Gymkhana

Gymkhana in Mayfair opened in September 2013 and is part of the very successful JKS Restaurants group. The name is taken from private clubs in India in the days of the Raj rather than the equestrian events that the name is often associated with in the UK. The restaurant gained a Michelin star in 2014, and since December 2020 the executive chef has been Sid Ahuja, the former head chef here. Earlier in his career he worked at Oberoi Hotels in Agra and other Oberoi properties including the luxury hotel Udaivilas in Udaipur. Gymkhana was awarded a second Michelin star in 2024. As well as the ground floor dining room, with its booths and banquettes, there is a further dining room downstairs, with a capacity in total for 96 diners at any one time. There are also two private dining rooms. There was a set lunch for £60 with several options at each course and including nibbles, starter, main course, rice and side dish. A full tasting menu was available at £120 per person as well as an extensive a la carte choice.

The wine list had 413 labels and ranged in price from £35 to £5,000, with a median price of £145 and an average markup to retail price of 3.4 times, which is high but not unusual in Mayfair these days. Sample references were Alvarinho Adega de Monção Monção e Melgaço 2023 at £53 for a bottle that you can find in the high street for £11, Weingut Von Winning Riesling 2022 at £68 compared to its retail price of £14, and Taurasi Feudi di San Gregorio at £85 for a wine that will set you back £28 in the high street. For those with the means there was Cupano Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2017 at £440 compared to its retail price of £144, and Didier Dagueneau Pouilly Fumé Pur Sang 2007 at £750 for a wine whose current market value is £288.

Our meal began with a selection of different popadoms, made with an assortment of cassava, lentil and rice flour, and four different pickles. There was mango chutney, lime pickle with yoghurt, mint chutney and a Goan pickle called shrimp sorpotel made with fried shrimps, tomato and vinegar. The popadoms were thin and delicate and the pickles good, especially the lime and yoghurt one, where the yoghurt meant that it was less searingly sharp than some versions of this can be. We then had pani puris with a potato and moong bean filling and a little jug of spiced water. The water was flavoured with mint, cumin, coriander and black salt. The puris themselves are little hollow crisp spheres made from fried flour. Sometimes these are pre-filled with a little hole made in the top to pour the water. In the version here the spheres were intact, and you excavated your own little entrance way to each puri and poured in the filling and the flavoured water. Each poori is then eaten whole, the flavours bursting on the tongue as the crisps break. I have had this dish a great many times but the version here was about as good as I have had anywhere. The crisps were delicate but did not break too easily as some can, the filling was excellent and the spiced water lovely, the combination working very effectively (16/20).

This was followed by a prettily presented aloo chaat with sev (pieces of crispy gram flour vermicelli), tamarind chutney, sweetened yoghurt and spices with a garnish of coriander. This was also excellent, the contrasting textures working nicely and the sweet and sour of the tamarind enriching the potato (15/20).

Kasoori chicken tikka came with moong sprouts and kasundi kachumber, the latter being a salad of chopped cucumber, tomatoes, onions, unripe mangoes and lemon juice. The chicken was cooked in a tandoor with dried fenugreek leaves and was very tender, the distinctive fenugreek flavour being a classic combination with the chicken (15/20). Goan cafreal salmon tikka was wrapped in a lime leaf came with spinach, mint, coriander, green chilli and a side dish of

caramelised tomato chutney. The spices worked nicely but there is only so much flavour that can be coaxed from farmed salmon (14/20). Tandoori masala lamb chop came with walnut chutney, the Hampshire lamb supplied by butcher HG Walter.  This was absolutely superb, the meat incredibly tender, cooked pink in the middle and with its flavour lifted by the spice marinade. You will have to go a long way to find a better tandoori lamb chop than this (17/20).

Lasooni tiger prawns with red pepper chutney and chopped chives were carefully cooked and had good natural sweetness (15/20). Achari paneer tikka came with fig and cashew nut and corn chaat. This was very impressive, the combinations of textures and flavours lovely, and the paneer in particular having superb texture. It is not easy to make paneer exciting, but this use of fig and corn with it was inspired (16/20).

Kid goat methi keema came with pau bread rolls. lime and shredded onion. The idea is to make little sandwiches with the bread, the onion, the keema and the lime. This was an interesting idea and worked well, the goat having goof flavour (15/20). Goan prawn curry with coconut milk was another successful dish, the prawns carefully cooked and the mild sauce having just enough spice to keep things interesting (15/20).

Morel biryani came with its puff pastry case intact and was opened at the table. The rice inside was fragrant and aromatic, flavoured with saffron, and the mushrooms were carefully cooked (15/20). Butter chicken masala was a very good rendition of the classic dish, the chicken tender after being marinated and then grilled, the texture creamy and the sauce as buttery as you would expect, with enough spice (including cumin, garlic, ginger and chilli) to avoid it being too rich (15/20).

Saag makai, made from mustard greens and spinach, was very good, the leaves having plenty of flavour packed in with their spice accompaniment (15/20). Aloo jeera had little pieces of potato flavoured with cumin, the potatoes retaining their texture well and the spices nicely enlivening the potatoes (14/20). A yellow dhal was also very good, avoiding the wateriness that can afflict this dish (14/20). A bread selection was served piping hot and included an excellent garlic naan (15/20).

Mango sorbet, coconut and lime sorbet and coffee ice cream all had excellent texture and flavour, each garnished with a little sesame tuile (15/20). Coffee was from speciality roaster Workshop Coffee in Fitzrovia. Service was extremely slick, our waiter Darahan being terrific. I was being treated to this anniversary meal so did not see a bill. However, if you ordered the set lunch and shared a modest bottle of wine then a typical cost per person might be around £105. Clearly this would be more if you want for the tasting menu or ordered widely from the a la carte menu.

Further reviews: 24th Feb 2020 | 25th Sep 2015 | 23rd Oct 2013