Last Updated on February 24, 2024
Indian Dining on Fire
Opposite Grey Coat Hospital School, housed in a Grade II listed Edwardian Fire Station, Yaatra has taken over the space that was originally Mathura, a restaurant from Atul Kochhar. Executive Chef Amit Bagyal has his own links to Kochhar, as head chef at Kanishka, before setting up his own restaurant in Westminster. We liked Mathura when we reviewed it but Bagyal is a chef with a strong identity of his own, having worked as Sous Chef at Benares between 2019 and 2021 when they regained their Michelin Star and before that at the Strand Palace Hotel and Masala Dabbas Foods. At Yaatra he aims to showcase the finest Indian cuisine, from famous cities and towns through to lesser-known dishes from remote parts of India.
The aim is elevated Indian dining – dishes that showcase great quality ingredients with immaculate presentation. All in a setting which is relaxed and yet elegant, with the original features of the fire station still evident but with comfortable deep red velvet banquettes and pristine white table linen.
There’s a gorgeous bar – the kind of space where you realise you should have turned up early just to loiter on one of the decadent fur-swaddled bar stools. And, the dining space is nicely laid out, with little booths and semi-private spaces.
We started the evening with poppadums and homemade chutney – a tangy mint and yoghurt and a fragrant tomato and lemongrass.
Our cocktails – a Yaatra Gin Fizz and a Passionfruit Martini, were both on the lighter side, with the Passionfruit Martini (otherwise known as a pornstar Martini) on the sweeter side.
Then, Togarashi grilled scallops with coconut butter and citrus podi for me. Podi, literally powder, is made by flavouring rice or lentils and then grinding the mixture to a fine seasoning powder. And Togarashi is a Japanese spicy-savoury blend of ground chillies, plus a variety of other ingredients that typically include sesame seeds, poppy seeds and citrus peel. My plump and perfectly grilled scallops were served on a spicy tomato-based sauce in their shells.
My companion ordered one of the latest additions to the menu, a grilled beef shashlik served with a pomegranate and cucumber yoghurt dip on a sourdough flatbread.
Both starters were impressively plated, well-spiced and utterly delicious.
We asked our server for their suggestion for wine to accompany the meal and were both impressed with the house rose, Ancien Temps 2021, an easy-to-drink cinsault rose from the Languedoc which worked particularly well with my own choice of dishes.
For mains, I picked the grilled freshwater tiger prawns served on turmeric and lemon rice with Malabar sauce, another coconut-based Southern Indian dish. The prawns were beautifully cooked, with just the right amount of char and I particularly enjoyed the turmeric and lemon rice, a perfect complement for the dish.
My companion ordered the herb butter poached chicken breast with vegetable upma (a semolina-like cereal) and konkani coconut sauce which was fragrant and moist with subtle spicing.
We loved our black dal with kidney beans – a classic dish that I have so far failed to make for myself at home and so order with unfailing regularity when I see it on the menu.
Now, a Lava Cake Flambé perhaps isn’t a particularly Indian dish – but, once I’d spotted it on the dessert menu, I couldn’t resist. With raspberry and dark chocolate and a side of Madagascar vanilla and honey ice cream, flambéed in spiced rum it’s the kind of sweet concoction I’d order anywhere.
The dish arrived beautifully plated and was efficiently flambéed at the table, much to the delight of the young girl dining on the next-door table. With a fabulously rich, molten chocolate filling it fulfilled every expectation.
My companion picked the classic Gulab Jamun, a house-made deep-fried milk dumpling infused with saffron-flavoured sugar syrup and served with pistachio crumble which she said was spot on.
And, we rounded the meal off with dessert cocktails, delicate and fragrant lychee and rose martinis, before staggering home contentedly. I’d walked from Kennington to Yaatra and by the end of the meal was full enough to be glad I’d done just that.
Yaatra offers a beautifully presented selection of Indian dishes from all parts of India. You will find familiar dishes and ones that you don’t recognise – and if our experience is anything to go by everything will be beautifully presented, carefully cooked and utterly delicious. I want to go back now and try the Garhwal Goat Osso Bucco, apparently the chef’s favourite dish that is rooted in his own childhood in Uttarakhand and that is based on his grandmother’s recipe featuring traditional Himalayan hand-crushed spices. I did deliberately pick a lighter starter and main course but got the impression that this Indian restaurant serves food that is full of flavour without the need for heavy sauces and gravies.
Yaatra Westminster
4 Graycoat Place
Westminster
London SE1P 1SB
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