Bombay Bustle is an Indian restaurant which sits in the former two Michelin starred Hibiscus site in Mayfair. It’s a gorgeous space, made to look like a 1920’s train carriage and the result is quite glamorous. This is co founder Samyukta Nair’s second restaurant, owning Jamavar in Mayfair, another looker.

At lunch, a South Indian Tiffin Box menu at £19 is available. A stack of tin boxes arrives at our table filled with madras chicken curry, a lamb stew called idiy appam and gunpowder peanut aloo. They’re all great.

If you’re a little hungrier then a full a la carte menu is available. We order Malabar chicken wings (£9), which isn’t most attractive dish but the chicken is perfectly cooked, and expertly spiced, impossibly crisp Brixham battered squid (£13). Washed down with a tankard of Cobra and all is right with the world.

Achari lamb chops (£23) have that gorgeous blend of soft and charred fat only possible from the heat of a tandoor oven. There’s just enough spice to tingle the tongue but not ovepower the meat.

Paneer butter masala (£17) is a cracking curry. The sauce is rich and buttery with giant chunks of Indian cheese cutting through all that fat. We dunk plain and garlic naan breads (£3 each) making sure not a drop of that sauce is wasted.

Best of all is tandoori lasooni jheenga (£20) – that’s tiger prawns with garlic and mint chutney. The prawns have been butterflied; the blend of sweet flesh and acrid, burned edges is pure perfection.

Another standout is Rarah Keema Pao (£12), a dish of spiced lamb mincemeat served with two dainty white buns so soft I’d like to use them as pillows.

One of the best bits about Bombay Bustle is the friendly service – for a high end Mayfair restaurant it is reassuringly warm and relaxed. Throw in cute surroundings and some lovely grub which is BIG on flavour and you’re onto a winner.

Would we go back? Yes

Bombaybustle.com
We dined as guests of the restaurant