Lotus Indian Fine Dining in London

The aim of Lotus in Leicester Square is to offer the West End, fine Indian dining. This is the goal of head chef Bashkar Banarjee. Away from Mayfair and the east, central London is missing Elegant gourmet Indian food.

Gymkhana and Trishna are further west, Cafe Namaste in the East but nothing centrally. Does Lotus fulfilled its aim?
From the outside it initially does not fulfil this aim. The signs outside offering gourmet food look a bit cheap and not really needed, especially once you see the nice decor and classy vibe inside. I feel that this has been done to attract tourists and passers by.

I was attracted enough to come to Lotus and was thoroughly looking forward to it all. An anniversary dinner- 11 years for Laura and I, and three years of Life of Shayan - WOW.

Sat by the window, we had a view of windy London and a nice cosy area for ourselves.
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There seemed to be some work drinks going on in the bar, with a lot of boisterous office 'lads' laughing and drinking in the back, but this did not ruin our mood or evening. Our night started with a lovely glass of prosecco and the introduction of an amuse-bouche. This was a gentle soup served in a chai cup and was a nice warm start, away from the gusts from outside.

For starters we had Partridge Tandoori (below) and Bream, Cod and Tuna covered in semolina. Think a light batter or fish cake style. The Tuna of the three, was probably my least favourite, but the chutneys on these were good. 

The partridge tandoori was really good. The smokey flavour and char cut through and tingled my taste buds and my sense of smell too. The salad or salsa of sorts which came with it had some nice punch and kick with the heat and the red watercress creating a lovely salad to eat with the partridge. Tender and moist the partridge was a nice new touch and something different. Change can be good.

Well done to Lotus. Good food and good service.
The main courses continued this theme, we didn't order too much for main (or at least we didn't think we did). We had Roe Deer Biryani covered in a pastry lid, Lamb chops and a spinach paneer. All for two people. Extra rice was not needed because of the Biryani and i was thoroughly impressed with the food.

The Roe Deer Biryani, was packed full of herbs and aromatic spices. The zing of the cardamon and the tenderness of the meat added to a great dish. The dish was for two, but it could of probably been enough for two, Laura and I were stuffed just by eating this alone. 

​The lamb chops were succulent and meaty. Sometimes at the usual curry joints i go to, the amount of meat is quite minimal but here it was a juicy piece and on top of this they added a rump of meat on the plate too. Because of our full stomachs I had to eat the rump all alone as Laura had no more space.

The spinach paneer was packed full of green goodness, with a good amount of chilli and garlic. We both had this, so kissing later was not an issue or a problem.  All of this food, left us not needing or wanting dessert. This dessert  menu was appealing but not then.

It was a great evening and we were well looked after by the staff. They were attentive, informative and kind. We were very lucky and had a guest visit by the head chef too. He definitely reached his goal of bringing fine dining to the west end and I look forward to coming back here. Good night and Good FOOD. Foodie win all round.