13 London Restaurants Celebrating Diwali

Celebrations for Diwali, an Indian festival which marks the victory of good over evil, have already started across the city. This year, Diwali starts on 20th October, giving you plenty of time to plan your outfits if you’re attending a party or a dinner. In true London fashion, restaurants across the capital are showing their support and celebrating with tasting menus, thalis and Indian sweets. We’ve done the research and found out which are the best Diwali celebratory menus in London, featuring everything from desi mithai to Malabar lamb.

Colonel Saab

Unwind with classic jazz music, take in the view of museum-worthy artworks, and enjoy an incredible five-course Diwali special meal at the stunning Colonel Saab. Start with malai broccoli or paneer tikka, move to creamy chicken curry and end with a baked saffron gulaab jamun – this will be a meal to remember.

Enjoy classic jazz music, take in the view of museum-worthy artworks, and enjoy an incredible five-course Diwali special meal.

where: holborn hall & trafalgar square
website: www.colonelsaab.co.uk

Vatavaran

Vatavaran is hosting two special Diwali Tasting Menus this year, available from 17th to 19th October. These celebratory menus showcase contemporary Indian flavours with a luxurious twist, paired with carefully curated wines. Highlights include lobster vermicelli with coconut and curry leaf, butter chicken with Kashmiri chilli and vine tomato, lamb barbat with burnt spices and garlic and chocolate and hazelnut lemon curd meringue or phirni raspberry Ssrbet to finish. A fully vegetarian menu is also available, featuring aloo chaat, paneer tikka, and gobhi truffle with saffron and morels.

where: 20 Montpelier Street, Knightsbridge, London SW7
website: www.vatavaran.uk

Gymkhana

Everyone’s favourite Indian restaurant, Gymkhana, is celebrating with a Diwali Tasting Menu for £180.00 with a vegetarian option for £170.00, with the choice of wine pairings, caviar and black truffle to add on. Start your meal with a pappadum selection, shrimp sorpotel and nimbu chari raita, plus enjoy delicious gol guppas with jaljeera, potato and sprouting moong stuffing. The meal just keeps getting better and better, with Amritsari pink shrimps, Goan cafreal salmon tikka, wild muntjac biryani with pomegranate and mint raita and methi malai mutter paneer to look forward to. To end your meal, there’s saffron pistachio kulfi falooda or gold leaf and almond ledikeni, cardamom rabri almond.

where: 42 Albemarle Street, W1S 4JH
website: www.gymkhanalondon.com

Bombay Bustle

Bombay Bustle is hosting Diwali: An Indian Feast, an exclusive culinary experience created alongside best-selling author and Great British Bake-Off semi-finalist Chetna Makan. Served on traditional silver platters, the menu brings together Bombay Bustle’s refined flavours with Chetna’s creative, home-style touch. Start with the Diwali Blush cocktail, a blend of vodka, mixed berries, lime and egg white. On the thali, dig into dishes such as the palak patta chaat, with crispy baby spinach, dried mango, pomegranate and tangy chutneys, aloo tuk chaat, beetroot raita, chilli garlic chicken and Malabar lamb curry, or a mirchi baingan ka salan, featuring baby aubergines, bhavnagri chillis, sesame and a peanut sauce. End the festivities on a sweet note, with Chetna’s masala chai tres leches cake.

where: 29 Maddox Street, Mayfair W1S 2PA
website: www.bombaybustle.com

Jamavar

One of London’s most elite Indian restaurants, Michelin-starred Jamavar, has a Diwali tasting menu available from 15th to 21st October. Begin with the Jamavar Jewel Box, filled to the brim with Indian snacks, including dal vada, masala kaju, mathri, papads & chutney. Then onto the main feast, with Chef Surender’s curated menu, including the muter tikki chaat, with petit pois, yellow peas, gram flour crisps and pickled onions, before moving onto larger plates of dill lalai tikka, stone bass served with cream cheese, crushed pepper, chilli and dill. Favourites include Old Delhi butter chicken or Kerala prawn biryani, each served with dal jamavar, saag aloo, saffron pulao rice and boondi raita.

where: 8 Mount St, London W1K 3NF
website: www.jamavarrestaurants.com

Dishoom

This year, Dishoom is hosting its biggest and brightest Diwali party yet. Held at the Big Penny Social on 16th October, expect a host of South Asian talent, including Baluji, who has graced stages with legends from Stevie Wonder to Coldplay, Vidya Patel, Renao, Raghav and more. In true Dishoom fashion, expect incredible desi food and drink, with plenty of Dishoom favourites on the menu.

When: 16th october
Where: Big Penny Social, 1 Priestley Way, London E17 6AL
Website: www.dishoom.com

Kricket Shoreditch

Kricket Shoreditch has announced a £15 breakfast thali launching on 20th October to align with Diwali. At the heart of the thali is your choice of fluffy pao filled with options including crispy bacon and tangy tomato chutney, a spicy Goan sausage with salli potatoes, or a classic fried egg cooked sunny-side-up. Complementing the pao is a carefully curated assortment of Kricket’s signature dishes. Expect a hearty helping of eggs bhurji accompanied by Kricket’s spin on breakfast classics, including crispy Andhra hash browns, grilled mushrooms, and punchy tamarind brown chutney. And of course, each breakfast thali includes a cup of Kricket’s signature masala chai.

when: from 20th October
where: 35-42 Charlotte Rd, London EC2A 3PB
website: www.kricket.co.uk

Yaatra

Nestled in the Grade II-listed Old Westminster fire station, Yaatra whisks you away to the highways and bylanes of India, with a legendary menu helped by Michelin award-winning chef patron Krishnapal Negi. Especially for Diwali, Yaatra is offering a five-course meal for £60, which can take you from beetroot and coconut croquettes and kasundi mustard prawns to masala lamb rump and tandoori paneer tikka. Don’t miss the gulab jamun rabri parfait to end.

Nestled in the Grade II-listed Old Westminster fire station, Yaatra whisks you away to the highways and bylanes of India.

where: Old Westminster Fire Station, 4 Greycoat Place, London SW1P 1SB
website: www.yaatrarestaurant.com

Farzi

The Diwali Special Sunday Brunch celebration at Farzi takes place on 19th October, and costs £40 per person. Featuring a delicious buffet of dishes from paneer shahi to chicken rizala kebab, mutton badami korma, prawn moli and beetroot and paneer curry, there will also be live cooking stations such as a chaat counter, pani puri, as well as a dessert buffet featuring assorted mithai and Diwali specials. The celebratory brunch will also have live music and entertainment, henna and face painting.

when: 19th October
where: 8 Haymarket, London SW1Y 4BP
website: www.farzilondon.com