Restaurant Review: Gymkhana, Mayfair

Date of visit: August 2021

My boyfriend and I had been hoping to visit Gymkhana for a while, with various obstacles popping up to prevent this; from the fire that shut the restaurant for a while to the covid lockdowns to the fact that the place is booked up weeks (or longer) in advance! Speaking of lockdown, we did become big fans of the delivery options from Brigadiers - part of the same restaurant group; JKS Restaurants. So we built up an even greater appetite for a fancy meal at Gymkhana.

We eventually managed to get a booking at 7.30pm on a Saturday night this summer and decided to go for the a la carte as we didn't think the tasting menu sounded that great, £80 for 5 courses. I wouldn't really consider this a tasting menu to be honest, rather a set menu which doesn't seem to reflect the restaurant's best dishes. But what do I know, I had never been! I had read a few reviews beforehand though to get an idea of the best dishes.

The Menu

When we arrived we had a cocktail at the bar each, which were both very decent and I would recommend. We then just had glasses of wine/beer instead of a bottle. Prices of wine by the glass are as you would expect, starting at £9 and quickly going to £12. 

Food-wise, we started with the pappadum selection with chutneys and raita. The pappadums seemed to be the exact same as the ones from Brigadiers, probably unsurprisingly. I love those and I loved these! The sorpotel was quite spicy, a sign of things to come actually. At £5, this was fairly priced.

We then had the chicken tikka with moong sprouts and kachumber. The chicken was excellent - wonderfully succulent and beautifully spiced, and the kachumber had an interesting tang to it, perhaps something fermented?? This was £18 for 4 quite big pieces of chicken so again a decent price.

Next up we went for the goat keema pao which was a bowl of minced goat that you put into a little brioche-like bun like a sandwich. This was getting towards being a bit spicy for me to be honest, so if you don't like spice beware! I didn't really love this and wouldn't order again, but I hear others are fond of it. This was £13, with an optional extra £3 to add bheja, which we were told is brains - we skipped that.

For the mains we decided to have the muntjac deer biryani (£28) and the tandoori lamb chops (£42), with a bread basket side (£10 - expensive!!) and dal maharani (£8.50).

We tried the lamb first of all, which seems quite expensive but is a generous portion. This was definitely the best thing we had, very well seasoned and well cooked. There were 3 chops, 2 of which were perfect and pink inside. The third was less lean and not pink, but all 3 were tender and delicious.

The biryani was nicely fragrant with lots of chunks of meat. This came in a bowl with a big pastry top that was opened up at the table. I hadn't seen this before with a biryani so it was quite fun. We actually were too full to finish this, so do be careful no to over order like we did! We had no room for pudding!

The Service

The dining room was actually smaller than I was expecting, and when we arrived we were taken to the bar for a drink as our table wasn't yet ready. Unfortunately the bar was full and we just ended up plonked in a corner with no seat and no service which is not what I expect from a Michelin starred restaurant. 

The vibe was definitely quite casual for a starred restaurant, but the service was friendly and attentive - nothing like a fine dining experience mind you, but comfortable.

Towards the end of the meal we were informed that we had 20 minutes left of our booking, which was interesting considering we were sat at our table 15 minutes or so after our booking slot. Again, a sign of the more casual environment where the business model seems to be a bit more about volume than some other restaurants at this price point.

Scoring

Food: 3.5/5

The food was very tasty, but not very finely presented (for a Michelin starred restaurant). I don't think it was any better than the food at Brigadiers or Kricket which I love, neither of which have a star.

Service: 2.5/5

The service was fine but we got off to a poor start being dumped by the bar, and being rushed through at the end. Again, I would expect more for a Michelin star.

Value for money: 3/5

Pricing was generally fine apart from the bread basket. You can probably get a similar experience for less money elsewhere though.

Overall score: 3.3/5

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Restaurant Review: SO|LA, Soho

Image
Date of visit:   June 2021 SO|LA is a relatively new restaurant in Soho specialising in Californian food and wines. Given its location on Dean Street it’s an oasis of calm, somehow totally blocking out the sounds of the lively street outside - but you can still see everything going on outside (which is a lot!) and is quite a fun dynamic. SO|LA was awarded its first star during lockdown, which must have been a bit odd as the team couldn’t properly celebrate, but apparently have seen a big upswing in bookings. It is, after all, the reason I booked SO|LA, so I’m not surprised.  The restaurant is by no means cheap, it must be said. In fact this was one of the most expensive meals I have ever had. But look at the menu and you’ll see why - the ingredients are absolutely top notch and the amount of work that goes into each dish is insane. For a small restaurant in Soho especially, the prices make sense. To be clear, the evening tasting menu is £139 and the wines start at around £60. At this p
Read more

Restaurant Review: The Glasshouse, Kew

Image
Date of visit:   July 2021 One of my favourite things to do for a day out is pair some sort of activity with a good lunch. The Glasshouse is obviously ideal for this as it’s right by Kew Gardens so you can see the gardens, have lunch then hop straight on the train home. This was my second day out with lunch at The Glasshouse with my boyfriend actually - last time we went to the gardens but this time we walked down the Thames Pathway before lunch. The lunchtime menu is £50 for three courses, which doesn’t include any canapés, amuse bouche or other bits and bobs. If you order coffee on the menu this says it comes with petits fours. We didn’t have coffee but did get a truffle each with the cheque.  In terms of wine available they have a few options by the glass - we only looked at the whites; two were around the £6 range then jumping to £12.50 and above. We chose a £17.50 Chardonnay and then the £12.50 Viognier, which was probably a good bet as it was just as nice as the Chardonnay in my
Read more

Restaurant Review: Angler, Moorgate

Image
Date of visit: May 2021 Angler is the restaurant at the top of the South Place Hotel between Moorgate and Liverpool Street Station so a great spot for a work meal - or any other meal as my review will reveal! I actually visited Angler quite recently before this meal and it was sensational so I booked a quick return. This was the first proper date night with my boyfriend once indoor dining reopened. They usually serve an a la carte but I think for now they were keeping it to the tasting menu, priced at £100 for 7 courses plus other bits and bobs. The name Angler is probably a giveaway that the focus here is on seafood but the tasting menu did have one meat course. The wine list is fairly short but they happened to have our favourite champagne by the glass, Arteis, so we started with a glass of that. We then had a bottle of Macon Villages with the meal. I don’t think there is an option for paired wines but that works for us as we prefer ordering individual glasses or a bottle anyway. Th
Read more