Tresind

Not going to lie. When I hear words like ‘immersive’, ‘journey’ and ‘storytelling’ used to describe a menu, my heart sinks. We’re here for a nice dinner, not site-specific theatre.

Trèsind Mayfair has all of this stuff. It is the London outpost of a Dubai restaurant whose sister operation has three Michelin stars. The dining room is Mayfair, the Signature Tasting Menu is a chunky £138, and there is a great deal of explaining. The meal even starts with an absolutely pointless gold vase full of cherry blossom-infused dry ice that wafts over you like God’s own fart. 

And yet.

That Signature Tasting Menu is a showcase for some extremely accomplished cooking. And most of it is great. Not always serious and seldom conventional, it is laudably ambitious and actually great fun. The opening arugula pani puri arrive as tiny crisp globes, filled with preserved pear, followed by a watermelon tartlet with chilli sambal and herbs. After that, the mushroom chai: king oyster mushroom, za’atar cannolo and a broth, all served in a way that references the classic British teatime. All three dishes were pitch perfect; beautifully presented and (the chai in particular) possessing depth of flavour far outstripping their dinky size.

Laudably ambitious and actually great fun

A very chic-looking ghewar chaat was another early hit. The honeycomb-like savoury pastry provides an edible infrastructure for avocado, strawberry, pomelo and yogurt ice cream. Sweet, sour, creamy, crunchy: chaat’s usual business, but in this instance less street food and more, uh, catwalk food. Scallops followed, presented as a punchy varuval, replete with a salty dollop of caviar on top. For what it’s worth, my brother got the vegetarian version and said this was the only dish where he viewed my plate with a degree of jealousy, his scallop stand-in being a chunk of cauliflower.

Prawns with asparagus, zeera aloo espuma and tomato rasam didn’t hit the heights of preceding dishes. I will never be a foam person. Despite looking like a birds-eye Busby Berkeley dance number (a compliment!), the dish suffered from a reticent prawn and oddly subdued rasam. Duck confit served with an alarmingly incongruous corn waffle came next, and then the tortellini. You read that right: pasta smuggled onto an Indian fine-dining menu with Gorgonzola dolce, smoked chicken makhani and chilli jam. Both dishes were strong, particularly the tortellini, benefitting from a smoky tomato-butter sauce that would make most Indian restaurants puce with envy.

There was (quite a lot) more. But how many complicated descriptions of fiddly, clever dishes does one reader need? There was one particularly silly bit of table-side theatre wherein a very game staff member essentially made you luxury porridge (khichdi) while giving you a geography lesson about the Indian subcontinent. But no harm done. Tresind might be a Serious Mayfair Restaurant, but its food is testament to the creativity of chef Amit Bagyal and his team. Even if one of the staff did describe the lambchop vindaloo as an ‘expression of memory’.

The vibe Flash, surprisingly fun Mayfair spot, with low lights, dark wood and excellent service.

The food Ambitious, high-end Indian dining. Lots of tweezers getting used in this kitchen

The drink Excellent house cocktails and a few beers on offer too. And there’s now a speakeasy bar downstairs called Tryst.

Time Out tip Enjoy setting fire to money? You can add an extraneous 120g of Wagyu tenderloin to the tasting menu for £55.