Great food and a Great Atmosphere.

Situated in a quiet Marylebone crescent in walking distance from Marble Arch, this restaurant is ideal for a relaxed experience sampling excellent Indian street food. The location was perfect alongside the luxurious Montcalm Hotel which dates back to 1800s London.

We arrived after a busy day of sightseeing and our immediate impression made us excited to be dining at Hankies. The entrance walkway and ambience of the restaurant set us up for what was to be a perfect meal. The staff were courteous and respectful allowing time for selecting menu choices whilst being available for any requests.

The restaurant itself was relatively small with seating for approximately 50-70 people. The lighting, music and general atmosphere was very good and made you feel relaxed and comfortable.

The menu was moderately priced and certainly not expensive. There were enough choices to select any meal to your dietary requirements and several Hankies specials.

Although we are regular take away experts of Indian food the style of menu led us to seek assistance from our server.  Being a tapas-style restaurant the dishes we selected were all served at the same time and with hindsight, we should have asked for fewer dishes initially or made it clear we wanted only a couple of dishes each to start. A good tip if you wish to follow in our footsteps which we would thoroughly recommend.

Following advice on the menu from our knowledgeable server, we opted for the Roomali Roti aka Hankies instead of our usual Naan bread and thank goodness we did! Two wafer thin Roti’s folded up into the shape of a handkerchief! To complement the roti we had a selection of chutneys, the Hankies Dal and some Mutter “Choley” which was a delicious combination of braised peas, spices, mango powder, chillies, red onions and lemon juice!

Next in the queue, we devoured the Mantu which was a spiced chicken ravioli, lentil dumplings, chilli lamb chops and the amazing butter chicken which was pulled chicken in a buttery tomato sauce with fenugreek and garam masala. This combination of flavours was new to us but worth taking the advice of the server, delicious.  The dishes were not too spicy but could be made hotter depending upon your personal choice.

Pausing for breath and still licking our lips we then sampled a beautiful paneer tikka and another Hankies special the “Handi Ghost” which was slow-braised lamb curry.

To finish we cleansed our pallets and shared their homemade selection of Kulfi ice creams.

We reflected upon our experience and would recommend this restaurant to anyone who loves Indian food and is looking for a more relaxed street food twist and tapas-style service, just great.

Being surrounded by such wonderful dishes will certainly stay in our minds for a long time.

Thank you Hankies, top marks from us and we look forward to returning and will probably also try the Haymarket or Soho venues!

Amazing!

A: 61 Upper Berkeley St, Marylebone, London W1H 7PP
T: 020 7958 3222
W: Hankies London