Nawab of Patudi (3 September 2010)

Banyan on the Thames is where you get some of the finest food. You don’t feel resentful either on food preparation or ambiance, which is a rare mix. It enjoys six hundred reviews within less than six months of its opening on TT. So many reviews usually lead to a real standing and because of its great food maintains a healthy top rating. East meeting west in superior gastronomic kitchens is traditionally known as so-called fusion which is neither here nor there, in my opinion Banyan on Thames combines a tradition of authentic national dishes in one menu, it needed a big chef to put seared tuna a very Japanese cuisine, sea bass that I would rate as good a Mediterranean recipe as one can get, and a warrior lamb a grand authentic north sub-continental dish. As a connoisseur, I come across and visit these new places for signs of any renaissance of original authentic recipes, on that count Banyan on the Thames is a great restaurant and has a first-rate set of choices. I wrote a review few weeks back on Square Meal/Time Out. I asked the maitre d’hôtel, how did they evolve such an original idea that include variety of tastes, his answer was that our owner had talked to Harrods food store and selected the top ten best sellers in the food hall as the back bone of the menu, this is what the popular taste of modern Londoner’s are, a sophisticated, cosmopolitan and a global man. I think this has a very good potential though the maître d’ here is young man from Estonia no one near maître d's, such as Oscar Tschirky of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in Manhattan, New York, who prepared food, boning fish tableside and mixing salads, but the staff has a good pedigree.