Looking for somewhere to celebrate the Festival of Lights in London in the run up to Diwali on 31 October? Here's our guide to some of the best Diwali menus and events happening across London.
Ravneet Gill and Tarunima Sinha's menu at The Standard
The Everyman (King's Cross, 14 October) - The King's Cross cinema is hosting a screening of Bollywood film The Lunchbox to celebrate Hoppers founder Karan Gokani's new book, Indian 101: Real Indian Recipes Made Simple. The screening will come with nimbu soda or chai, masala popcorn and more snacks will be available at the venue including samosas, vada pav and chilli cheese fries.
Randall and Aubin (Soho, 20-27 October) - That's not all from Karan Gokani this Diwali - he's also teaming up with Randall and Aubin for a one-week-only menu. The main event is the Seafood Goan Curry, with the day’s freshest catch, like John Dory, cod, sea bream, large prawns and clams, all served with spiced grilled potatoes, turmeric black lentils, lemon and garlic spinach, basmati rice and tomato chutney.
Bombay Bustle (Mayfair, 9-21 October) - The restaurant has teamed up with Great British Bake-Off semi-finalist Chetna Makan for a special menu thali menu that features dishes like palak patta chaat, with crispy baby spinach, dried mango, pomegranate and tangy chutneys as well as chilli garlic chicken, Kashmiri lamb rogan josh and for dessert, Chetna’s masala chai tres leches cake. They'll also have Diwali sweets available for the season.
Quilon (St James, 2-3 November) - The high-end Indian restaurant will have a special Diwali brunch during the weekend, with dishes including kadala kurma (black chickpeas simmered in coconut), asparagus and beans thoran as well as vegetable kaima rice.
The Cinnamon Collection (City, Westminster, Covent Garden, Richmond, 28 October - 17 November) - All of Vivek Singh's Cinnamon Collection restaurants are celebrating Diwali. The Cinnamon Club has a five-course feast while Cinnamon Kitchen City does one better with a nine-course feast. Meanwhile, Cinnamon Bazaar in Covent Garden and Richmond will each have an eight-course sharing feast
Kutir (Chelsea, 29 October - 3 November) - Rohit Ghai's high-end Chelsea Indian restaurant has a special group of Diwali Expeditions menus - with a signature, vegetarian and Hunter's version (featuring game dishes) available (from £75).
Ghewar chaat, honeycomb crisp topped with salad and airy yoghurt foam, on the menu att Chutney Mary.
Chutney Mary (St James, until 2 November 2024) - They have a special Diwali Celebration Tasting Menu featuring dishes like ghewar chaat, gilafi lamb seekh kebab, and Silver Crescent which is Jodhpur royal white chicken, prawn curry, green moong dal, aloo took, potatoes and rice. (£80 or £155 including paired wine)
Tandoor Chop House (Covent Garden, 31 October - 1 November) - They'll have a special Diwali set menu, featuring a vegetarian seekh kebab, coronation chicken caesar salad, Herb roasted tandoori baby chicken, Amritsari crispy lamb chop and more (£50).
Benares (Mayfair, 28 October - 3 November) - The Michelin-starred restaurant has a special eight-course tasting menu on for the night. Special dishes include Scottish halibut tikka and hing-mutter shorba with scallop alongside butter chicken samosa, and lumina lamb pulao. Everyone dining will also get an envelope containing special gifts or prizes.(£129)
Lola's Cupcakes (Various locations) - If you're celebrating at home, this year Lola's have a special Diwali collection, which includes cardamom sponge and mango compote, topped with saffron cream cheese, rose petals, pistachio nibs, fresh raspberries, gulab jamun and gold dust.
Tamarind (Mayfair, 24 October to 3 November 2024) - This 30-year-old Mayfair restaurant has a Diwali Tasting menu (with a vegetarian version too) that includes dishes like tandoori konkan prawn and chicken kalmi kebab (£85)
Fatt Pundit's Diwali dishes.
Fatt Pundit (Soho & Covent Garden, 30 October - 2 November) - Their Diwali menu is called "Firecracker" and will be featuring all-new dishes during the weekend. They'll have Kashmiri chilly paneer coated in a dark soy, garlic and dried chilly glaze and burnt garlic rice alongside some non-vegetarian dishes like smoked wok cod fritters.
The Tamil Prince (Islington) and Tamila (Battersea) - On 2 November, they're celebrating "Deepavali" with two new special thalis with homemade curries, chutneys and snacks. There's a mixed vegetable sambar, vadai (a South Indian savoury doughnut), pea and potato masala, mutton chukka, king prawn varuval, poppadoms and spiced fried cauliflower. It's £33 for the meat thali and £30 for the vegetarian.
Dishoom at Big Penny Social (Walthamstow, 30 October) - Heading outside of their restaurants, Dishoom is popping up for one night only at Big Penny Social. There's a vegetarian menu of Dishoom favourites (including complimentary chai and mithai), backed up by South Asian music, performances and more (Tickets are £40)
Masala Zone (Various locations, 28 October to 10 November) - All Masala Zones, including the spectacular Piccadilly Circus location, will have special dishes during Diwali. They include bhalla nachos chaat, kolkata fish cutlet and banana kofta curry.
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