Chutney Mary Restaurant Review: An Indian Meal to Remember in St James’s

I have a confession to make, it’s been 7 years since my last Chutney Mary. Nope, it’s not a special dip to accompany your poppadom and onion salad, but one of the capitals most highly regarded Indian restaurants which opened so long ago I was only three when it did. Originally opened in 1990, Chutney Mary was back then on the King’s Road when the area was oh-so fashionable and the place to be. Now, the King’s Road isn’t quite as prestigious as it once was and so in 2015, Chutney Mary made the move to St James’s and by the looks of it – it’s been a fantastic business decision.

The new site is astonishingly beautiful. No doubt this restaurants overhaul and move cost a fair few pounds – but it’s been worth every penny in my opinion. The walls are adorned with beautiful artworks, some of which I recognised from Amaya, the bar is stunning and the restaurant is just the right balance of St James’s chic, without feeling stuffy in any way. If I had a restaurant, it would (hopefully) look like this.

Talking of poppadoms, we started with a selection of them, crudités, dips and cocktails at the bar. All of which was lovely, but the cocktails here are particularly noteworthy. Especially this saffron martini which really is like sipping a golden hazed touch of heaven. It’s strong, full of bite and that saffron running through it is just the right strength. We had two of these before sitting down for our meal and so to say we were settling in nicely would be an understatement. We were already having lots of fun.

I’ve gone on and on about the chaats at Masala Zone, Veeraswamy and Amaya (part of the same family owned group) more times than I can remember, but they do know how to craft them so well. This one here was tokri chaat. A basket of string potato, filled with vegetable goodies as their menu describes and smothered in yoghurt and chutneys galore. It’s fantastic and so was the lamb seekh kebab. So make sure you don’t miss out on any of these dishes which have all been designed as small plates to share – though you won’t want too.

One dish I absolutely fell in love with was the crispy boneless chicken wings with a kokum (fruit) and star anise glaze. These didn’t look anything like chicken wings and that’s because the meat had been stripped from its bones, pressed, cooked and turned into quite honestly one of the best things I have eaten this year. They were so juicy, the chicken skin tops were oh-so crispy and that sticky glaze left us salivating. If you can come here, order two portions because you won’t want to share it.

I really could find little fault here at Chutney Mary and whilst we may have consumed what felt like the entire menu, we couldn’t help finishing every single plate which arrived in front of us. Another of those favourites was the baked venison samosa. It looked like a dropped ice cream, but tasted unbelievably good. The pastry around it was more akin to a dosa (but crispier) and inside it was filled to the brim with spiced venison meat which was sealed off by a good helping of chopped coriander and on the side, dollops of tamarind & date chutney.

The most surprising dish for me and one I voiced on social media at the time was the tandoori whole filled avocado. When it arrived I expected it to be much more gimmicky than it was and I’m told cooking avocado in the tandoor requires great skill to keep it from not falling apart. It was absolutely delicious and inside this smoky soft avocado was juicy, flaked crab meat. I’ve not had anything like this in London before and so if you see it on the menu, order it. It really will surprise you.

I’m not going to lie, it’s not cheap here at Chutney Mary. But that said, you get more from it than you do at another London Indian restaurant in my opinion. It’s all about quality, expert sourcing of seasonal ingredients, careful cooking, sublime service and a little imagination. Plus the portions are always generous. The restaurant on a Tuesday night was absolutely packed with not a free table in sight and people seemed to be spending their whole evenings here instead of being marched out for double covers. It was a lovely atmosphere.  Chutney Mary has a very local customer base and you can see why when they’re serving up main dishes such as these two. The most glorious of lamb chops smothered in ginger, cinnamon and chilli. As well as a signature of green Goa chicken curry. It’s spicy, rich and packed full with herbs, green chilli and tamarind. This is curry on steroids.

For dessert we finished up on one that combined two of my favourites. Soufflé and gajar ka halwa. I’m sure all of you know what a soufflé is, but for those who don’t know the latter, it’s essentially a cold Indian carrot cake, with a softer and wetter texture, laced with cardamom. It’s absolutely delicious and so when I saw this gaja ka halwa soufflé on the menu I couldn’t resist. Rich, sweet, very well cooked and came with a lovely dollop of pistachio ice cream. The perfect ending to our Indian feast.

I absolutely knew I was going to have a fantastic meal at Chutney Mary before dining as I have so much confidence in the family owned group of London restaurants who have served me some of my favourite ever meals, but I think this might well be my favourite to date. I love Amaya in Knightsbridge and had a show stopping meal a few months back (which you can read HERE), but something about this place really has me hooked and I can’t stop thinking about it. Would we go back? In a heartbeat!