Is there a religious festival more suited to restaurant-going than Diwali, the Hindu festival of light? The festival is marked by wearing one’s finest clothes, sharing family feasts and exchanging gifts — and where better to do any of that than at the table of one of London’s best Indian restaurants?
For Hindus, Diwali, which begins on October 31, heralds the return from exile of Lord Rama and the victory of light over darkness and good over evil, as well as honouring Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and good fortune. But Hindus aren’t the only ones celebrating Diwali. Sikhs mark the end of the imprisonment of sixth guru Hargobind Singh in 1619; Jains celebrate the moment Lord Mahavira, the last Tirthankara, achieved Nirvana; and some Buddhists celebrate Diwali, too.
What unites each of these faiths is a sense of joy. Brightly burning clay lamps called diyas are lined up outside homes and temples and will likely line many Indian restaurants during the celebration. Sweet snacks are a prominent feature of the feasts while many Hindus give up meat for the five days — most of the restaurants below will be offering dedicated vegetarian Diwali menus.
Diwali follows the Hindu lunar calendar, which means the date changes every year. Numerous London restaurants are offering special events and menus. Here are some of the best.
The Tamil Prince & Tamila
The much loved Tamil Prince and its south London sister restaurant Tamila will both be honouring the festival of Diwali with a vibrant banana leaf thali – created by Executive Chef Prince Durairaj. There’ll be two options available: the meat thali and the vegetarian thali. Staples such as mixed vegetable sambar, vadai (a South Indian savoury doughnut), pea and potato masala, mutton chukka, king prawn varuval, poppadoms and spiced fried cauliflower all appear on menu for a one off Diwali special. The catch is, this festive delight is only available for one day, so you’ll need to book in advance!
When? November 2
How much? The meat thali is priced at £33 and vegetarian thali is £30
15 Hemingford Rd, N1 1BZ, thetamilprince.com, 39 Northcote Rd, SW11 1NJ, tamila.uk
Isla at The Standard
Chef Ravneet Gill and baker Tarunima Sinha have teamed up to create a northern Indian inspired Diwali menu that celebrates the flavours we all know and love. The menu will be available to order for lunch and dinner from 12pm to 10pm at The Standard’s all-day restaurant, Isla. It offers a small but concise selection of 8 dishes which are meant to be shared. Highlights include the beetroot chop with chilli chutney, grilled masala paneer in makhni gravy and mango kachumber. For dessert, they’re offering a festive gajar halwa. The menu is only available for 3 days during the Diwali period so space might be limited.
When? November 1 until November 3
How much? Mains start from £16.50
10 Argyle Street, WC1H 8EG, standardhotels.com
Kricket Canary Wharf
This year, the Indian restaurant group Kricket is tempting punters towards its latest outpost in Canary Wharf with a family oriented event including screen printing and henna tattoos. The food offering comes by way of an autumnal root vegetable biryani alongside an offering of bottomless chai and nimbu panis (freshly made lime sodas) for guests. Attendees will also have the opportunity to craft their own home screen prints with artist Natasha Kumar, an Anglo-Indian artist with nearly three decades of artistic practice.
When? November 2
How much? £30
Frobisher Passage, E14 5HA, kricket.co.uk
Babur
For nearly four decades, Babur has been a popular feature of the restaurant landscape in Brockley and the year celebrates the festival of light with both a Diwali knees up and a special menu, on till early November. On October 30, live dance performances from troupe Bollywood Vibes stud the special evening, with a promising menu featuring Kandhari chicken tikka and chargrilled pomegranate and malai kofta, aromatic cottage cheese dumplings in a tomato gravy. For those who can’t make the party, the special menu is on until November 3. Reasonable too at under £50 for five courses.
When? Diwali party on October 30, menu served until November 3
How much? from £49.90
119 Brockley Rise, SE23 1JP, babur.info
Cinnamon Kitchen City & Battersea
Vivek Singh’s Cinnamon Kitchen in Battersea is set to host a special one-off evening with former MasterChef semi-finalist and cookery book author Nisha Parmar to mark the Diwali festivities. The four-hands dinner is comprised of six feasting (shared) courses, featuring king prawn and seafood johl, butter chicken chops and a lamb dum biriyani. For an early Diwali celebration, this one promises to be a winner, but for anyone who misses out, the Cinnamon Kitchen outposts in Battersea and in the City are serving a special Diwali menu until November 17.
