Gymkhana

Gymkhana occupies a townhouse on Albemarle Street in Mayfair and holds a Michelin star for cooking that draws on the game-heavy, colonial-era cuisine of India's princely gymkhana clubs, sporting institutions that combined British club culture with regional Indian food traditions. The dining room evokes that heritage directly, with dark wood panelling, ceiling fans, cricket memorabilia, and leather furniture recreating the atmosphere of a colonial-era social club, split between a ground-floor bar and a more formal downstairs dining room. The kitchen is known for dishes rarely found elsewhere in London, including wild muntjac biryani finished with pomegranate raita and a kid goat methi keema served with a soft pav bun, alongside a Chettinad pulled duck dosa that has become one of the restaurant's most ordered plates. Game meats — venison, muntjac, and other seasonal quarry — feature prominently on a menu that otherwise ranges across regional Indian cooking rather than a single regional cuisine. The bar programme is a serious part of the experience, with cocktails built around Indian spices and spirits, and a wine list chosen to stand up to the kitchen's intensity of flavour. Service is polished but the mood stays convivial rather than stiff, helped by low lighting and close-set tables that keep the room lively into the evening. Reservations are essential and the restaurant is typically booked out one to three weeks ahead for dinner, though walk-in seats at the bar are sometimes available for a shorter, more casual meal. Its Mayfair location places it among London's most competitive dining postcodes, and it remains one of the most consistently booked Indian restaurants in the city since opening in 2013.