Benares

Benares say you can BYO wine so we did, waiter brought us the wine menu and I said we had our own wine so he seemed a bit uncomfortable and said he would call the manager, then this pompous old man came over and said the price for opening our bottle of wine was £20 - total rip off.

Food wasn't that great either.
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1 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Thursday, July 28, 2011

What a disappointment!

Too many waiters-with nothing to do, standing around! Service very slow! Food luke warm!

My experience was not a good one! Started off very well, impressed by the bar area, lovely decor...but then the cracks began to show. The waiter asked if we wanted to look at the wine list, brought it over promptly, then just vanished. We tried to catch his eye to order drinks but it was as if he was ignoring us, chatting away to the 'trainee' waiter. 25 mins later, YES 25 mins later, finally we angrily caught the attention of another waiter!! No appologies, no nothing.

Starters were very nice, but could have done with a bit more on our plates, main course was adequate (luke warm) Nothing special. Some sort of sea bass on a bed of indian style mash with a lentil sauce. Again, nothing special. Dessert was nice as we had the kulfi.

When the bill arrived, again they just dumped it on our table and then left us again for 20 mins! Clearly, we were'nt an expensive paying customer like some of the other diners as we chose the 4 course for a set price (can't remember) Of course we refused to pay the service charge, much to the confused look on the waiters face, we did'nt care at that point. He probably got the brunt of our complaint but he did'nt handle it very well at all.

I'm no food critic, but I know what elements make an unforgettable dining experience, and this was not one of them! there must have been about 20 waiters/waitresses, but none of them were attentive.

I will never go there again, nor will I be recommending it to any of my friends.
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Soniya Hodge - View all reviews by this user
2 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 2
Tuesday, November 30, 2010

I use London-Eating to pick restaurants regularly and always know to expect a negative slant on reviews. At the end of the day most people don’t bother writing a review if their night has been good, only to moan about bad ones.

But I felt the need to write about this night. The people who find fault in Benares must be the most miserly people on earth. It was simply the best meal I've had in London. Ever. And I've lived and eaten in London for 29 years.

No, it's not traditional Indian food. Yes, it is expensive. Both these facts are clearly stated on the website and anyone moaning about these should learn to read before booking a table.

We ordered off the al a carte menu which does a lot to reduce the bill compared to the impressive looking grazing menu. Seared scallops were divine cooked in three different mixtures of spices, while my extremely rare pigeon breasts were truly heavenly. Mains of monk fish and roe deer were perfectly cooked, artistically presented and flavoured magnificently. Deserts were thankfully very western and generous enough even for my other half's sweet tooth.

All up, for two people, cocktails, wine, desert wine, starters, mains, three sides and desert set us back £220. And we were absolutely stuffed. Anyone who thinks that is unreasonably expensive should never go to the river cafe, you would be outraged!

Go here for a special occasion, you won't regret it
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Cowboy81 - View all reviews by this user
9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Thursday, November 18, 2010

I have to the say the whole experience did not meet up to my expectations in terms of food as well as the whole dining experience in what is a well renown Indian restaurant .

We arrived to a very cool reception downstairs - having said that we were then taken care of by someone else who actually took the time to make us feel welcome.

I am a vegetarian and so decided to try the " Vegetarian Grazing " menu which is £75 per head. I have to say the food was diappointing and was almost as if the food had been prepared by a UK chef and the food represented his/her take on Indian cusine. I certainly would not recomend the restaurant to fellow vegetarians.

Each and every course ( except the dessert ) was disappointing.
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Naresh Rati - View all reviews by this user
5 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 4
Thursday, September 09, 2010

Four years have passed since Atul Kochar came to our screens as part of the Great British Menu. Great things were expected of the man with the first Indian restaurant to win a Michelin star. I am sorry to say the decor and super-attentive service were the best parts. The avocado-garlic mousse was an experiment gone wrong. The starters were miniscule - Indian potato cakes (aloo tikki), vegetarian samosas and pani poori. Served on a plate best suited to floating candles, they were a nightmare to eat. Adding insult to injury was the watered-down passionfruit mocktail and significant lack of spice; all three of us were disappointed by what the main course had to offer. Anorexics would serve bigger portions; the vegetarian meal served was no better than what an average North Indian vegetarian restaurant would serve. We felt cheated paying £40 a head for vegetarian food, no alcohol and no dessert.

I would advise vegetarians to head to Rasa, Diwanas, Sree Krishna or Woodlands for Asian vegetarian fare as prices are far more reasonable and food more heavily spiced. Avoid this place at all costs.
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Sajini - View all reviews by this user
6 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 1
Saturday, July 31, 2010

Dined at Benares last night in celebrate of my friends 40th Birthday.

