? You’re in England.”

Rather than be indignant, Yeoh chose to see the markedly arrogant comment as a challenge. “Game on!” he says, laughing amiably. “Look, I’m not going to sit here and say it’s not fair. I’m going to try and persuade someone like that. That’s the mission.”

It certainly looks like mission accomplished, with Kai Mayfair celebrating many firsts since the incident. It is the first Chinese restaurant in London to receive a Michelin star, effectively raising the bar for Chinese cuisine in the UK. It is also the first Malaysian-owned restaurant – and Yeoh and his head chef, Alex Chow, the first Malaysians – to be awarded such an accolade. Kai Mayfair is the only restaurant of its kind to be consistently awarded the star for a decade, its retainment having just been announced for 2019. It has also set a 2005 Guinness World Record for serving the most expensive soup in the world.