Bayleaf Restaurant — Restaurant in London

A film critic would award an Oscar to this restaurant.

My first visit to the Bayleaf restaurant in Whetstone was way beyond my expectations. As a foodie of sorts, I tend to look for restaurants that everybody is talking about. As this restaurant is situated away from Central London, what a treat it must be for locals who would need to venture to London’s Mayfair to be served food of this calibre. I’m sure this must be one of the best kept gastronomical secrets of London.

I could write a few paragraphs about the decor and the painstaking attention to detail the owner(s) have put into the design of the place right down to the aesthetically ergonomically designed coffee cups along with the rest of the crockery and cutlery which I believe are from Villeroy & Boch. Let’s leave that for readers of my experience to discover for themselves. I shall now go onto the most important aspect for me, the...

...food.

Where do I start, the starters? In this case, no. Our taste buds first experienced the pappadoms. They were as one would expect, and not greasy. The amazing thing was the selection of condiments that accompanied the pappadoms. Such a well thought out combination of six items that surpassed what I had been served at Michelin starred restaurants.

Our dinner table comprised of five friends, every one of whom could wear a “foodie” badge with pride. For starters, four of us chose the Jhinga Puri and one chose the Chicken 65. Over the years, a few of our friends have come to a certain consensus about ordering food at different types of restaurants. A few of us agree that Prawn Puri, or Jhinga Puri as it is named on the Bayleaf menu, is probably the best starter to try in a Bangladeshi owned establishment. Last night’s Jhinga Puri was the best of the best. The Chicken 65, I heard, was also very good, but I did not try that. We also had a couple of additional starters to share. These were The Momo and Crispy Kale Chaat. We were given a stunning presentation with the healthy dumpling type Momos with a table full of liquid nitrogen smoke. The Kale Chaat was a nice refresher to get us over the “pyrotechnics” at the table.

For the main course, we decided on an assortment of dishes, and, as friends do, all shared everything that was presented to us. I shall list some of the items, as they are worth remembering for anybody wishing to visit this establishment. Our main dishes were Goan Fish Curry, Jhinga Bhuna, Punjabi Butter Chicken, Handi Chicken, Achari Dumba Gosht, and a very special Dum Pakht Biryani. For vegetable side dishes, we had Punjabi Daal Makhni, Bindi Jaypuri, Bindi Patiyala and Bombay Dum Aloo. Of course we had a selection of rice and breads with which to absorb the succulent juices from the “curries”.

I was very pleased with our selection, as we had a range of dishes satisfying most tastes, starting from the subtle creamy taste of the Punjabi Butter Chicken to the mustard infused spicy taste of the Achari Dumba Gosht. The Goan Fish Curry was one that one dish that stood out, with very subtle spices, leaving you with the opportunity to savour the chunks of halibut.

A detailed breakdown of every dish may prove to be quite lengthy reading, so I’ll leave readers with a “taster” of what is available at Bayleaf Restaurant. The best judge is one’s own taste buds. I cannot fault the service, very attentive and “clued-up” is how I would describe the wonderful front of house hosts that made our night such a memorable event. The first of many, I hope. One last word. Leave room for desserts!

REVIEW SHORTENED DUE...

Very very INTERESTING restaurant. I really dont know what I feel and here is why: So, after struggling to book the table(because different staffs tried to make us to book the table VERY early, we finally got a good time and got the reservation to celebrate my wife's birthday(2 little kids, my wife and mother in law and ME). First As soon as we entered the restaurant, we stood beside the table and didnt even took our jackets off, the lady said: "Oh can I offer you some poppadum"? It was very awkward and we look each other and said "ok..yes". so we set down ATE a VERY VERY TASTY meal WHICH TO BE HONEST WAS A "OKAY" PORTION but NOT enough to feel full :( During eating.... I saw the staffs always rushing, walking in very quick speed and not really interacting with customers AT ALL. I asked a gentleman to picture us and his answer was: "SORRY I AM BUSY ASK THAT LADY(pointing his collegue" and he continue running...rushing...Anyways, I asked the lady and got the picture. SO, ending of our dinner I asked the bill...before bringing the bill, they brought to our table a CUP CAKE with a candle(WHICH WAS AMAZING, WE TRULY APPRECIATED AND THAT IS HOW IT SHOULD BE) So the bill came, I just laughed as I saw that they has actually CHARGED for the PAPADAM they "offered" us - SUGGESTION: Next time please WAIT until the customer SIT and look at menu before offering and giving the impression that it was complimentary (NOT about the cost but the PRINCIPAL OF IT). So we paid and left with the message: BAYLEAF PROVIDE VERY TASTY FOOD IN A OKAY PORTION, HOWEVER, THIS IS A RESTAURANT TO EAT AND GO! No atmosphere at all AND NO CHILD FRIENDLY PLACE. I am sorry to say that I really do not want to come across rude, but is a honest feeling that our family got. We understand that restaurant is extremely tiny, TABLES ARE EXTREMELY CLOSE TOGETHER, maybe short of staff BUT a good restaurant is a combination of: GOOD PORTION SIZE, TASTY FOOD AND GREAT ATMOSPHERE. I think we may try it again and I will make sure to update this comment....

Average Bangladeshi restaurant serving Indian food.

We ordered a few plates of food between four of us - chilli paneer, jaipuri okra fry, chicken 65, a spicy lamb curry, mixed vegetable curry, spinach paneer, lemon rice, papadoms, tandoori roti and naan. The good bits first - the ambience of the restaurant was really good - smart and good-looking venue, smartly dressed staff and excellent table layout. Great location on T&W high street. The presentation of the food was very good and we witnessed some theatrical presentation (with dry ice) at a neighbouring table. We were also informed by the waiter that it was a fine dining venue. Now to the not so good part. The food itself - the restaurant got the flavour profile and origin story of all the dishes wrong. The name of the dishes and the flavours in the dish did not match. This is ok for a person who is unaware of the flavours that supposed to be associated with those dishes, but would be disappointing for a person who had ordered and selected an item off the menu expecting certain flavours. The only reason for this, if I were to guess, the kitchen staff and the chef, are not Indian, but Bangladeshi. Hence, the limited understanding of the flavours associated with the dishes. Another odd thing we noticed was they charging (and not informing us) for the sauces they serve with the poppadums.

To summarise, it is a great place for someone looking for food with Indian spices with great ambience and presentation to accompany it, but would be disappointing for someone who knows how their Indian dishes...