Benares Mayfair — Restaurant in London

My friends and I (6 of us) had a booking at Benares for Christmas (mid December). I'd heard about Benares for a long time so I was really looking forward to it. When we arrived they did have a cloakroom downstairs but didn't offer to take our coats which was annoying.

We sat down around 7 but didn't receive our first courses until 7.45.

When I came to ordering my food, I was sharing with my partner and made the waiter aware of my nut allergy (I am severely allergic to cashew nuts and pistachios which I know is used in a lot of Indian dishes). The waiter said that was fine and moved on. Great I thought. I thought wrong!

When our food arrived they plonked the murgh mahkani in front of me and the meat curry in front of my partner and the waiter proceeded to tell me "this one contains nuts" (pointing to the murgh mahkani). I was a bit shocked by this statement and thought, this can't be right as I told him that I had an allergy, so I questioned what he meant. "Yes, I know you have an allergy that's why I'm telling you this one has nuts as I know you're sharing." Not entirely sure of the logic here but this infuriated me. Why on earth would I tell someone when I'm ordering I'm severely allergic to nuts (to the point I do carry around epipens) for them to give me a curry that contains nuts!? I informed the waiter quite firmly that I made him aware of my nut allergy when ordering and why would he proceed to give me a curry with nuts?! After some back and forth arguing he reluctantly took back the curry and informed me through gritted teeth that they would order me something else.

I then proceeded to speak to another manager who was very apologetic and informed me that this wouldn't happen again. As much as I appreciated the apology, this doesn't suggest to me that this restaurant takes a nut allergy seriously, which in this day and age is worrying (especially as there might be people out there with a more severe nut allergy than me). This manager did take mine and my partner's curry off the bill which was appreciated. The original waiter later on that evening (2 hours later) came to apologise to me for this earlier behaviour and suggested that the recipe had recently changed which caused his confusion (but not his attitude). He then presented myself and friend with two scarves (as an apology for the ladies). I would say after the incident the second manager was very attentive and clearly was trying hard to make the situation better.

Overall the food was good but not mind-blowing and certainly not value for money. I was left with a bitter taste in my mouth, but luckily not the taste of nuts. Safe to say I won't be coming back and it was highly disappointing that a fine dining restaurant in Mayfair with a Michelin star had an argumentive waiter who would not take my nut...

Frankly this restaurant is way out of our price range. However we were very kindly gifted a vegetarian tasting menu from some friends as a thank you. We took the opportunity for a Monday night date night, put some extra money into it to get the wine pairing option and got ready to enjoy. Every dish was amazing, from the poppadom selection (rice, potato, lentil) to the desserts. You expect a tasting menu in a restaurant like this to be good, and it is better than that, but you also expect it to be small, we joked on the way there about probably needing to pick up something extra on the way home. This is not the case, we could barely finish, we had to take a deep intake of breath and steel ourselves for desert. Philip, our wine waiter was amazing, a great knowledge of wine, We're by no means connoisseurs, but we do enjoy wine, and know a little, and enough to have some engaged discussion about the wines he chose for our menu. Philip would arrive before each course to present the wine and explain a bit about it and why he had selected it. This also gave us time to slow the meal down to a very relaxed pace, we had no other plans and were there to enjoy the experience. Another expectation being on a gift experience is that you could be treated a little second class, or rushed out of the restaurant. Again, not the case, we seated at about 6.15pm a little earlier than our booking, and left at around 11pm. The service from all the staff was amazing, professional and friendly.

We had, what we considered the best table in the house, in a corner, both on soft bench seats both looking out into the restaurant, we love watching people, so this was perfect for us.

My fiancé and I agreed that we would sacrifice our fortnightly takeaways and have a couple of meals here per year instead, the experience was that good.

We would definitely recommend Benares.

Every review needs a little balance. So here goes.

My only criticism would be (like most businesses these days) Maintenance. The mirror table in the corner where we were seated could have done with being dusted, the seats could generally do with being re-covered, the table had a wobble (quickly fixed without any request) . This was not bad, or unclean or anything like, but I used to work in top restaurants when I was younger, and cleaning was a multi time per day activity, attention to detail is really important at this level and that does not only apply to the...

A Disappointing Michelin Experience My wife and I recently dined at Benares, a Michelin-starred establishment I'd been eager to try. While the food was… fine (more on that later), the overall experience was significantly marred by truly disappointing service, specifically from our assigned waiter. From the outset, things felt off. We were seated at a corner table with an awkward layout, making conversation a bit of a logistical challenge. While I understand restaurants have to utilize their space, this particular spot felt less like a coveted corner and more like an afterthought. However, the real issue was our waiter's attitude. There was a distinct air of condescension, an assumption that we were somehow out of place. Perhaps it was our demeanor, or perhaps it was just a bad night, but the underlying feeling was that she didn't believe we belonged there. The most egregious example of this was her repeated questioning about our experience with Michelin-starred restaurants. It felt less like genuine curiosity and more like an attempt to catch us out. To her surprise, we were able to discuss menus and dishes from numerous Michelin-starred restaurants in London, a conversation she clearly hadn't anticipated. Frankly, it was uncomfortable and frankly, baffling. We were dressed formally, just as other diners were, and I simply can’t fathom where this assumption of our inexperience came from. Now, about the food. It was… okay. Certainly well-executed, with some interesting flavors, but it didn't quite live up to the Michelin star hype, especially given the price point. Honestly, the memory of the meal is overshadowed by the unpleasantness of the service. The other staff members we interacted with were polite and efficient, so I can only hope this waiter's behavior was an isolated incident. However, it significantly impacted our evening. I sincerely hope that Benares takes note of this feedback. Customers who dine at Michelin-starred restaurants expect a certain level of service and respect, regardless of perceived background or experience. We certainly paid the prices expected of such an establishment and while the food was adequate, the service was far from it. A truly disappointing experience, and one that makes me hesitant to recommend...