Farzi Café is an Indian restaurant in Piccadilly that fuses traditional Indian cuisine with contemporary cooking and presentation techniques, and also influences from other international cuisine.

As the name Farzi Café denotes, the restaurant is going for a stylish bistro feel but the result is simply an elegant contemporary restaurant with no particular nod toward India. The service was friendly but lacked attention to detail and wasn’t entirely prompt.

Now, the food…

Small Plates

The tandoori chicken chops had an odd flavour. It was sweet and not reminiscent of any Indian flavours we’ve tried. To be frank, it wasn’t nice.

The ground Wagyu beef scotch eggs were a disappointment. The yolk wasn’t runny and the ground beef didn’t have a particular taste. It was just “bleh”.

The arancini was good, particularly the rich dal chawal filling.

The Madras Pepper prawns was really good. Although at £5 per prawn, it better be. I didn’t get the sparse presentation, but outside of that this dish was fantastic. Meaty prawns steeped in spicy and delicious madras sauce.

The chicken tikka was another very good dish. Succulent pieces of chicken perfectly grilled and spicy too, although not too spicy… just right.

Mains

The Wagyu beef boti kebab looked gorgeous and really well seasoned, but it was too chewy which made it hard to eat.

My tandoori goat shoulder was just awesome. Melt in the mouth with incredible flavour, and the spicy curry sauce really elevated the dish.

I didn’t like aubergine bharta, but Shiima enjoyed it. It was spicy, although a bit on the sharp side, and it went really well with the bread basket.

Dessert?

The options were intriguing, but we’d eaten a lot and had the London Dessert Festival the next day so we gave it a pass.

Verdict

Our dinner at Farzi Café was a good experience, although hit and miss. The vibe is elegant yet relaxing, the service friendly although lacking that finishing touch, and the food certainly hit and miss but with a handful of outstanding choices. We recommend for a date, group dinners, and special occasions. Farzi Café is fairly expensive, so do consider that as well.

Cuisine: Indian
Dress Code: Smart Casual
Shiima’s Star Dish: Madras Pepper Prawns
Amen’s Star Dish: Tandoori Goat Shoulder
Price: £40-£50pp (excluding alcohol)
Rating: 3.6 out of 5

Farzi Café
8 Haymarket,
London, SW1Y 4BP
Book at OpenTable,
Or call 020 3981 0090