My first Michelin Star Restaurant Review
As you will know this is my second restaurant review in London. Thanks again to the guys at the travel tech company Eviivo for making this happen. As I mentioned before I was staying in The Rokxy Townhouse in Kingscross. It was the perfect place to stay in the perfect location.
As I had mentioned before I was going to do one restaurant per day. I had also hoped to take in somewhere for breakfast that I could review to. In the end I settled for a quick cheeky Greggs sausage roll, having heard that they were legendary and tasted great. I was dying to see if this was true. It looked as good as it tasted as you can see in the photo below.
This week’s restaurant is?
As you know I am a big fan of Indian Cuisine. So, visiting an Indian restaurant whilst I was in London was going to happen. The last time I was in London, back in 2017, I had a nice curry in Brick Lane. For those of you wondering about Brick Lane. It is a street in the East End of London that is famous for having many curry houses.
The one problem I had was deciding where to go. Whilst researching various curry houses in Brick Lane, I noticed on their websites claims such as the best Indian restaurant in London or as seen on a certain TV show. So, I did the most obvious thing and Google the best restaurants in London. The result was numerous websites listing the best restaurants in London.
One quickly popped out
Perusing through these various lists, I hoped to find an Indian Restaurant. It wasn’t too long before one popped out at me. It was as if it had a sign in neon lights saying pick me.!
As you can see from the video above, the restaurant in question is Gymkhana, based in leafy Mayfair. It has one unique attribute that made it a must, it has held a Michelin Star since 2014. In the same year it was also voted the best restaurant in the UK.
Upon entering the restaurant I received a warm greeting and I was soon walking through the opulent ground floor down to my table in the basement. Everything here screamed exceptional service which when combined with the cuisine, you end up with a Michelin Star. As you can see below my table topped with marble had plenty of room.
What did I order?
Well I had the choice of 2 menus, the lunch or the ala carte, and I went with the latter. I was not sure if I could finish a 2 course lunch, hence why I chose from the ala carte menu The lunch menu offers exceptional value, with a starter, a mains and a choice of breads or rice for £44. With the ala carte menu, rice and breads were extra, so its worth taking note of that.
The Chicken Butter Masala, had me at chicken, so that’s what I chose. My palate has gone slightly more adventurous and in the past I would have gone for the spicier curries. To go with my curry I had a bottle of Still water and a nice German Lager called Lucky Saint that is brewed in Bavaria. You could have a choice of various pale ales, an IPA or Cobra Lager or Lucky Saint Lager.
My choice I think was an inspired choice as Lucky Saint, is a great tasting malty and crisp lager that is only 0.5%. A crisp and refreshing lager always goes down well with an Indian curry. However, when eating in a Michelin Star restaurant. Cobra which can be found in nearly all Indian restaurants in the UK was not going to cut the mustard. My Lucky Saint lager as you can see below was served in a stunning in a pewter beer mug.
How was my meal?
My Chicken Butter Masala was a revelation, it had a nice spicy kick to it, something I was not expecting. In fact it caught me so much by surprise that one of the waiters noticed this. He then asked me if I would like some yoghurt to make my curry less spicy. I politely declined and continued eating my curry. As you can see below my curry looked very appetising.
The rice portions were very impressive and bigger than I expected as you can see below.
The rice was just the right amount of fluffy and perfectly matched the Chicken Butter Masala. The meal ended up being like my meal at Pickle, just perfect and well worth the wait. This was the best curry I have ever eaten, sorry Pickle, but you come a close second.
What did my meal cost?
My Chicken Butter Masala cost £28.00 and my Basmati Rice cost £7.00. My Still Water cost £3.00 and my Lucky Saint cost £6.50. With 12.5% Service Charge, my final bill came to £50.06 (€57.04).
If you are ever in London, and fancy a nice curry, you won’t regret going to Gymkhana. As it is a Michelin Star restaurant, booking in advance is advisable. The service is second to none and you can easily see why Gymkanha has rightly earned a Michelin Star. It is also worth noting that when I made my lunchtime booking, my email confirmation mentioned my booking was for 2 hours.
My meal was perfect, the service was impeccable and I got value for money. You won’t get the same value in Ireland.
Gymkhana, 42 Albemarle St, London W1S 4JH
See more reviews here.