As soon as your reviewer learned that the JKS Group was opening a new venue in Mayfair, he was excited. For those unaware, the venture has been responsible for hits such as Trishna, Gymkahana and Bridgadiers (plus many more). What’s the winning formula? Employ an A-grade chef (Chet Sharma has worked not only within the group but also at prestigious outlets such as Moor Hall), have amazing design and serve up top-quality food.
The landing page for the BiBi website claims that the venue promises “contemporary Indian flavour, exceptional British produce.” In this respect, BiBi could do better; it almost seems as if the restaurant is under-selling itself. The term ‘BiBi’ is an affectionate one in Urdu for grandmother and the choice of term is not unintentional, with the conception of the menu clearly acknowledging the long culinary heritage of the Indian sub-continent. There is an emphasis on range of ingredients (one dish contains 23 different spices) and slow cooking, but it is done with panache and verve. There is a similar angle at work in the dining room, with JKS making effective use of the narrow space, which formerly housed Truc Vert, a fairly forgettable French brasserie. We liked the reworking which included a highly polished floor, the revealing of an ornate ceiling and patterning on the chairs that apparently pays homage to some of the shawls worn by Sharma’s own BiBi. This is a place where you can settle in comfortably for a long meal – which is broadly what your reviewer and his dining comrade did.
The menu is split into sections comprising snacks, chaat (street food) and sigree (grill), with diners encouraged to choose across the menu – the obvious up-sell – and share. Somehow you can’t begrudge BiBi, since the food was so good. Standouts were the Wookey-hole cheese papad – a novel take on the humble popadom – our two mains (chicken in a wonderfully rich and moreish cashew and yoghurt sauce, and a pair of intensely flavoured lamb chops whose meat hailed from the Yorkshire Dales) and an amazing cauliflower malai side. To spend a moment on the latter – which is pictured – it takes a certain culinary genius to render the humble cauliflower into both a visual and gustatory centrepiece, here served with a cashew and paneer sauce and decorated with a very generous helping of black truffle. We washed all this done with a superbly zingy South African Chenin made by the highly talented Pieter Walser, chosen from an intelligently composed wine list. There was little not to like and BiBi has to rank among the best places currently to grab a curry in Mayfair.