When? October 24, with a Diwali menu running until November 17
How much? October 24 dinner, £125; Diwali menu until November 17, £39
4 Arches Lane, Nine Elms, SW11 8AB, cinnamon-kitchen.com, 9 Devonshire Square, EC2M 4YL, cinnamon-kitchen.com
Yaatra
Westminster isn’t replete with fabulous places to eat, but Yaatra bucks the trend with enticing Indian fare that never disappoints. This year’s menu hasn’t been confirmed yet but last year, dishes like tandoori malai prawn and a samosa tartlet, followed by hearty saffron chicken tikka and lamb keema mutter were the stars of the show (and we’d hope for more of the same). At just £70 for five courses, and with a bellini upon arrival, this could be one of the better value options in town.
When? October 28 until November 2
How much? Five courses, £70
4 Greycoat Place, SW1P 1SB, yaatrarestaurant.com
Benares
Mayfair’s Michelin-starred Benares, one of the longest-standing starred Indian restaurants around, is laying on a special Diwali menu to honour the season. Head chef Sameer Taneja has created an eight-course menu, running until November 3, with dishes that include a hing-mutter shorba with cauliflower scallop: a dish inspired by the ancient Indian city of Benares (now Varanasi). A butter chicken samosa and lamb pulao are set to follow, with gifts and prizes — ranging from cocktails to desserts — offered to guests dining from this menu, evoking the tradition of gift-giving during Diwali.
When? October 28 until November 3
12a Berkeley Square, W1J 6BS, benaresrestaurant.com
Jamavar
As glossy as its siblings within India’s Leela Palace hotels, Michelin-starred Jamavar offers creative cooking in a smart dining room, entirely at home on Mount Street, Mayfair’s most desirable food thoroughfare. For the Diwali set menu, small plates along the lines of Konkan soft-shell crab will be followed by Old Delhi butter chicken or Hampshire lamb with Lucknowi spices and fragrant garam masala. A vegetarian menu is also available, as too are wine pairings with each course.
When? October 23 until November 3
How much? £140
8 Mount Street, W1K 3NF, jamavarrestaurants.com
Bombay Bustle
Restaurateur and founder Samyukta Nair (of Jamavar, Bombay Bustle and plenty of other glossy restaurants besides) and Bombay Bustle executive chef Surender Mohan have invited the food writer Maunika Gowardhan to collaborate on a new celebration menu, dubbed the Thali Diwali. Served on traditional silver serving platters, the thali will feature dishes from Gowardhan’s book, including a kadai paneer with tomatoes and bell peppers and Malabar lamb curry with dry chilli, peppercorns, and coconut. Good value at just £68 for the full menu.
When? October 23 until November 3
How much? £68
29 Maddox Street, Mayfair, W1S 2PA, bombaybustle.com
TH@51
Hotel restaurants can sometimes disappoint. While TH@51 — a truly ridiculous name, some might say — inside the Taj 51 hotel might not be at the top of many people’s list of restaurants to visit, this Diwali it deserves a closer look. The restaurant is set to host a plethora of regional thali creations to celebrate the season which they say will each represent a different Indian region. Expect northern Indian thalis to feature murgh tikka makhanwala and dal makhani, and west Indian thali of methi thepla and kabuli pulao. It sounds like a genuinely interesting and, dare we say, “authentic” journey across the subcontinent. With a menu running till November 12, it might be worth a closer look.
When? Until November 12
How much? £50
Taj 51, Buckingham Gate, SW1E 6AF, th51.co.uk
Kutir
Chef Rohit Ghai’s serene modern Indian restaurant Kutir is one of the classiest restaurants in Chelsea, an elegant townhouse where diners must ring a doorbell to gain admittance to a series of rooms decorated with Zoffany wallpaper and fragranced with rose-scented diffusers. High-end ingredients strike an appropriately celebratory note on the ”Diwali Expeditions” menu, which include grouse with beetroot, sea bass moilee, and prawns with mustard and tellicherry pepper.
When: October 29 until November 3
How much: £75
10 Lincoln Street, SW3 2TS, kutir.co.uk
