Review: Gymkhana, St James

I’ve done it. I’ve reached “jaded” point with British modern Indian cooking. I came out of Gymkhana thinking a few different things: (1) that was pretty good, (2) I am utterly stuffed… am I actually waddling? and (3) does aloo chat really belong on a £85 tasting menu?

Not only aloo chat. We also had a fine dining taking on a pao bhaji. And I get it, for sure. Ten years ago hardly anyone in the UK was aware of Indian street food classics. And it’s cute as well; sometimes you’ll find a fine dining tasting menu with “fish and chips” or “wagyu beef burger” on it and you’ll get a beautiful plate with an inventive deconstruct/reconstruct of some British street food classic.

But mostly these modern fine dining Indian restaurants are just serving up a somewhat refined version of the Indian original. And I’ve had plenty of aloo chat now. Gymkhana’s one is fine, and somewhat refined, but no more flavourful than an actual street one for all that. Likewise the pao bhaji. If you’re ever in Cardiff, make sure you hit up 3Bs Cafe for lunch or supper and try theirs.

There were some lovely dishes on this menu. The grouse samosa with a bright pepper relish was a delicious first bite – one of those “just give me ten of these on a plate!” dishes. And the partridge pepper fry was a lovely number with a pain/pleasure peppery heat that grew with every bite. Came with a perfect flaky and buttery paratha. A saffron flavoured falooda was also delish (though at this point we really were struggling to find room!). And a big shout-out to their masala chai, which was exactly as sweet & spicy as I’d like.

The main course biryanis were fine. The mushroom one had very good flavour. The muntjac one was a nice biryani, with a tasty pastry topping, but lacking the amazing frangrant noseful of spices you expect when the top comes off a great one.

I’m thinking that an a la carte three course curry at Gymkhana would be a very good evening out. But for me there’s not enough wow in the tasting menu to warrant £80. It’s time to move on from gussied-up aloo chat. Indian street food is easy to find in the UK now, and that’s a very good thing, but it does mean the fine dining gang need to up their game.