Gymkhana

We celebrated a joint birthday dinner with my cousin at Gymkhana, and overall, it was a wonderful experience. Great atmosphere, fantastic food, and exceptional service throughout the evening. Kid Goat Keema: Hands down the star of the night. Rich, flavorful, and memorable. Biryani: We originally looked at their signature venison biryani, but since we don't eat venison, the staff kindly offered to substitute it with chicken instead. Flavourful, and the raitha was yummy!! Good food, a warm and buzz-worthy atmosphere, and top-tier hospitality. A lovely place for a special occasion!

We booked Gymkhana months in advance for lunch with our best friends and, after reading so many mixed reviews beforehand, we deliberately kept our expectations low. Thankfully, we had a really enjoyable meal overall. There were four of us. Two chose the £75 lunch tasting menu, while the other two ordered a selection of dishes from the à la carte menu. The lunch menu is excellent value for the variety and quantity of food you receive, and I’d definitely recommend it if you’re visiting for the first time. The standout dishes were, without question, the lamb chops (beautifully cooked with impressively thick cuts), the chicken tikka, and the spicy fried chicken pieces in tamarind sauce. Unexpectedly, one of the highlights was actually the poppadom basket and chutneys – an excellent variety, all fresh and full of flavour. The only dishes that fell a little short for us were the curries and samosas. Our group is of mixed African and Indian heritage, so perhaps we’re naturally more critical when it comes to Indian food. The quality of the meat and seafood was outstanding and everything was cooked perfectly, but we found many of the curry sauces quite generic. Several dishes seemed to share a very similar base, making them less distinctive than we expected from a Michelin-starred restaurant. Likewise, while the chutneys were enjoyable, some appeared to be variations built from the same core recipes. The mocktails and mango lassi were also disappointing. We visited during Alphonso mango season, so we were expecting a rich, vibrant mango flavour, but both drinks lacked depth and freshness. We ordered generously – everything from the lamb shank rogan josh to prawn curries – and our bill came to around £400–£500 for four people, including the 15% service charge. We certainly didn’t leave hungry and enjoyed trying such a wide range of dishes. I completely appreciate restaurant margins and the costs involved in operating at this level, but for the price, I was hoping for a little more variety in the sauces and flavours across the menu. Our waiter was excellent throughout the meal: attentive, knowledgeable and friendly. However, the experience ended rather abruptly. There wasn’t a goodbye as we left, nor any small complimentary gesture such as sweets, chocolates, mints or tea. It’s a small touch, but after spending several hundred pounds at a Michelin-starred restaurant, those details help create a memorable finish. Overall, I’m pleased we’ve experienced Gymkhana—it was definitely worth ticking off our London dining list. Would I rush back? Probably not, simply because London has so many exceptional restaurants still to explore. If you are visiting, I’d strongly recommend ordering at least two portions of the lamb chops, a couple of the grilled tikkas, the poppadoms and chutneys (not the watered down yogurt and mint chutney) and taking advantage of the lunch tasting menu. That’s where I think the best value lies and where the restaurant really shines.

I have been to fine dining restaurants in netherlands, so when we saw there is a 2 star indian style restaurant in London we were excited to try it. So we booked and went. We were with 5 and were seated at a round table were there was no Place for 5, ambiance was ok so we sat down a bit folded but still excited. The server came and we asked for the tasting menu with the wine pearing, the first singn this was going to be a dissapointing was when he said he would not recommend the wine pearing, because it would take to much time. I never heard “no” before in a fine dining restaurant before so we were a bit taken back by it. The evening did not get better. I had the vegetarian tasting menu and there was litterly no dish I now a few days later remember, and I think you can’t get at a reguler indian restaurant. We cound’t even finish our desserts because our “time was up” like an all you can eat restaurant. So we left. I just don’t understand this restaurant has 2 stars. Food and service are “all you can eat” level. Overall verry disapointing and over priced experience.

Not sure if I have the taste buds to speak on a Michelin star restaurant but I will try. I tried the lunch menu set and the food was definitely elevated. My personal favorites were the paneer dishes. I did try something I did not enjoy but I will take full responsibility for that as I didn’t know what I was ordering. That’s why I would say maybe go a la carte and order what you know you like. The best part of the experience was the service though, William and Dee executed the absolutely perfect amount of friendliness, attentiveness, helpfulness, and overall a great vibe. This place is not stuffy at all, there’s definitely a fun factor here too. The last thing I will mention is the dessert I got was the mango rice pudding, and that was truly exceptional, that in my mind was a dish worthy of a Michelin star. The taste, presentation, fun factor, texture, temperature, all of it made it my favorite dish at Gymkhana. On a side note I even tried the mango lassi drink and that was very good too, I almost feel like they should do a mango lunch set. Anyways, great experience, just know what you’re ordering and know that you like what you’re ordering.