I dined at one of London's most famous Indian restaurants. It was a splurge, but every dish was a hit.

It was the second eatery from siblings Jyotin, Karam, and Sunaina Sethi, who have helped dispersed Indian fine-dining throughout the pond and into the US alongside their group, JKS Restaurants. Ambassador's Clubhouse, their newest restaurant, opened in New York City in February, during Gymkhana's second location opened at the ARIA retreat in December 2025, becoming the archetypal Indian fine-dining eatery on the Las Vegas Strip.

Gymkhana's British sister has additionally achieved a brace of historic firsts complete the former few years. It's the archetypal Indian eatery in London to obtain two Michelin stars, and one of lone four Indian restaurants in the earth to clasp the distinction. It's additionally the archetypal Indian eatery that Kendrick Lamar always dined at.

Travis Kelce, who visited for the archetypal period alongside Taylor Swift in May, has additionally sung its praises.

"I would say it was among the most amazing meals that I've always had," Kelce told his brother Jason on the May 13 event of their "New Heights" podcast. "It is phenomenal. And now that I cognize there's one in Vegas, everyone in America needs to go try it."

Unless you're Posh Spice (another fan), you're likely not going to get a array for meal at Gymkhana without booking two months in advance, whenever reservations open. I began looking concerning a duration before my trip and never had any luck, no matter how many alerts I set or how many times I refreshed the website.

Just whenever I was prepared to acknowledge defeat, my companion Alex told me she had nabbed a lunch booking following environment up a few alerts. I did the identical and received an email confirming a four-person array for 12:30 pm the extremely next day.

The feast was on!

The archetypal item we noticed as we slid throughout the comfortable red leather banquette on the base flat of Gymkhana's two-story eatery was the music. A gentle mix of jazz, rap, and R&B floated through the windowless, wood-paneled room, adding to the lushness of the heated lamps, affluent color tones, and contemporary artwork. It felt sexy, cool, and secluded.

"I could fair sit current for hours," my fiancé Peter said. "It's a total period warp in here."

The archetypal dish to attain at our array was the £12 (about $16) pappadum selection, served alongside a trio of chutneys: coriander and mint, saccharine lime pickle yogurt, and Goan prawn. The command was a purely nostalgic petition from me. When I was a extremely bankrupt newsman living in London a decade prior, my finest companion Kelly and I would treat ourselves to two "splurge" meals a week: an Indian meal particular on Thursday, and an all-you-can-eat Indian buffet on Sunday. Pappadums were continually how the meal began.

Gymkhana's pappadums were addictively crispy, and I was spooning all three chutneys on assorted entrées throughout our lunch. As I played rear the sound recording, I remembered just how much I loved the dish.

"I really hit the pappadums hard," I told the table. "I'm papa-done."

The £14 (about $19) appetizer came alongside four bulky samosas served on a beautiful argent dish alongside a tin of the profound mahogany-colored chutney.

Some samosas are wrapped in thin, small shells that shatter under your teeth. A Punjabi samosa is item you can descend into alternatively — it has a thicker, flakier crust, and is typically far additional stuffed. I loved trying distinct bites alongside the choice of chutneys at our table.

Next period I go to Gymkhana, though, I'll skip the samosas and try the kid goat methi keema instead. It's considered among the restaurant's signature dishes, and I was kicking myself afterward for missing it.

If it weren't for the bones stacked up against all other, akin medieval swords preparing for battle, you could have effortlessly mistaken the £75 (about $100) lamb chops for meatballs. They were proudly chubby and absolutely charred, wowing our entire table.

"Fantastic," Peter said. "Phenomenal," Jeff replied. "My favorite," Tyler added.

Our server knew his spectators from the instant we were seated.

"This is a extremely celebrated table," he told me alongside conviction.

"Dua Lipa, she sits downward complete current whenever she comes alongside Callum," he added, referring to her husband, Callum Turner.

So I had no issue trusting the captain of our two-hour lunch whenever he insisted we get the khatta meetha baingan, a £12.50 (about $17) eggplant dish.

Sweet and sour, tangy and spiced, the dish was complete of degree — a medley of flavors that showcased Indian cuisine at its complete best. I couldn't get adequate of it.

Our chief courses had yet to arrive, but I could see the contentment in everyone's eyes. Peter realized he had barely sipped his archetypal drink.

"I got distracted," he told me. "The food is so good."

When you go to Gymkhana's authoritative website, the extremely archetypal item you see is the untamed venison biryani in all its glory. The £50 (about $67) dish is topped alongside a susceptible dome of pie covered in dreary and pale seeds, immediately reminding me of an everything bagel.

Armed alongside a blade and a spoon, our server began to delicately piece about the bowl's edges, releasing fast plumes of fume into the air. The basin was motionless visibly smoky as it arrived at our table, puffing akin a cigar as "Juicy" by The Notorious B.I.G. played complete the speakers.

The biryani is anchored by tender, slow-cooked venison and fragrant saffron grain blended alongside tomatoes and onions. It's a affluent dish, blooming alongside herbs and spice, that was nicely tempered by the accompanying raita condiment streaked alongside pomegranate and mint.

A warning: If you're not a fan of mint, akin my companion Tyler, afterward this biryani likely won't be for you. It's a notable part of the dish's sensation profile, particularly whenever paired alongside the raita.

Gymkhana's £13.50 (about $18) bread receptacle includes margarine naan, ail and coriander naan, and a tandoori carom kernel roti.

All three breads were cooked beautifully — the naans were ray and airy, the roti was flaky. At one item in my recording, I depict my favorite as a "garlic haze of goodness."

At £36 (about $48), this was certainly the most costly type of butter chicken I've always had. It was additionally so fine that we concerning licked the basin clean.

You could contend that it's difficult to disorder up the cherished mild curry, but there was a degree to Gymkhana's condiment that kept pulling me rear in. I laughed as I listened rear to the recording, and my array kept discussing how complete we were, lone to commencement contemplating the logistics of getting a second command before an afternoon of sightseeing.

"We could obtain it to go," Jeff said. "I volition clasp it; I don't care."

"Hold it?" Peter replied. "I don't think it's going to create it. If that's my dessert, I'd be happy."

Gymkhana was a extremely pricey lunch, but fractional of our invoice came from the cocktails alone. Every beverage we had was delicious — particularly the Bhang Lassi — but at £24 a pane (about $32 each), they can add up quickly. If you're not looking to splurge, rod to vino or preserve the drinks for a pub downward the road.

But lunch at Gymkhana allows you to evade the minimum meal expend of £100/person, and there's additionally a particular five-dish prix fixe list offered at £75/person (about $100) — a beautiful awesome agreement for a two-star Michelin restaurant.

Thunder cracked through the sky as we gradually rolled out of the restaurant, sending hail the size of tennis balls downward Albemarle Street. Sightseeing would have to wait, but at smallest we could obtain a nap.

Pleasure had established us formerly again. Maybe next time, we'll create it to the West End.