Benares Restaurant & Bar

Reviews

• Brski B.

  star star star star star_border 3 June 2026

  Benares is a large, nice space; it's more of a high-end establishment rather than the homey kind of space I was expecting. That (of course) meant the meals wouldn't be as 'basic' as I'd wanted either. Nevertheless, it was pleasant to sit down and the service was fast and attentive, if a bit scatterbrained. One server asked what wine we wanted before we received a wine list. Another server asked what we wanted to order to eat before we received the menu. This sort of thing. The complimentary papadum were diverse and excellent. The amuse bouche, a bite-sized cone of yogurt and something that I can only recollect in image rather than ingredients, was a tasty bite. The crab dosa (crispy rice pan-cake, Brixham white crab masala, quail egg, Exmoor caviar) was fine. The crab, the caviar, these ingredients didn't distinguish the dish in any special way. I was curious how they would serve the gol gappe (wheat bubbles, organic sprout and potato filling, fermented black carrot water); and it was inventive (a plastic 'squeeze' bottle to dispense the water) and tasty with a nice touch of spice and a touch of sweet. The bhindi masala (okra with carom seeds and onions) was good, salted well, if a bit mushy. The garlic naan was very good. But for me, the knock-out dish was the changezi chaapein (smoked tandoori lamb cutlets, sautéed snow peas, rogan josh), which was incredibly tender, beautifully seasoned, and gave me a tiny curry fix with the small side of rogan josh. Everything was delicious about this meal and there was not one wrong note.

• Mehran F.

  star star star star_border star_border 1 June 2026

  Chinese dim-sum ambiance with no windows and lots of noise. Huge place. I think the only Indians i saw were the servers.
  
  Ben, the manager was good and not shy about making suggestions.
  They call their food Indian-Brit. That should have been a warning. I wanted real Indian.
  
  Food: Reasonably good except the nan that was soaked in honey and un-necessarily sweet.  Beautifully presented.  
  
  Took over 38 minutes to arrive after ordering. You'd think they'd at least give some kinda warning.
  
  I think you can have much better and cheaper in London.

• Sukanya M.

  star star star_border star_border star_border 29 May 2026

  After Atul Kochhar left this place has gone down hill. Honestly most of the crowd was non-Indian and many were Americans. I am American myself and trust me when I say, there isn't good Indian food in America. England does it better and I felt really disappointed coming here. The food was so watered down in flavor, it was obviously catering to American tourists tastes. The inside was not as glamorous as it once was. It looks like a bad version of a PF Chang's.
  
  My husband and I did the tasting menu and nothing was flavorful or spicy. If you are looking for good Indian in the U.K. check out Amaya or Dishoom.

• Elena M.

  star star star star star 28 May 2026

  Can I put 7 stars???
  Outstanding food, drinks, and service.
  Every dish we ate was incredible.
  True art of mixing Indian ingredients with western food.
  I cannot choose my favorite dish, as they all had so many flavors , but mango mousse with grapes salsa was a heaven.
  I'm looking to come back.

• Amy O.

  star star star star star 17 May 2026

  This is a beautiful posh restaurant.  I felt special when I checked in because they gave me a beautiful Indian silk scarf as a welcome present!  We were a large group and ordered lots of items ala carte including crab, lobster, duck, vegetarian dishes etc.  The vegetarian dishes were my favorite.  This was a nice place to take clients.  The presentation of food was dramatic because they had three people holding it on large silver trays while the waiter put on the table and mentioned each dish. The signature Smokey old fashioned was a smooth end to the evening.