The 1922 HQ of the Port of London Authority is a lofty Palladian space of impressive double-volumed interiors – perfect, in other words, as the setting of the Four Seasons Hotel’s second London outpost. And in the hands of less experienced designers, it might have been equally easy for its flagship in-house restaurant Mei Ume to have been lost amid those grand proportions.
Happily, Hong Kong-based design studio AB Concept’s Ed Ng and Terence Ngan worked all the tricks in their bag to create an intimately scaled space for their first UK-based project. Working around the original columns, the designers mixed red lacquer frames with bronze and metallic motifs; enamel painted glass and hand-painted panels with silk embroidery and thin-framed borders around banquettes.
All this makes for a head-turning setting for the menu which takes its cues from the restaurant’s name, a Chinese-Japanese hybrid that apparently means ‘plum blossom’. On the table, this translates into a bi-cultural mix of dishes – ideal for indecisive diners who can’t decide between head chef and Royal China alum Tony Truong’s two-course Peking duck, and crispy noodles with stir-fried lobster; ex-Yauatcha Derrick Chen’s truffle and wild mushroom dumplings; or sushi chef and Sake no Hana alum Mun Seok Choi’s soft shell crab uramaki laced with mango and daikon.
INFORMATION
ADDRESS
Four Seasons Hotel London
Ten Trinity Square
-
A new book on Paul McCartney’s 1970s band Wings documents an inside story of resilience and family'It's a story about a family as well as one about a very famous musician', says author Ted Widmer
-
Rimowa launches limited edition cocktail case in collaboration with Robbe & BerkingGerman engineering meets exquisite craftsmanship and a whole lot of fun in this travel cocktail kit
-
Art Deco's centenary is honoured with a grand exhibition in ParisTo mark 100 years of Art Deco, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris is holding a retrospective that includes furniture, tableware, clothing, jewellery and objets d’art (on view until 26 April 2026)
-
New London restaurant Lagana drizzles Shoreditch with extra olive oilPachamama Group’s latest spot turns the namesake Greek bread into a philosophy, pairing childlike creativity with generous, unfussy cooking
-
Tobi Masa lands at The Chancery RosewoodChef Masa Takayama’s debut London restaurant transforms modernist geometry into a space of ritual calm and culinary purity
-
London’s smash burger obsession goes haute with Supernova MayfairNew York designer Sarita Posada taps into 1970s nostalgia and cinematic restraint for the group’s third outpost in the British capital
-
Peek inside Uchronia’s celadon green suite at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde ParkThe Paris-based studio teamed up with Pantone to transform a suite at the storied hotel into an aquatic dreamscape. Here’s how to check in
-
The Chancery Rosewood: A new chapter for London’s modernist iconAfter years behind closed doors, London’s most anticipated hotel opening finally arrives, proving that some things are worth waiting for
-
The Hart Marylebone marks the next chapter in London’s design-led pubsThe trio behind The Pelican and The Hero turn to Marylebone, fusing Victoriana, intimacy and culinary honesty in their most ambitious project yet
-
This 100-year-old private members’ club in London feels young at heartThe Sloane Club unveils a stylish new rebrand and redesign courtesy of Russell Sage Studio
-
The ancient and the erotic inspire Sessions Art Club’s Frieze London 2025 pop-up‘I think food should hum beneath the skin, like a good painting,’ founder Jonny Gent tells Wallpaper* on the opening of his temporary restaurant-cum-art-installation