The greeting was warm and sincere and we were made to feel welcome quickly.

The cocktails are wonderful, tried the signature 'passion Fruit Chutney Martini' which is raved about so much and I wasn't disapointed.

As there were seven of us we had the grazing menu with accompanying wines. This was divine from start to finish. They were accomodating in the non-fish eater in replacing those dishes with the veggie option - all was superb!

The braised mutton (lamb) I have to say was the highlight...braised for 24 hours this was the most delicious dish ever...

The service was top class, the Sommeliers knew their stuff and the food simply exceptional....only let down a little by the longer than expected wait for the dessert course which resulted in friends having to leave to catch their train.

I cannot wait to come back, just thinking now of an excuse! Not cheap, but you pay for what you get...this isn't your average Indian meal so don't expect it!

Thank you for a lovely evening.
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Loz - View all reviews by this user
9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Friday, July 09, 2010

Just been there this evening (16/5). We opted for the pre theatre menu i.e. two courses for £20.00.

I love fusion cooking but being Indian, I can only describe it as roast beef served with sweet curry sauce instead of gravy and served as alternative take on the Sunday roast. Extremely disappointed with the food but the service was excellent. I think they are trying to be too clever!
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Raj
5 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 3
Sunday, May 16, 2010

Nice ambience and service. I was entertaining my customers and they were fairly happy with their meals.

However, as an Indian I found it to be over customised for the European taste. I think they need to have a balance between authentic and contemporary dishes. Forget the Michelin stars and serve some bold and authentic Indian flavours.

I ordered for the Deer in the main course which was nice but I felt as if I was eating in a French or Italian restaurant not an Indian restaurant.

So, my recommendation to Chef Atul is to be bold and try some authentic Indian flavours though you can customise the presentation if need be. There are still many authentic Indian dishes which are not yet available in British Indian restaurants,

Overall a very good experience, my guests from Germany enjoyed their meals. However, I will also like to take my family there who will be more demanding as they understand and appreciate real Indian food.
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Anuj Khanna
8 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Tuesday, May 11, 2010

My fiancee and I dined here with the pre-theatre meal last Friday (£24.99 for 3 courses including a glass of wine, coffee and petit fours). We were also provided with complimentary popadoms accompanied with three delicious homemade chutneys start with. Everything that we had was of a very high standard - the wine was so delicious that we ordered a bottle to go with the meal and this was reasonably priced at £18. The level of cooking was extremely good and everything we ate was superb. The dining room and surroundings are very elegant and the waiting staff were attentive without being over bearing. Whilst aware that the table would be turned within 2 hours, we at no point felt rushed. All in all a very good experience and would encourage me to go back to try the a la carte. Highly recommended.
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Rebecca Camp
10 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Thursday, April 22, 2010

First and foremost, as an Indian, I have to say I finally had a high-end dining experience at an Indian restaurant in London that lived up to the hype. I have eaten at many top Indian restaurants here where the food is really not authentic with flavours usually compromised (read: made less spicy) to cater to the local palate. Benares was the first place I've come across which balances flavour and spice while retaining the authenticity of traditional Indian food, and adds some interesting experimental dishes to boot.

Ate here on a Friday evening, got a table for 3 for an 8.45 seating earlier in the afternoon, though I certainly did not expect to at such short notice!

We arrived at 8.30 and were seated in the surprisingly spacious bar. We were shown to our table at 8.50.

The highlight of the drinks was the passion fruit martini - beautifully spiced. Food-wise, we ate the chicken liver as a starter to share, which was divine, and for mains, we had tandoori chicken (I couldn't resist ordering this as any meat-serving Indian restaurant that can't get this right should just never be visited again!), the chicken korma and crab. All three were spectacularly good, though the korma was the highlight. The meat in each case was very soft, cooked right through, and the sauces and spices were brilliant.

Portions were good, all of use were quite full by the end. For dessert, the chocolate cake with cardamom was brilliant again.

Given I am not very fond of passion fruit or chicken liver, and detest any clearly detectable flavour of cardamom (often used in Indian food, I prefer it to stay in background!) so it was a testament to the food that I loved everything I had with these ingredents!

Bill came to £50 a head including service (though we probably drank less than the average diner) which I have again paid at many restaurants with far inferior food. Service was very good throughout, never intrusive but very helpful Both the martini and dessert were recommended by our waiter, Amol, and both recommendations were spot-on.

Definitely worth a visit.
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ss
9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 9
Monday, April 12, 2010