Indian
Widely considered to be one of, if not the, best Indian restaurant in London, Gymkhana is looking better than ever after a refurbishment following a fire. There’s new artwork and photographs on the ground floor level, and a more substantial remodelling in the basement, which has seen the bar moved and a more colourful design adopted. The menus still feature many of the Gymkhana classics, as well as a few new dishes and cocktails, so there’s plenty of reasons to visit again even if you’ve been before. The kid goat methi keema was always one of the most hyped dishes at Gymkhana and it’s still a must order – scooping up the rich minced goat meat and piling it on to the soft buttery pao buns is a joy to behold. Another one of Gymkhana’s most famous dishes, the muntjac biryani, is still here and again it’s one you won’t want to pass up. The pastry crust is broken upon table-side, revealing a steaming bowl of rice and chunks of muntjac deer – it’s a heavy dish but it’s served with pomegranate and mint raita which helps add a bit of freshness. Whether you’re a long time fan of Gymkhana or you’re yet to visit, the refurbishment of the space is the perfect excuse to visit. It’s certainly pricier than your average Indian restaurant but the cooking is exceptional, and fully worthy of it’s Michelin-star status. A five star experience all round.
While there are Indo-Chinese restaurants on the outskirts of London, this style of food is still not very well represented in Central – something Fatt Pundit changed. The Soho spot specialises in fusion food from Tangra in Kolkata, a result of Hakka Chinese immigration into the city from Canton. The fact that you start with momos, steamed dumplings that are commonplace in Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal and Northern India, lets you know you’re in for something a bit different at Fatt Pundit. The Chinese influence on the menu is clear. Chilli and Szechuan pepper both feature heavily and many of the dishes have sticky glazes rather than curry sauces, like the crispy Bombay chilli prawns and the excellent venison in a sweet chilli reduction, served with mantou bread (a Northern Chinese steamed bun). Instead of salt & pepper squid, there’s salt & pepper okra, and the moreish crackling spinach is similar to crispy seaweed, given an Indian twist with sweet yoghurt, date & plum sauce and pomegranates. Don’t miss the lamb chops either – covered in a black bean and masala dust, charred on the outside and buttery soft on the inside. Cocktails continue down the same road; inspired by the traders in India who sell fresh-cut fruit with spices and salts with some Chinese flavours thrown in. This is fusion done right.
Inspired by the old Irani cafes of Bombay, Dishoom delivers every single time. From the beaut decor (not only is every inch of this massive restaurant perfectly styled, it has a verandah too) to the Shoreditch special lamb raan to the legendary house black daal, it’s hard to have a bad meal here. And if you make it in time, you can never say no to THAT bacon and egg naan for brekkie.
For generous portions of Punjabi food at very reasonable prices, Delhi Grill is the one. The dhaba (an informal canteen) serves up street food snacks, tandoor grills and slow-cooked curries. It’s relaxed yet lively (with options for veggies and vegans) so it’s the perfect place to order a load of dishes and just get stuck in.
HULLABALOO
This Indian restaurant is tiny – like just a handful of tables tiny – and it’s really popular with locals so you may have to join the crowd (although they do offer takeaway). Any wait will be worth it though because the food is consistently great. It’s a vegetarian menu, with plenty of vegan options, and at very wallet-friendly prices too.
Tandoor Chop House is upping the game for Indian food in the capital, combining a traditional North Indian communal eatery with a classic British chop house. The tandoor oven is the star of the show and you can expect dishes to include tandoori chicken masala, beef bolti, Amritsari lamb chops and tandoor masala pollock. Sides come in the shape of a Dexter dripping keema naan and crispy okra, and its hard to resist the sweet coal-roasted pineapple or chai brulée for dessert.
Michelin-starred Trishna takes you on a journey through India with plates inspired by the south coast, rich seafood dishes from Goa and a range of puris, bhajis, behls and idlis, and you can go for seafood, veggie or meaty tasting menus. This is anything but your average curry house and is one to save for a real treat.
