Karam Sethi’s Gymkhana, the Mayfair restaurant inspired by Raj-era Indian gymkhana clubs and designed by B3 Designers, was last night named the UK’s number one restaurant at the National Restaurant Awards. The second restaurant from Sethi, who earned a Michelin star in 2012 at his first restaurant Trishna, London, has knocked Tom Kerridge’s Hand and Flowers from the top spot. The National Restaurant Awards are organised by Restaurant magazine, voted for by top industry experts and are firmly established as definitive within the UK restaurant scene.
Gymkhana opened in September 2013 to great critical acclaim, being only the fifth restaurant to be awarded 5/5 by Fay Maschler in the Evening Standard, and the first ever restaurant to be awarded 10/10 for food by Giles Coren in The Times Magazine. The restaurant is family-run, with Sethi’s brother Jyotin looking after the business side as managing director and sommelier sister Sunaina curating the wine lists and looking after operations. Gymkhana was also recently named New Restaurant of the Year at the Craft Guild of Chefs Awards this June.
Speaking of the win, Karam Sethi said: “To be voted the number one restaurant in the UK is a big surprise and beyond our wildest dreams. “There are so many brilliant restaurants and inspiring chefs in the list who probably deserve it more, so to be recognised by the industry in this way is incredible. It’s a credit to all the Gymkhana team who have worked extremely hard to create a restaurant we are so proud of.”
