Gymkhana — Restaurant in London

As most know, reservations at Gymkhana are hard to get, so we were happy we managed to get a lunch reservation. The restaurant embodies the spirit of elite dining and sports clubs of India, which is present in the overall vibe of the restaurant. The details in their decore and color palette are unique to each floor and provide a glimpse into the inspiring elements of the restaurant. We were seated on the lower ground floor, which is also where their bar is located. This floor definitely had intimate elite club vibes. We decided to order the lunch menu since it offered the items we would have ordered anyway. We also wanted to try their gol guppas, so ordered that off their a la carte menu. After ordering, we were served a basket of pappadum with 3 chutneys: mango, green/cilantro, and achari yogurt. All three chutneys were tasty, but I will say the achari yogurt was definitely unique and left me wanting more. The gol guppas (6) are served with a premixed potato and moong filling on the side, which also had the sweet chutney mixed in. The pani was presented in a small “cream jug.” Our server explained how to “assemble” and eat the gol guppa in one bite, “like a shot.” The pani was spicy, but the dish was fantastic and very traditional in flavor. For our appetizer, we ordered the aloo chaat, which was served in a shallow bowl. It was simply and cleanly presented with sev and tamarind chutney layered on top. We appreciated the authentic flavors and, most of all, the texture of the aloo in this dish. It was not your typical boiled and mashed potatoes; these were gently fried cubes. For me, the shape offered texture and structure to the dish, allowing you to taste the flavors as you bite. For the next course, we both ordered the achari paneer tikka. This dish was a flavor bomb in your mouth. The paneer was “stuffed” with a fig and cashew mixture, marinated in achar, and topped with a corn chaat. The paneer was silky smooth and melted in your mouth, and the nutty filling offered a bite to break to the creaminess of the paneer. The achar was a burst of flavor, which brightened up the corn chaat. For our entree, we ordered the methi malai mutter paneer and the khatta meetha baingan. These were accompanied by saag makai, daal lasooni, and we ordered one bread basket and one steamed rice. The methi malai mutter paneer had a mild flavor but so much flavor. The dish comes topped with fried methi, which was a nice flavor bomb. Once again, the paneer was so soft and creamy. The khatta meetha baingan was a new dish for us. It lives up to its name, khatta meetha, in perfect balance. The eggplant itself was so tender that it just melted in your mouth. The bread basket comes with one naan and one tandoori roti. Both were light and fluffy, not thick or tough. Despite being full, we had to order dessert. We ordered the gold leaf gulab jamun and Bengali angoori rasmalai. Both were amazing. The gulab jamun is “stuffed” with pistachios, and you can actually taste the rose (gulab). The rasmalai is a classic, no artificial or watered down flavors. We appreciated that the actual pieces of rasmalai were bite-sized, as well. The staff is kind and attentive. Every individual helped out, came around to ask us how we were enjoying our meal, and answered any questions we had. The plates and silverware are refreshed after each item! This allowed for a clean start for the next item. As each item was being served, the individual(s) serving it explained each item, which we felt was elevated service.

Our only constructive feedback is to spread out the tables a bit more. Oftentimes, the server at the next table had to squeeze in between or had their coat tail hanging over over our table or food. Creating more space makes it comfortable for everyone to get in and out and not worry about being on top...

Overall it was an underwhelming experience for 2 Michelin star and as some mention below, overrated. Nit picking here only because it’s a 2 Michelin star. Here we go:

Service: -Upon arriving, front desk just looked at us blankly, without a warm welcome. -service was for rest of night was very attentive, but rather stiff and overly formal. I appreciated how our server offered option to only order two lamb chops (an order is normally 3) given there was only two of us and we ordered quite a bit. However we noticed table next to us were two tiny ladies and was not offered same thing and they ordered just as much as us they did not finish their food. -manager checked in on us at the end, and could tell we weren’t thrilled, but it jus t didn’t feel right to give feedback in such small closed quarters where everyone (staff included) could hear.

