Roti Chai - Dining Room

It’s not easy to capture the exuberance of India in a mews behind Selfridges, but owner Rohit Chugh has a good go in his two-tiered Roti Chai. Head for the ground-floor Street Kitchen for good-value snacks and hubbub: you can expect industrial canteen interiors, close-packed tables, high decibels and trendy takes on the classics, from bhel-pooris and ‘railway’ curry to buns filled with spiced Elwy Valley lamb. It’s “fun and innovative”, but there’s also some real authenticity on show. Evenings see the moodily lit downstairs Dining Room come into its own and the kitchen ups the ante, delivering spirited chilli garlic prawns, more of that Welsh lamb cooked in the tandoor, Parsee-style chicken dhansak or South Indian fish kari. Service is game, but the frenetic pace of it all can cause problems. Note: prices above refer to the Dining Room.

Tucked on a quiet mews in Marylebone, modern Indian restaurant Roti Chai Dining Room is inspired by tandoor grills, serving regional speciality dishes in a smart basement dining room. Upstairs, Roti Chai Street Kitchen buzzes with activity, serving a menu that takes influence from India’s street hawkers and railway station vendors, but follow the arrows downstairs and you’ll find a more serious dining room. The palette is altogether darker and more sultry, illuminated by the glow of pendant lights and spotlights. There’s also a separate bar area, and the industrial metal bar gives Roti Chai Dining room a slick, edgy vibe.

The menu dives straight into a series of aperitifs, including a pomegranate martini and a lychee rose bellini. Tandoor grills are celebrated here, with lots of dishes across the starters and mains featuring meat and fish that has been roasted in the clay oven. Among the starters you’ll find Roti Chai’s signature ‘Chicken Sixty Five’ Chennai style chicken with cumin-smoked chilli chutney, as well as Goan chilli garlic prawns, Tibetan-style momo dumplings and saffron-marinated chicken tikka.

Main courses include old favourite like butter chicken and Malabar prawns, as well as some lesser seen regional specialities like a Koliwada fish curry made with coconut and South Indian spices, as well as slow-cooked lamb saagwala gosht, and chicken biryani made Old Delhi style, with chilli pickle incorporated in the rice.

Save some room for desserts, which include cheesecake made with ‘malai’ clotted cream, a classic gulab jamun, and kulfi in mango or pistachio flavour.

Roti Chai Dining Room also serves excellent value party menus, which include many of the restaurant’s signature dishes as well as plenty of sides and house masala chai.