Restaurant in London, United Kingdom
Grill-focused sharing format, serious Belgravia pedigree.
Amaya has anchored upscale Indian dining in Belgravia since 2004, ranked in the Opinionated About Dining top 250 in Europe two years running and rated 4.3 across 1,691 Google reviews. The sharing-plate format, built around tandoor, tawa, and sigri grills, suits special occasions and group dinners. Book well in advance — this is one of the harder reservations in SW1 at the ££££ tier.
Amaya has been trading off Lowndes Street in Belgravia since 2004, which in London's restaurant industry amounts to a serious track record. Ranked #211 in Opinionated About Dining's Leading Restaurants in Europe in 2024 and climbing to #246 in 2025 (rankings shift year to year), it holds a 4.3 on Google across 1,691 reviews. At the ££££ price point, you are paying for something materially different from a standard Indian restaurant: an open-kitchen grill format, produce that justifies the cost, and a room that suits celebration meals as much as business dinners. For London Indian dining at this tier, Amaya is the reference point in SW1.
The dining room does the work that matters for a special occasion: polished dark wood, seductive lighting, and generous table spacing give it a contemporary formality without tipping into stuffiness. The open kitchen, with tandoor ovens and tawa grills visible from the dining room, gives the meal a sense of theatre that suits the sharing format. This is not a place where a single dish arrives per person. Amaya's structure is built around differently sized plates delivered as they come off the grill, which means the pacing of the meal is in the kitchen's hands. For groups, that works well. For a two-person dinner where control matters, it is worth knowing before you sit down.
Part of the MW Eat group, which also operates Benares, Veeraswamy, and Chutney Mary, Amaya benefits from the operational depth of a well-run restaurant group. Service, led by a capable front-of-house team, is described consistently as quick and efficient, with a maître d' who keeps the room moving. For a celebration or business meal where service failure would be costly, that reliability matters.
Belgravia is not a neighbourhood historically associated with serious restaurant cooking. It has always had the hotels, the private members' clubs, and the occasional destination restaurant, but it has rarely had the density of independent dining that you find in Mayfair or Marylebone. Amaya fills a specific gap: a destination-quality Indian restaurant within walking distance of Sloane Square and Knightsbridge that does not require a cab to a different postcode. For residents, hotel guests at the Lanesborough or Berkeley, and the business lunch crowd that works between Victoria and Knightsbridge, Amaya is the most credible option at this price level within the SW1 zone. Its longevity since 2004 in a neighbourhood where restaurant turnover is otherwise high is the clearest signal of how well it has read that local demand.
If you are already in Belgravia or staying nearby, the location argument is simple. If you are travelling specifically for Indian food, the comparison set matters more, and Amaya competes well: Trishna in Marylebone offers coastal Indian at a similar tier, while Bombay Bustle in Mayfair covers similar ground at a slightly lower price point. For a broader view of London's Indian dining options, Babur in Forest Hill and Ambassadors Clubhouse offer their own distinct profiles worth considering.
Opinionated About Dining rankings are crowd-sourced from serious diners, not editorial committees, which gives them a different kind of weight. A top-250 European ranking two years running, in a field that includes the heaviest competition in Paris, Copenhagen, and Barcelona, is a meaningful signal. Amaya is not the flashiest name in London's Indian dining conversation, but the consistency of its recognition across years and across different rating frameworks suggests it is doing something durable rather than riding a trend. For comparison, Opheem in Birmingham and Trèsind Studio in Dubai represent what ambitious Indian cooking looks like at the highest current level internationally, if that is the frame of reference you are bringing.
The wine list is assembled with spice-matching in mind, with almost two dozen selections available by the glass from £11. That is a practical detail worth knowing: at a sharing-plate restaurant where the table is ordering across categories, a wide by-the-glass selection makes the meal significantly more manageable and better value than being pushed toward bottles. Contemporary cocktails are available, though the bar is a component of the experience rather than a destination in its own right.
Amaya runs lunch from 12 PM to 2:15 PM Monday through Friday, 12:30 PM to 2:45 PM on weekends. Dinner runs 6 PM to 10:30 PM Monday through Saturday, with an earlier Sunday close at 10 PM. Sunday lunch, with the later 12:30 PM start, is the most relaxed entry point for a first visit.
Planning a full trip around the meal? Browse our full London restaurants guide, our full London hotels guide, our full London bars guide, our full London wineries guide, and our full London experiences guide. If you are building a broader UK itinerary, The Fat Duck in Bray, L'Enclume in Cartmel, Moor Hall in Aughton, Gidleigh Park in Chagford, Hand and Flowers in Marlow, and hide and fox in Saltwood are all worth placing in context.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Booking Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amaya | Indian | ££££ | Hard |
| CORE by Clare Smyth | Modern British | ££££ | Unknown |
| Restaurant Gordon Ramsay | Contemporary European, French | ££££ | Unknown |
| Sketch, The Lecture Room and Library | Modern French | ££££ | Unknown |
| The Ledbury | Modern European, Modern Cuisine | ££££ | Unknown |
| Dinner by Heston Blumenthal | Modern British, Traditional British | ££££ | Unknown |
What to weigh when choosing between Amaya and alternatives.
At ££££, Amaya earns its price point if you engage with the sharing format and order across the grill sections. Opinionated About Dining ranked it #211 in Europe in 2024 and #246 in 2025, which reflects serious repeat-diner endorsement rather than editorial hype. If you want a fixed tasting menu with a clear narrative arc, look elsewhere — Amaya's value comes from building your own meal across tandoor, tawa, and sigri dishes. Order selectively and it competes well with London's upscale Indian options.
Dishes arrive as they come off the grill, not in set courses, so the meal moves at the kitchen's pace rather than yours. The format is designed for sharing, with portions sized to let you try several things across the menu. The open kitchen with tandoor ovens and tawa grills is visible from the dining room, which gives you a sense of what's cooking. Amaya has been operating since 2004, part of the MW Eat group that also runs Veeraswamy and Chutney Mary, so service is practiced and the room is polished.
Yes, provided the occasion suits a lively atmosphere rather than a hushed, ceremonial one. The dining room has generous table spacing, contemporary lighting, and polished dark wood, which hits the right register for a celebration dinner without feeling stiff. At ££££ and with nearly two decades of consistent recognition from serious diners, it has the credibility to anchor a notable evening. If you need a quieter, more formal room, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in Chelsea is the alternative at a similar price tier.
The sharing format works naturally for groups, since dishes come out as they're ready and the table builds a meal collectively. The dining room is generously spaced, which helps for larger bookings. For groups of six or more, booking well in advance is advisable — Amaya operates two sittings at lunch and a dinner service that closes at 10:30 PM Monday through Saturday (10 PM Sunday), so timing is worth confirming when you reserve.
Dinner gives you the fuller experience: the atmosphere is livelier, the room is at its best under lower lighting, and you have until 10:30 PM to work through the menu. Lunch runs from 12 PM to 2:15 PM on weekdays (12:30 PM to 2:45 PM on weekends), which is a tight window for the sharing format if you want to cover multiple grill sections. That said, lunch is the lower-pressure way to try Amaya for the first time, and the menu is the same.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