Food -Poppadom and Breads were all good. Nothing life changing. -the starter with goat and the buns were a too salty and proportions were off. Either serve less goat, or add extra buns. I piled very high meat on each bun and still had meat left over so each bite turned out to be too salty. -chaat was nice although proportions a touch off. It was a bit too sauce heavy—almost equal parts sauce to ingredient ratio so either add more of the ingredients (aloo, veg, sev, etc) or reduce sauces by like 15%. -butter chicken was probably best I’ve ever had. Well marinated tender chicken. -biryani was the most disappointing as I had high hopes for this one. It wasn’t bad, but a 6/10. It was bland as someone mentions below. You want a biryani that you could eat happily on its own but I had to eat it with my butter chicken and the sauces that came with the other dishes. I appreciated the drama of the server cutting open the puff pastry lid w /seeds but he took it away the lid with all those tasty seeds! Some photos here show seed lid still intact?! The pastry shell would have added nice textural contrast to biryani so I ended up picking at the leftover-scraps of the Clay pot like a feral animal. I really hate to say it but I’ve had a much better biryani at Dishoom. It’s the one where they served it bone sticking out, pastry shell on top (w/ seeds), spiced gravy on the side with a cool yogurt chutney of some kind and fresh onions and a wedge of lemon. Now that is how you make a statement with biryani. A true contrast of textures flavours and temps. I’m afraid gymkhana’s was just fine. -lamb chops were excellent. Walnut radish sauce was nice. -seeing photos of Pani Puri and also saw other tables get it (shells where you pour in tamarind water)but didn’t see it on the menu which is a shame. Not a fan of secret/hidden menus so wish that was on the menu (maybe tasting only?!). We were already mid course so didn’t want to ask about it. -they did drop by a birthday chocolate mousse on the house. That was nice. You can tell they make a bunch or these generic desserts for these occasions but it did feel out of place, esp served with those fennel seed candy truffles (not a fan, personally—but I appreciate the attempt to fusion two post meal cultures). You can still do a celebratory cake and still be on brand (ie chai carrot cake etc). -drinks were fine. We did non alcoholic. Iced tea was ok. Salted lemonade was very tasty and unique. -bill was £264, and I’d have to say it was really not worth it. Being one of the two only Michelin Indian restaurants in the world, you expect to be completely blown away by every bite and every moment. Michelin needs to come back and re-asses.

PS: bathrooms should be part of restaurant reviews more often, and these bathrooms were just OK. I was expecting 5 star hotel bathroom, luxe, opulent and these bathrooms felt like I was...

My very first dining experience in a Michelin-starred restaurant was absolutely fantastic 🥰 I had the best time of my life and was very delighted that Gymkhana was the restaurant to take my Michelin virginity!

My friend and I had wanted to try this place for a long time and we thought we should treat ourselves as we came to the year end. We made a reservation in advance and you should always do so because this place is extremely popular with customers coming in frequently.

We were going to watch a play at the Shakespeare's Globe afterwards and had thought that 2 hours should have been more than sufficient time to dine. However, we were very wrong with our estimate and really should have planned for 3 hours to have a more relaxed and comfortable experience so just a rookie advice to you all to allow for more time if you have plans later.

We were greeted by a very friendly receptionist and then led to our table promptly. Our waiter for the day was great from the first minute we greeted, explained thoroughly the menu to us and checked with our dietary requirements and preferences so he could make more careful and tailored options to us. We decided to go with the poppadoms as our starter, I then ordered the lamb rogan josh as my main and the wild muntjac biryani as the side, while my friend had the tandoori broccoli and truffle pilau. We also got some aloo chaat on the house which was very kind of them to serve us alongside the many dishes we had already ordered.

The poppadoms really started the whole experience on a lovely note, with different types of them and a range of sauces to dip in, very pleasant and appetite-stimulating, making us look forward even more to the mains. The aloo chaat was great, so much flavour coming from the sweet yoghurt sauce I was so impressed about how so flavourful a simple dish could give. Now on to the mains - lamb rogan josh was ABSOLUTELY PHENOMENAL! I have never had such a rich rogan josh, it's got a really good kick to it and OMG the lamb was so tender that it fell off the bone as soon as my fork touched it! It was probably one of the best foods I have ever had in my life and I mean this without any exaggeration. The biryani accompanied the lamb sooo well, with so many types of ingredients cooked in the rice that added multiple layers of flavours to the already amazingly marinated muntjac meat. My friend enjoyed her broccoli and mushroom and truffle pilau too, broccoli had a nice kick to it also and plenty of mushroom flavour coming through. We obviously ordered too much food for 2 people so we had to take the leftovers away but it's worth the experience I guarantee you.

Halfway through our lunch, we realised we were going to be late for our play so we asked our waiter to give us the bill early so we could speed up the process and it was dealt with smoothly. Gotta say he was amazing at what he did and it was such a shame that I didn't have the time to ask for his name but I am writing this review in a way to let management know so he can be rewarded accordingly. I really hope they will see my review and let me know what his name was, I want to make sure next time I come back I can ask for his service again. (We visited on 23 December between 12:45-14:45).

The only minus point is the lack of vegetarian options, considering a lot of the customers visiting are vegetarians so hopefully the team can consider adding more vegetarian dishes to the menu.

Overall, this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I am really happy to give this place a 5-star. I will be sure to come...