Mayfair, Indian Restaurant Guide

“A high class of Indian food and a smart interior” has helped propel Samyukta & Dinesh Nair’s grand venue in the heart of Mayfair into the top rank of London’s subcontinental restaurants. Many of our reports agree that the food here can be “exceptional”, but even some fans feel its reputation, accolades and prices are overblown. Even more sceptical souls just have “no idea why this has a Michelin star”.

Famous more than 20 years ago as the first Indian restaurant in London to bag a Michelin star, this Mayfair stalwart still wins fans with “brilliantly cooked and presented” cuisine that plays second fiddle to few places in the capital. “A table upstairs is the more pleasant choice” than in the basement. Top Menu Tips – “signature char-grilled lamb chops with crispy pistachio nut crumb – so tender and flavourful – and the Hyderabadi Lamb Biryani served in a pot with pastry crust… definitely melt-in-the-mouth”.

It was this “top-tier” Mayfair Indian – opened in 2013 – that started to show London that the Sethi family of all-conquering JKS Restaurants fame were not a one-hit wonder (having founded Trishna five years before). “Inventive and exciting, whilst ticking all the boxes that make Indian ‘curry houses’ so appealing”, it inspires nothing but praise for its “consistently superb” culinary alchemy, which is served in a colonial-inspired wood-panelled interior decorated with prints and the odd stuffed animal head. If you follow Michelin’s recommendations however, the elevation of chef Sid Ahuja’s cuisine as London’s first Indian restaurant to receive a second Michelin star is a bit puzzling. Diners express views for and against in our annual diners’ poll, but most noticeably, despite its high ratings the destination doesn’t inspire many nominations as diners’ top meal of the year (as would be expected for such a luminary); there are other Indian restaurants in our poll that out-score it; and the contrast with the level of adulation received by A Wong (London’s first Chinese two star), is stark. Perhaps we are just so spoilt for Indian cuisine in London that we don’t always fully appreciate it? Top Menu Tips – “The muntjac biryani is fantastic”; “it is worth going for the lobster claw in scrambled duck egg alone”; and “the pork cheek vindaloo is a standout!”

“Carefully spiced and beautifully cooked Indian food” takes centre-stage at the more casual little sister of Jamavar from Mayfair-based restaurateur Samyukta Nair. Everything on the menu is “interesting and tasty”, and “the express menu is a bargain” for this part of town.

Prolific chef Rohit Ghai’s Mayfair three-year-old offers dishes inspired by the home cooking he grew up with in Madhya Pradesh. There’s a “very small menu” by Indian standards, but that is no bad thing. Top Menu Tip – “best ever lamb chops”.