Babur — Restaurant in London

New Year's Day disappointment This might be a rare review as all the others are so positive , but this was our experience and feel it should be shared

Having read the reviews on here , myself and my partner decided that this would be a lovely place to eat for New Year's Day . We were greated at the door by a polite member of staff and seated and our coats taken . We ordered 2 starters and a bottle of wine also we ordered our main dishes and one side dish .Our wine came immediately however our starter baby lamb chops ( which was delicious ) and griddled scallops ( which had not much taste and were very mushy) took a lot longer , a family of four arrived 1/2 hour after us and their starter was given the same time as ours . We was not impressed with this . We then ordered another bottle of wine because the first bottle was drunk while waiting for our starter . Our main took a long time too come as well it was given to us when the family of 4 had finished eating their main . We then called a member of staff over and asked why we have had to wait so long the reply was that the vegetarian dish takes a long time and he will check with the chef ,which he never . I'd ordered a vegetarian thali which consisted of some small dishes with different vegetables in them . I could not understand why cooking a few vegetables would take so long , there is no meat involved . Our side dish we had ordered DhingriPalak which was spinach and mushrooms which is puréed and was just like baby food with not much flavour not our cup of tea at all , maybe this dish is meant to be purred but surely not so bland . My partners main was Lababdar and did not have much flavour to it at all . So for the expensive price that you have to pay it is not value for money . We eat out often and this will not be a place that we revisit . Especially as the bill...

So so disappointing. I've been to the Babur before and the food was exceptionally good but this evening it was exceptionally mediocre. My husband had a Buffalo curry. He really didn't think it was very nice, the meat had big lumps of fat which he had to remove and put on a sideplate and the sauce was, to say the least, unexciting. I tasted it too and had to agree with him. I had the dosa with the mushroom, pea and potato filling. The best I can say is that it was ok. I usually have this when I go to the Chennai Dosa and though Chennai Dosa's doesn't have mushrooms or peas in the filling it's so much tastier and the rice pancake is much crisper and tastes so much better. Also it is served with a side of lentil curry which is very spicy and goes so well with the dosa and the filling. The Chennai Dosa's accompaniements are also much nicer, there is a coriander sauce and a chilli sauce as well as the coconut. Babur has a tomato type sauce and a coriander and mint sauce as well as the coconut which you can't really go wrong with, which don't hit the spot at all. Then we had pudding, my husband had the apricot and fig crumble and I had the cumin chocolate fondant. Well his portion of the crumble was miniscule and my fondant wasn't a fondant as the chocolate definitely wasn't oozing out when I cut into it. The portions were not generous at all. The prices are very high in comparison to what you actually get - maybe we just were unlucky and we happened to go on the chef's off night because most of the other reviews are very positive. The service was efficient but the waiters had no charm or...

Food and wine excellent, service friendly and efficient, and a great atmosphere.

We're infrequent visitors to the Babur, but have been going since the '90s. The food is wonderful - interesting and well presented starters, and main courses you won't find in any normal UK Indian restaurant - no 'base sauce plus chicken/lamb/tofu/prawns' options here.

The food is prepared with care and attention, and is delicious. There are pescatarian, diary free, vegetarian and vegan options, and the menu is available online.

The interior was revamped several years ago and is now bare brick, but has a warm intimate feel. We were lucky enough this time to be seated in the summer marquee, which reminded me pleasantly of a wedding reception.

We were in the last sitting, and were served promptly, after a slight wait for a table.

Starters are around £8, mains £16, wine from £24 upwards (check out the bin ends section of the wine list for good wine at good prices), and cocktails around £9.

Covid precautions were in place, with staff wearing gloves and masks, and a sanitiser at the entrance, but restaurant dining is an inherently risky business if you want to avoid catching it (or infecting others). Chairs and tables were being wiped after use, but I'm not sure if the surfaces were getting the sanitiser for the minimum time the solutions need for...