Last Updated on August 28, 2026
The innovative Indian restaurant setting its sights on a Michelin star
4.6 out of 5.0 starsOn every normal suburban high street, there seems to be a normal Indian restaurant where you’d go for your usual Indian restaurant favourites: butter chicken, lamb rogan josh, chickpea masala, perhaps a portion of tarka dhal. Babur in Forest Hill isn’t that kind of restaurant, as I discovered when I went to try their 41st-anniversary tasting menu. What I got was a culinary tour of India without leaving SE23.
Babur’s 41st birthday coincided with the 125th anniversary of the Horniman Museum and Gardens. To mark the occasion, Babur sponsored the museum’s anniversary season and unveiled a limited-edition anniversary menu, ‘Together In Bloom’. The menu featured dishes and cocktails inspired by the herbs, botanicals and sustainable planting found throughout the museum’s celebrated gardens.
Our first job was to decide which cocktail to have. On a baking-hot evening, I was in need of some fizz and opted for the Saffron Bubbles, made with saffron cordial, Tanqueray Rangpur Gin, lemon oil, and prosecco. It was a buttercup-yellow cocktail with a deliciously tart tang. Lavinia, my plus-one for the evening, decided on something more floral: the Botanical Tipple, made with Hapusa Indian craft gin combined with a homemade aromatic spice extract, St-Germain elderflower liqueur, white Cinzano, and rose water. It was lovely to see how Indian spices and flavours were being integrated into modern cocktail culture.
With that done, we could focus on the hard task of working our way through the anniversary tasting menu.
This was a six-course tasting menu that started with a Devonshire crab tartlet, a lightly herbed appetiser. It was a great opener and a sign of what was to come.
The next course was a hung yoghurt kebab coated with crispy filo pastry. We were completely fascinated by this, having never eaten hung yoghurt. The kebab is prepared by straining water from the yoghurt, which becomes soft and creamy. A hung yoghurt kebab is usually coated in chickpea flour before deep-frying. At Babur, they use filo pastry, which makes for an incredibly crispy coating. The kebab was served with a roasted green mango jelly, a delicate sourness pairing beautifully with the creaminess of the yoghurt. We quizzed our waiter about this dish, and he sought out the chef, who told us how hung yoghurt had been on the menu 15 years ago and hadn’t proved popular with the clientele. Since its reappearance on the menu, it has become one of the restaurant’s star dishes. This menu gave the restaurant’s chefs an opportunity to shine while showcasing Indian regional cuisines.
Next up were the mains. There were four to choose from, and we could each have two. After much debate and deliberation, I chose the lamb and beetroot. The beautifully cooked lamb was nestled on top of a blue cheese naan resting on a creamy beetroot raita, a winning combination. Lavinia opted for the pandan chicken. If you’re not familiar with pandan, it’s often called the vanilla of the East and is used in both savoury and sweet cooking.
We needed a small pause before we were presented with our final mains. For me, sea bream with lemon, garlic and cumin was the perfect option after the lamb. Lavinia chose the beetroot and goat’s cheese dumpling. Even though we had tasting-size portions, the combinations of flavours, textures and fragrance ensured we were full and satisfied.
The final treat was the Rajasthani coral cake. The cake had more of a flapjack texture, sitting proudly on top of a cardamom and rose buffalo milk reduction, topped with a boule of hung yoghurt ice cream.
If you’re looking for Indian dishes that are inventive and innovative and, more importantly, delicious, then Babur is your pick. Established in 1985, Babur is one of London’s longest-standing and most celebrated Indian restaurants, with a loyal following. From what I hear, they’ve set their sights on earning a Michelin star, and from what I sampled, I hope they land it.
Babur
119 Brockley Rise
Forest Hill
London SE23 1JP
020 8291 2400
Looking for something more central? We also recommend Tresind in Mayfair
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