Gymkhana
Four working industry people, asked separately over two years, all named this room. Three of them run restaurants themselves.
Why go
Because the people who cook for a living keep sending you here. Nieves Barragán Mohacho, who runs Sabor and Legado, told the Michelin Guide that Gymkhana is always fun. The food is amazing and perfect for groups
(MICHELIN Guide). Matthew Ryle of Maison François was asked for the best curry in London and answered with the order: Lamb chops, butter chicken, keep it simple.
Nick Jones, who founded Soho House, gave the same answer. And TOPJAW, whose whole format is asking chefs, ranked the city's curry and put this at number one: arguably, this could even be best restaurant in London.
That matters more here than it would elsewhere. London's Indian restaurants are one of the deepest fields in British cooking, so being the room that keeps coming up inside it is a harder thing to be. The kitchen also holds two Michelin stars in the 2026 standings. It opened in 2013 on Albemarle Street as JKS Restaurants' second room, after Trishna, dressed as one of the Indian gymkhana clubs the name comes from.
Order this / avoid
- Order: the lamb chops and the butter chicken, which is the order two separate chefs gave without being asked twice. The tasting menu if there are more of you; it runs to sixteen.
- Avoid: turning up without a booking, and treating this as a weeknight. It is the four-dollar band and it is an occasion.
What locals & experts say
- Nieves Barragán Mohacho, chef-owner of Sabor and Legado (February 2026):
Gymkhana is always fun. The food is amazing and perfect for groups - their tasting menu is available for up to 16 guests, and they even have a private vault you can book.
3 - Matthew Ryle, executive chef of Maison François (September 2024), asked for the best curry in London:
I'd go [Gymkhana]. [Gymkhana] is brilliant. Lamb chops, butter chicken, keep it simple.
6 - Chetan Sharma, chef-patron of BiBi (January 2025), on where he sends visiting chefs:
if you want to know what quintessential North Indian food tastes like, Gymkhana is the place.
He is also the only voice here who explains how to get in cheaply:despite being a two Michelin-star restaurant, it does not rely on a tasting menu. It's fully à la carte, which is rare at that level.
Lunch ran around £25 a head when he said it. His order starts with the keema pau, spiced minced goat with milk bread rolls, then the lamb chops and butter chicken, and he tells you what to leave:I'd skip the bread basket and order the garlic naan.
1 - TOPJAW, ranking London's curry after asking chefs (July 2025):
Number one is [Gymkhana]. Another comfortable winner of that number one spot.
7 Nick Jones of Soho House gave the same answer to the same question in December 2024.
Good to know
- Where: 42 Albemarle Street, Mayfair W1S 4JH, basement and ground floor.
- Michelin: two stars in the 2026 London standings, not new this year. The year the second star was awarded is not recorded here, because the only source found for it is not one this database accepts.
- Booking: essential, and the private vault and the sixteen-cover tasting menu are both bookable.
- Operator: JKS Restaurants, founded in 2008 by the Sethi siblings and now running fifteen central London restaurants and five delivery kitchens, with Gymkhana rooms also open in Las Vegas and Dubai. Nothing about those rooms is claimed here. Group scale puts the burden of proof on edge and value; two stars and four chef votes on this address are the answer.
- Hygiene: FSA rating 5, Westminster, inspected 27 August 2025. The register returned this record with no component breakdown, so only the composite can be reported.5
- Research note: the restaurant's own website refused both of our fetch routes on 1 August 2026, so every fact above comes from third parties.
Verdict
must-visit — Four working industry people were asked separately where to eat in London and all four came back with this room. Nieves Barragan Mohacho, who runs Sabor and Legado, told the Michelin Guide it is 'always fun' and that the tasting menu will run for sixteen with a private vault to book. Matthew Ryle of Maison Francois: 'Lamb chops, butter chicken, keep it simple.' Nick Jones of Soho House: 'I love going to Gymkhana. It is fantastic.' And TOPJAW, ranking the city's curry after asking chefs, put it first: 'arguably, this could even be best restaurant in London.' London's Indian field is one of the deepest restaurant categories in Britain, so topping it counts for more than topping a thin one. On top of the votes, the kitchen holds two Michelin stars in the 2026 standings. It opened in 2013 as JKS's second room after Trishna. Two honest caveats: this is the four-dollar band and an occasion rather than a default send, and it is a group operator with fifteen central London rooms and outposts in Las Vegas and Dubai.