1947 London - London Restaurant Review

Cuisine: Modern Indian
Location: Fitzrovia
Price: £££
Food: 5/5
Style Points: 5/5
Value for Money: 4/5
Overall: 4.5/5

1947 London is a new Indian restaurant located in Fitzrovia that is serving up its own twists on classic Indian dishes. Their website says that they serve ‘the best of Indian flavours and spices and the result is a culinary dream.’ I had to see if they could up to this high expectation that they’ve set for themselves or if in fact it was a culinary nightmare.

The interior of the restaurant is very striking and they’ve done a fantastic job of creating a restaurant that looks ultra contemporary and sleek complete with wooden flower wall and open kitchen. I particularly love the carved wooden pillar design and the glamourous gold leaf light fixtures. The restaurant is spacious and the seating is very well thought out with large wooden tables, velvet green chairs and sunken booths.

The Food?

Some of the names of the dishes definitely make an impression as soon as you read them such as Asparagus, Corn & Coconut Samosa, Wild Mushroom Tikki & Chickpea Masala, and Mini Beetroot Masala Pancakes. I was certainly intrigued by the menu and that’s always a good thing.

Following advice from our friendly and super attentive server, we decided to try from the Small Plates the Avocado Bombay Bhel, Chili Paneer, Hyderabadi Chicken, Maharaja Prawns, and Grilled Lamb Chops.

I absolutely love bhel and had never tried avocado bhel so was really curious about what was in store. The bhel had fragrant curry leaves, mustard seeds & fresh herbs running throughout it and the creamy avocado with the crunchy chickpea flour was a lovely contrast. I really liked it and relieved to see that the avocado had a purpose and wasn’t a gimmick. 

The chili paneer and Hyderabadi chicken were both were nice and tasty but the Maharaja prawns were definitely the star of the show. Our server insisted we try the prawns and I immediately understood why as soon as I saw the dish. The prawns were HUGE. Lightly marinated in a blend of spices and cooked in the clay oven, the prawns were incredibly meaty, sweet and juicy, and the marinade gave them a lovely hit of spice and aroma. 

The grilled lamb chops were also big yet also tender and soft with a lovely meaty marinade on top. We were definitely very happy with the beginning of our dinner. 

Along with the small plates we tried a couple of cocktails - Indian Rose and Rum Fashioned. Dubbed ‘a Cosmopolitan with an Indian twist,’ the first cocktail had a lovely aroma of rose water coming from the rose liqueur and was very delicious combined with the other ingredients including Vodka, Cointreau, Cranberry Juice, Lime & Rooh Afza (concentrated rose squash).

The Rum Fashioned was smooth and rich and made with Mount Gay Rum, Brown Sugar & Angustura Bitters. I definitely recommend trying the signature cocktails, there’s one to suit everyone including delicious mocktails with Indian inspirations. 

Moving onto mains and again we went on the recommendations of our server who definitely didn’t let us down the first time around. We tried A Cup of Butter Chicken, Malabar Lamb, Chicken Dum Biriyani, and Chef’s Selection of Breads.

Served in a cute coffee cup complete with a barista finish, the butter chicken was rich and complex in flavour and the buttery tomato sauce had lovely fragrant sun-dried fenugreek leaves running through it. The chicken pieces were also perfectly cooked and really tender. I adore butter chicken and this was one of the best I have tried in London. 

The Malabar Lamb was a little spicy yet I really liked the mild coconut flavour coming through in the sauce which went beautifully with the expertly cooked lamb. 

The chicken biriyani was brought to the table in a pastry sealed pot which really gave it a touch of extravagance. When our server cut open the pastry we could immediately smell the fragrant basmati rice with wonderful aromas of saffron and cardamom. It was really tasty and I especially enjoyed eating the incredibly tender chicken that soaked up all the flavour from the rice. Along with the selection of breads including butter and garlic naan and paratha, the biriyani was the perfect accompaniment to two fantastic curry dishes. 

Round two with the cocktails and I went for the Chai Martini and my companion went for the Hello Lassi. The martini was their take on the classic Espresso Martini and had Spices. Masala Chai, Baileys, Kahlua, & Vodka. A great twist on my of my favourite cocktails.  Hello Lassi was essentially a Pina Colada with no Pina nor Colada and instead used Mango Lassi, Baileys, and White Rum. A really refreshing and vibrant cocktail.

To bring our dinner to an end, we again went on the recommendations of our server and tried the Mango Kulfi, Salted Caramel Kulfi, and Phirni. Kulfi is one of my favourite Indian desserts and I especially love mango. I was quite disappointed that the kulfi came served cut up instead of on a stick as is tradition but I could understand why a fine-dining establishment would opt to remove the stick. However, the kulfi sadly had very subtle mango flavour and I didn’t like the dried mango running through it.

The salted caramel kulfi was much nicer with a taste reminiscent of sticky toffee fudge, and just as sweet. Phirni is essentially rice pudding and this one was flavoured with pistachio, cardamom and coconut. I’m not a big fan of rice pudding so I have to say I didn’t really enjoy it but my companion loves rice pudding and he really enjoyed it. So this is definitely one for the rice pudding lovers. 

After finishing our desserts and cocktails, we took a couple of selfies in front of the flower wall and bowed farewell to the lovely staff who made it a great dining experience. I’m happy to have found a new Indian restaurant in London that I will be calling upon again in the future when my craving for Indian food strikes again. 

The Price?

The starters or small plates are around £7-£10 each and the mains were around £16-£18 each. The biriyani was pretty pricey at £20 and the selection of breads was £12. Desserts were roughly £8 each and the cocktails were all £12 each. If you were to have a meal for two and order a couple of starters, two mains to share, naans, a dessert each plus a couple of cocktails it would be around £90. Not cheap but the quality of food and the location both do well to justify the high prices.

Overall?

I was pleasantly surprised at just how good 1947 London is. The restaurant not only looks gorgeous but the food and drinks are equally impressive. If you love Indian food but are bored of the same old flavours then you should definitely give 1947 London a try. Oh, and order the prawns. You can thank me later. 

Book your table at 1947 London.
Address: 33, Rathbone St, Charlotte St, London W1T 1RR
Closest tube station: Tottenham Court Road

My meal at 1947 London was complimentary - all opinions are my own.