Entertaining clients, journalists or colleagues who love good curry, but with a contemporary twist. Set in the heart of Mayfair, Benares is a good choice for a business lunch or dinner. The chef Atul Kochhar is acknowledged as one of the UK's very best cooks of Indian food.
Signature dishes
Kochhar's speciality is fish cooked Indian style - for example, Tandoori monkfish tail.
Who's the boss?
Kochhar is a twice Michelin-starred chef and author, bagging his first star at London's Tamarind. He oversees another restaurant, Vatika, in Hampshire, near a vineyard.
Tips please?
The full experience is the grazing menu, with about eight tapas-sized dishes. If you really want to splash out, there is a recommended glass of wine served with each. Or there's a spicy, apricot-scented Pinot Gris by the glass that goes perfectly with most dishes here.
What's the damage?
Set menu (lunch and early dinner) is two courses for £19, three courses for £25.
Wines start at about £7 per glass. Grazing menu is £75 per head (excluding wine).
12a Berkeley Square House, Berkeley Square, London W1J 6BS. 020 7629 8886.
