Benares

Benares had a small refurbishment in January 2025, with new chairs and other small touches to the décor. The striking lily pond in the bar area remains. The kitchen is still in the safe hands of Sameer Taneja, who regained a Michelin start for Benares, and previously worked at Talli Joe and Kanishka. The dining room, which seats 90 people, was pretty much full on this Sunday evening. The restaurant can fit in a further sixty people in private dining rooms. Cooking for this crowd were 17 seventeen chefs in the kitchen tonight.

The initial canapes were a little warm crab dish that had a spicy kick. Panni puris were delicate in texture, with the flavoured water, in this case sour apple, that you pour into the puris, the completed puri bursting on your tongue when you bite into it and crack the outer shell. A potato crisp was topped with sour apple chutney. Bird seed kebab was an interesting idea: chicken, duck and guinea fowl meat speared with a guinea fowl feather. This had plenty of flavour and worked very well. Oysters and sea bream chaat came with chickpea and avocado puree with mango and lime juice, served in an oyster shell, and this was nicely balanced with the acidity of the lime and the brininess of the oyster (canapes 15/20).

Next was a dish inspired by a recipe from Sikkim state in northeast India, actually part of the Himalayas. The cuisine of this region features dumplings, and this was reflected here with a chicken dumpling with foie gras, lime, turmeric and coconut broth with lemongrass and kaffir lime. The dumpling was tender and the sauce very good. I doubt there is much foie gras in Sikkim so I was less sure about its use here, pleasant though it was (15/20). An old favourite was next, hand-dived Socttish scallop baked on its shell, and served with a coconut curry featuring curry leaves. On the side was a Malabar paratha, a flaky paratha idea for mopping up curry sauce. The scallop was lovely, its sweetness nicely enhanced by the coconut sauce, which had nicely controlled level of spicy heat. The paratha also had terrific texture (17/20).

Venison was marinated with leaves of moringa, a tree native to northern India with a grassy, peppery taste. The drumstick was served with moringa chutney along with crème fraiche with maringa oil. The fallow deer was very tender and the chutney was certainly interesting, its peppery flavour a good balance for the rich venison (15/20). Beetroot kofta was prettily presented, cooked with a fennel and cashew gravy, and the dish was garnished with pickled beetroot. This was a very successful dish, the beetroot’s robust flavour working happily with the spicy heat, the dish accompanied by an excellent mini naan bread (16/20).

Next was a lamb shank dish on a bed of sweet onion kulcha with black lentil dhal, and a kulcha (similar to a naan) flavoured with three different onions and nigella seed (16/20). The lamb had plenty of flavour and the dhal had deep flavour, the bread having lovely texture (16/20). The final savoury course was duck leg masala with kulcha chutney, coconut chutney, and an empty dosa served on the side, which you could fill with the duck and chutneys: a sort of do-it-yourself masala dosa. This was all very enjoyable, the duck cooked pink and the chutneys vibrant, the dosa delicate (16/20).

Two desserts were offered. Chickoo (sapodilla) ice cream came with frozen yoghurt, lemon zest and chikoo jam. Chikoo tastes a little like molasses, with a malty sweet flavour. This was an unusual dish but it worked nicely (15/20). There was also a take on halwa, in this case a banana tartlet with cherries and banana ice cream. I am never quite sure about banana as a flavour in desserts but this was certainly original. As petit fours there were good cinnamon madeleines and little passion fruit flavoured chocolates. Service was excellent throughout the evening, the staff attentive and the dishes arriving at a steady pace. I was being treated to this meal so did not see a bill, but a typical cost per person here for a shorter menu and modest drinks might be £110. It is noticeable that the ingredients used here are very high quality, such as the scallops from Keltic Seafare, who also supply The Ritz. Benares offers some of the most original and interesting Indian cooking in London, its chef pushing boundaries without losing sight of the theme of traditional Indian cooking.

Further reviews: 16th Mar 2025 | 24th Aug 2023 | 12th Aug 2021 | 31st Oct 2020 | 28th Sep 2019 | 06th Apr 2016 | 01st Jan 2008 | 01st May 2003