Mumbai Diners Club

Haymarket has been a site of furious hospitality change during my absence. As well as many new openings, a stir around of new and existing businesses saw Shebeen take over the Mumbai Mansion site on Morrison Street, La Casa move in where Shebeen was, and Chinatown on Atholl Place become the Mumbai Diners Club under the management of the previous Mumbai Mansion folks. Whew!

I have long been a fan of the Mumbai team and always thought the Chinatown space, previously the Cavalry Club, was a very smart and classic west end dining room.

The interior has been given a spruce to reflect the fresh approach and was well populated when I visited on a recent Friday lunchtime.

For lunch they offer a keenly priced lunch deal as well as full a la carte. There is also the prospect of a lunch tasting menu. It’s served for the whole table, minimum two people, but I’m a cheeky wee scamp so managed to convince them to serve it for me as a solo diner, as a one-off.

This opened with a simple green leafy salad. The dressing on this was packed with citrus brightness with a beautiful balance of freshness.

We then moved on to coconut crusted seabass. The moist white fish was lovely with warm spicing.

Next was their classic corn and pea kebab which was as satisfying as ever. The same can be said for the excellent chicken tikka which marked the last starter course.

The main was chilli garlic chicken with excellent naan, mixed vegetables and rice. This was top notch stuff.

Overall, it was joyful to find the Mumbai Diners Club on such fine form. They look well settled in their new premises which look to suit them rather better than the previous place. The smart and elegant dining space is matched with high quality dishes of impressive balance and complexity. Make sure to visit soon.

I ate: leafy salad, seabass, corn and pea kebab, chicken tikka, garlic chilli chicken, naan, rice

I drank: lager, water

I wore: Hawaiian wear

Total bill: £27.20