Amaya Restaurant Review: Michelin Starred Indian Small Plates in Belgravia

Colour, spice and fun – just a few words that come to mind when thinking of Amaya. Tucked away in Belgravia’s Halkin Arcade, this Indian restaurant has secured its Michelin star for more years than I can remember and still to this today it’s as popular as ever. We dined here one Wednesday evening and believe me when I say there wasn’t a spare table in sight. Impressive, given it’s quite a big dining room.

Opened in 2004, Amaya is overseen by a team of very talented chef with a large open kitchen where you can watch the magic unfold right before your eyes. Huge skewers of meat over open coal fires, bread cooking in red-hot tandoori ovens and prawns grilling over robata grills. It smells just as good as it looks in here. We began our Indian journey with a mirchi chilli martini. A mixture of fresh passion fruit, Finlandia vodka and a touch of chilli which gave a lovely numbness to the lips as it was sipped. Equally as satisfying was the smoked old-fashioned, though my dining companion only allowed me a single sip.

One of my favourite dished turned out to be one of the very first that arrived. I’m not sure how or what the process is when cooking chicken in Indian restaurants, but they always manage to cook it to such perfection. It’s always falling off the bone (if any) or morsels like this, covered in black pepper chicken tikka are so moist and succulent. If the chicken wasn’t already good enough, it’s taken to new heights when dipped into the rich peppery dipping sauce on the side.

One thing that Amaya really have spot on is their precision of cooking and the quality of ingredients. Everything you eat has just the right amount of the spice, all of the seafood is sweet and juicy and the meats are all so succulent. Huge plump tandoori ocean wild prawns smothered in a tomato & ginger paste. Price wise they’re a little on the steep side, but worth every pound.

If those prawns don’t blow you away, the char-grilled fillet of seabass will. Served on a banana leaf, this fish isn’t much to look at but by gosh is it good. Flaky skin falling apart at just the sight of my fork, crisp charred skin and a delicate coconut & garlic paste which complimented the fish so beautifully.

I think the most surprising dish for us was one of the simplest. A stone bowl filled with charred tandoori broccoli which I assume was cooked in a tandoori grill as we could see the stems hanging on sticks in the open kitchen. Once dipped into the ginger laced yoghurt dip, this for me was a real winner and something I’d love to sit down with at home on the sofa in the depths of winter.

We started to run out of delicious sounding descriptors by the time we got to the lamb chops, which were covered in smoked chilli and so simply just gave each other a silent stare of approval as we chewed our chops down to the bare bone like savages. They went particularly well with our red Malbec wine too.

I think if I had to pick a signature dish of Amaya it would be these wild venison seekh kebabs. The texture of the meat, the depth of flavour, the succulence of it all and the yoghurt filling in the middle made for such a satisfying dish and I doubt you’ll eat seekh kebabs elsewhere which are this good in a London restaurant.

A silky smooth prawn curry was served as our main course and whilst delicate, it had enough punch to own itself but not detract from the lovely sweetness of the prawns. The side of truffle naan was pure heaven, as was the smell and the basmati rice was as light and fluffy as it possibly could be. You really will want to save room for the main curry dishes so try not to consume the entire menu much like we did.

Two of my favourite desserts contained all in one neat parcel – how could I possibly resist. A classic cheesecake filled with and flavours of gulab jamun. Rather decadent after everything we just ate but well worth the extra few calories and a great way to near the end of our meal.

We had such a lovely evening here at Amaya and after years of passing it by, it’s so nice to finally enjoy what may become my new local Indian restaurant. It won’t be somewhere I’d be visiting week after week as my bank balance may begin to slowly drain as prices are high, but as a treat or celebration it’s money very well spent. With such quality ingredients and precision of cooking I can see exactly why the Michelin team love this place so much, as well as every other diner who fills the tables here night after night.