Last Saturday on Instagram I came a scrumptious picture of sliders from a restaurant called Brigadiers. I’d never heard of Brigadiers, so I quickly clicked through to the restaurant and I was completely taken by the food. I was even more enamoured by the pictures/videos geotagged to the location. After a bit more sleuthing I found out Brigadiers opened just last month and to great fanfare, and that it’s latest restaurant from JKS restaurants who haven’t yet put a foot wrong.
JKS restaurants own Trishna, Gymkhana, Bao, and Xu all of which we love and have reviewed. They also own Hoppers, which we’ve also reviewed and although isn’t a favourite of ours we are very aware that it’s well loved by seemingly everyone else. And that’s not all. They own Bubbledogs, Kitchen Table, Lyle’s, and Sabor, all of which just happen to be our list. I excitedly booked a table for Monday at 6:00PM right there and then, because they were no tables for any weekends for a few weeks!
Brigadiers is an Indian Barbecue restaurant, with whisky and beer bars, and a live sports venue. It’s located at Bloomberg Arcade by Bank station, which is bang in the city.
Brigadiers is beautiful. Every bit of it; from the terrace to the dining room, the beautiful bars, the pool room, and the private rooms.
It’s exquisite, but also a tad intimidating at first… it’s like I’m just here to eat, relax! But that’s is very much what they are going for as its inspired by the army mess bars of India. The service was very attentive and helpful, also friendly too.
What we ordered
Now, I had looked at the menu online over and over again and I was keen to try almost everything on the menu. And I was still undecided until the last moment. Shiima though looked through the menu for the first time at the table and knew what she wanted.
First we ordered Pappadums & chutney because we were very hungry. Then for starters, we ordered ox cheek vindaloo samosa, BBQ Butter Chicken Wings, Arbi Tokri Chaat, and Afghani Lamb Kebab Skewer. For mains, Shiima ordered Tandoori 5 Spice Chicken Chops and Chaat Masala Aloo, I ordered half rack tandoori lamb chops, and we ordered dum beef shin & bonemarrow biryani to share.
The Food
First I must add that Shiima and I ordered Sandalwood sharbat and mango soda soft drinks, and both were really good. Both were fresh, light and not too sweet.
Starters
We always enjoy pappadums and these were as good as we’ve tried. The chutneys were all really good as well, and with a good amount of spice.
We really enjoyed the BBQ Butter Chicken Wings, especially because the sauce was rich with butter but also spicy. The Chicken Wings were fall of the bone succulent as well.
Shiima wasn’t a fan of the ox cheek vindaloo samosa because the filling was very meaty and the pastry, although delicious, was thin. And those are the same reasons why I loved them!
We both really like the Arbi tokri chaat because it was packed with a lot of complimentary flavours and textures. The potato basket was crispy and delicious and its contents (chickpeas, pomegranates, yogurt et al) were rich with spice and sweetness.
Rather unexpectedly for me it was Shiima’s idea to order the Afghani Lamb Kebab Skewer, and even more unexpectedly she really enjoyed it. She ate most of it, and just left the fatty pieces and the vegetables for me lol. Regardless, I really enjoyed it too.
Mains
First, the biryani… it was gorgeous. And that’s just how it looked. It’s the best biryani I’ve ever had! But this is where I tell you I’ve only ever had two biryanis, although the other was at a Michelin stared Indian restaurant. I rarely eat rice, but for some reason this dum beef shin & bonemarrow called out to both Shiima and I.
It smells delicious, especially after you break through the delicious pastry.
Then Shiima did a really good job of mixing it all together; the beef shin, bone marrow, tasty rice, and puff pastry.
It was so good that I didn’t bother adding any sauce or chutneys to it to improve the taste. And the beef shin was melted in the mouth. A really top dish.
I had so much of the biryani, that I couldn’t finish the lamb chops, which was dramatically presented with a ton of sizzle. It was really delicious, although I’d have preferred it a tad spicier, and it was very well cooked too.
Shiima couldn’t finish her chicken chops either, even though I helped eat one of them. It tasted very similar to the chicken chops at Trishna, which is fine with us because we really enjoyed those. Like the lamb chops, it was cooked perfectly but I would’ve preferred it spicier (Trishna’s were spicier).
She really liked the Chaat Masala Aloos. The potatoes were so well cooked that she thought it was cod because of how flaky it was. It was also really spicy so I enjoy one or two as well.
For the first time ever we wanted the leftovers (lamb and chicken chops) packed for takeaway, and the manager was very happy to accommodate us.
Dessert?
Nah, we were too full at this point. Maybe next time.
Verdict
We really enjoyed Brigadiers. It’s an elegant restaurant with delicious Indian BBQ food, and the service is very good. After dinner, we hung out in the pool room to watch the rest of the Belgium vs. Japan World Cup match and it was really fun; really good atmosphere with good people – all of them were from the city though, so good is err, you know… relative ha! It’s okay I’m kidding, I’ve got a lot of city friends… ha!! Okay, okay, I’ll stop now 😆
I recommend for dates (more romantic than casual, but casual works too), special occasions, meals with colleagues and friends (large groups are okay because of the private room), al fresco dining, and just a very good time at the bars and the pool room. Brigadiers is fairly expensive, so do bear that in mind.
Cuisine: Indian BBQ
Dress Code: Casual/Smart Casual
Shiima’s Star Dish: Arbi Tokri Chaat
Amen’s Star Dish: Dum Beef Shin & Bonemarrow Biryani
Price: £40 to £50pp (excluding alcohol)
Rating: 5 out of 5
Brigadiers
1-5 Bloomberg Arcade
London EC4N 8AR
Reserve a table through their website,
or call 020 3319 8140
