Review: Benares, Mayfair

Benares was the first ever true Indian fine dining restaurant I tried, maybe 14 years ago. I remember being knocked out by the elegance of the cooking while a symphony of spices were gradually building to a mighty crescendo on my palate. I’ve had a lot of fine Indian food since then but I’ve always had a soft spot for Benares, even though it apparently went off the boil for a while. Well, I’ve been back and all the elegance and spice is still there.

It’s a modern dining room on flashy Berkeley Square, sculpted walls and lots of black shiny surfaces with the occasional splash of primary colours. I must admit the service felt more business-like than personal, but really nothing to complain about.

So what can I tell you about the food? Well, the “street snack” was so-so, but then it’s actually quite refreshing that Benares is a properly grown-up menu and doesn’t feel the need to feed us gussied-up Mumbai street food like every-other Indian tasting menu. Much better was a truffle, chestnut and chicken broth with real warmth.

The oyster and sea bream got dry ice poured all over it, which was a bit worryingly retro, but I needn’t have worried: the scallop backed in a fierce and heart-warming malabar sauce was absolutely splendid. I’d have happily eaten five. Instead I ate a piece of beautifully tandoori’d halibut with plenty of firm, bouncy texture still inside the fish and a lovely red char outside. The moilee sauce, one of my favourites, was tangy and sweet.

Oh, but then the tandoori muntjac. This was hands-down the best piece of venison all year, in fact for many years. Tender, slightly iron-y, cube of meat with a great set of spiky/warming spices on the outside. And that wasn’t even the best main, because the baby poussin tikka masala was even better. Sharp, sour, fiery, sweet gravy on the nicely charred meat, an absolutely knock-out daal and fine pilau rice. An absolutely unabashed British curry classic but so greatly elevated by just top-drawer cooking, plating and balancing of spices.

The rasmalai pud was good, the crispy pastry rose with dabs of pink goo were even better, and I really enjoyed the crystallised fig leaf even if it got completely stuck in my teeth. The menu is £120 before drinks and we had a great value bottle of Gewurtztraminer (well, you have to really). I think it’s spot-on and if you want to know what can be done at the top end of Indian cooking then Benares is for you.