Roti Chai is located down a quiet back street near Marble Arch. This Indian street food joint has a simple cafe style dining area on the ground floor with a more formal dining restaurant below. The chicken samosas are crammed full of spicy chicken, the chicken lollipops are moreish and the hakka chilli paneer is one to go for if you can handle the heat. And wash the lot down with a lychee teapot cocktail.
Tamarind Kitchen is another curry house gem found in Soho, where you can tuck into dishes like Karara Kekda, soft shell crab with potato salad and pickles; Hyderabadi Gosht, slow-cooked lamb in a browned onion sauce; Guchchhee Kofta, morel mushroom and pea dumplings; and South Indian Alapuppuzha Fish Curry. They also serve up a game platter featuring tandoor-cooked quail, duck and guinea fowl, ideal if you’re in the mood for a meat feast. It even offers a subterranean cocktail bar, making it a great spot for drinking too.
Gunpowder is one of the new wave of restaurants delivering Indian food for the 21st century through innovative dishes cooked with authentic spices. The original is a small restaurant hidden on a backstreet in Spitalfields, with a second larger site in Tower Bridge, offering cleverly spiced plates with subtly different flavours. The spicy venison and vermicelli doughnuts, Maa’s kashmiri super tender lamb chops and the sigree grilled mustard broccoli are all highlights and if you’re in the mood for booze there’s some interesting Indian cocktails on offer too.
Brigadiers brings some serious SPICE to the Indian restaurant scene in London. The menu is huge and everything sounds amazing so choosing is definitely the hardest part. The half rack of lamb chops are pretty exceptional, crusted in spices and served on a bed of soft tandoori onions, as is the kid goat shoulder with two paratha breads and the sagafella oysters. Brigadiers is another winner for the JKS group and it’s worth at least a couple of visits to get through as many dishes as possible.
Cinnamon Club is London’s original modern Indian restaurant and you can’t go wrong with a classic. Executive Chef Vivek Singh’s menu combines signature dishes, tasting menus, seasonal options and celebratory sharing platters. Tandoori octopus with chutney aloo, old Delhi style butter chicken and Shetland salmon with caramel jhal muri are just some of the highlights. If that doesn’t get your tastebuds tickling, quite frankly nothing will…
Dishoom sure knows how to do it. All their sites have regular huge queues out the door and it’s not hard to see why. They do Indian food like no other and their bacon and egg naan rolls for breakfast are the stuff of legend. This branch, housed in an old transit shed with nice decorative touches that nod to the railway as well as a basement cocktail bar, also looks amazing. It’s an absolute joy every time.
Created by Will Bowlby, who previously worked at The Cinnamon Club, the dishes are inspired by Southern India but use British ingredients and modern flair to bring them up to date – think goat leg raan, Keralan fried chicken, wood pigeon with garlic pickle, Cornish crab meen moilee, duck leg kathi roll, lotus root yakni with morels & lotus root crisps, and rock oyster pakora with rhubarb chutney.
Chit Chaat Chai is definitely not your typical Indian with a focus on chaat, rather than kebabs and curries. After a successful stint on the streets of London town, Tania and Dhruv decided to take the plunge and open a permanent site in Wandsworth to serve up those little savoury street food snacks all week long. And it’s not all about the food here, their colourful interiors are just as much of a draw too with newspaper covered floors and graffitied walls.
Half plates and full drinks is a restaurant concept we can fully get behind and that’s exactly what they do at Talli Joe. The food and the booze have been designed to go hand in hand…there is an entire Pauwa and Chakhna menu that does just that, so you don’t even have to think about it. Small plates equals sharing though, and with dishes like Kale Chaat, Whitebait Kempu, and the standout Nihari Nalli, you’ll want to be trying as much as you can.
The cocktails take inspiration from across India and are handily divided up into north, south, east and west, so you’ll have no trouble in reaching a state of ‘talli’…that’s a happy tipsy, Hindi style.