Quilon
A Kerala coastal kitchen, landlocked in SW1, run by the same chef since 1999. Sriram Aylur's rule for it:
I believe food should evolve without losing its soul(venue).
Why go
Aylur learned to cook in his father's kitchen on the Indian coast, joined Taj Hotels in 1989, opened Karavali in Bangalore, and was then sent to London to launch Quilon inside the Taj 51 Buckingham Gate complex in 1999 (venue). He has run the kitchen for the whole 25 years, which Harden's diners confirm across four separate survey editions. The brief is narrow: the food of Kerala and India's southwest coast, seafood-led, light, vibrant, and layered with complexity
4 in the venue's own description, and built on freshly ground spice rather than long-simmered sauces. It took a Michelin star in 2008 and the venue says it has held one every year since. In the 2024 British Indian Good Food Guide it was the highest-ranked London restaurant and second in the UK, and in the 2025 edition it is one of six restaurants the Guide names a London Icon,
meaning places whose sustained excellence has helped shape London as a global Indian dining capital
(Time Out). The kitchen will serve smaller portions to parties of two or three so you can cover more of the menu, which is the right way to eat here (Time Out).
Order this / avoid
- Order: seafood first. The baked black cod with tamarind, jaggery and fenugreek is the plate the venue leads with, and Time Out found it
all-but-melts in your mouth.
Then the Fisherman's Catch, which brings baked halibut, a crab cake, a grilled scalloptopped with a gingery onion jam
and pepper shrimp. Lobster pepper-garlic and seafood moilee are the two house classics. The single most interesting dish is the Gressingham duck roast, which Time Out callsa south-west Indian riff on a Chinese duck pancakes that substitutes the latter for steamed, stretchy parathi
1. Order a rasam between courses, tamarind water and tomato, which that reviewer describes as beingto Kerala what a cup of tea is to England.
If you are on a budget, come for the set lunch or the weekend brunch instead. - Avoid: a table at the back. Harden's diners have complained for years about the "gloomy back of the dining room," a "stuffy atmosphere," and decor that gets called "drab" edition after edition. Request the front of the room when you book.
What locals & experts say
- Lisa Wright, Time Out (18 November 2024): she went specifically because the British Indian Good Food Guide had made Quilon the top London entry, and her verdict was
from first to last bite, it's hard to find a single fault.
On the room, the generous reading:Quilon is understated and authentic in a way that's satisfyingly unbothered with Instagram-friendly colour palettes.
On the poppadoms, which is the detail that tells you what kind of kitchen this is:tiny and completely non-greasy discs that sit in the palm of your hand.
1 - British Indian Good Food Guide (2024 and 2025 editions), reported by Time Out: second in the UK and top in London in 2024, behind Raval Indian Brasserie & Bar in Newcastle; a
London Icon
in 2025. The Guide creditedlighter sauces and more eclectic menu
as the winning characteristics.2 - Harden's diners' survey, across four editions:
wonderful,
very delicate South Indian food,
andso much better than at the more 'popular' Indian restaurants about town,
withlovely wine pairings and great service.
For some of its fans it isthe most interesting of London's Indians.
The consistent dissent, quoted in the avoid line above, is about the room. One survey line worth knowing if it is still true:they also go out of their way to feed vegans in style.
3 - Awards the venue lists with years: Michelin Star from 2008, described by the venue as retained every year since; Two AA Rosettes 2025; AA Notable Wine Award 2025/2026. Its Good Curry Guide Best Indian Restaurant award is from 2001 and its Time Out Food Guide top-five placing from 2003, so treat both as history.4
- Local rec: none. Jeff's own note is that it is rated the best Indian in London and holds a Michelin star, and both halves check out. REAL.
Good to know
- Booking: essential, and ask for the front of the dining room. The restaurant takes bookings directly, dine@quilon.co.uk.
- How to order: ask for the smaller portions if you are a party of two or three. It turns the a la carte into a self-assembled tasting menu, and it is the format the kitchen prefers.
- Menus: a la carte, a tasting menu, a beer-and-food pairing menu, a weekend brunch and a full wine list. Every menu is published only as a PDF, so no current prices could be captured here; Harden's puts wine from GBP 34 a bottle.
- The value plays: Harden's diners rate the set lunch "great value considering its location" and call the weekend brunch "super value."
- Service charge: unresolved. Harden's diners praise a "no tipping policy" while the same Harden's page lists service at 10 percent. Check when you book.
- Getting there: 41 Buckingham Gate, inside Taj 51 Buckingham Gate, about five minutes' walk from Victoria station and a short walk from Buckingham Palace and St James's Park. That makes it a workable pre-train dinner.
- Dietary: nothing published that could be reached, which is a gap worth asking about directly given the menu. Harden's diners report the kitchen looks after vegans well, but that is diners talking, not the restaurant.
- Hygiene: FSA rating 5 at the Westminster inspection of 7 February 2023 (FSA). That is the latest inspection on the register.
Jeff's take (his words)
- Note: "Rated best Indian in London. Michelin star." REAL. Both check out: top London entry and second in the UK in the British Indian Good Food Guide 2024, and one star since 2008.
Verdict
should-visit — One chef has cooked one region here for twenty-five years. Sriram Aylur opened Karavali in Bangalore, came to London in 1999 to launch this room, and has cooked the food of Kerala and the southwest Indian coast here ever since, holding a Michelin star from 2008. The British Indian Good Food Guide made it the highest-ranked London restaurant and second in the UK in 2024, then a London Icon in 2025. Eat the seafood and the Gressingham duck roast, which arrives as a south Indian answer to duck pancakes on steamed parathi. Ask for a table at the front, because the room is what everybody complains about.