Empire Empire

<h2>Indian Disco, Notting Hill: The Scene Empire Empire Is Playing To</h2><p>All Saints Road has always had a particular sense of itself. The street in W11 carries decades of counterculture credibility, and restaurants that open here tend to absorb that energy or look foolish trying. Empire Empire, occupying number 16, does something more interesting: it imports a different cultural register entirely, one rooted in India's 1970s disco era, and makes it feel entirely at home on a London side street that has never needed much convincing to be cool.</p><p>Walk in and the visual logic is immediate: coloured tiled flooring, dark wood furnishings, oval-shaped pendant lighting, and white tablecloths. Vintage album covers of Indian disco performers line the whitewashed walls alongside artwork by Jorgensen Chowdhury and Rabin Mondal. There is a jukebox and a photo booth. The references are specific and committed, which is why they work. This is not Bollywood spectacle in the maximalist sense; it is more considered than that, closer to a well-curated record collection than a themed theme park.</p><h2>The Gunpowder Lineage and What It Signals</h2><p>London's Indian restaurant scene has always been broader than its reputation suggested. For decades, the city's go-to addresses for serious subcontinental cooking clustered around Mayfair, with <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/restaurants/amaya-london-restaurant">Amaya</a>, <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/restaurants/benares-london-restaurant">Benares</a>, and <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/restaurants/trishna-london-restaurant">Trishna</a> each building reputations for refined, region-specific cooking. The Gunpowder group, founded by Harneet Baweja, arrived with a different proposition: smaller rooms, sharper flavours, and a menu that treated Indian snack culture as a serious culinary subject rather than a preamble to the main event. That model earned attention and, eventually, a following.</p><p>Empire Empire extends the group's reach into Notting Hill, where it joins a cluster of recent openings that have collectively repositioned the neighbourhood as a serious dining destination rather than just a weekend brunch corridor. The kitchen is led by chef Kyle Zachary, and the focus narrows to Punjab and Northwest India, a regional concentration that gives the menu genuine depth rather than the pan-subcontinental sprawl that dilutes many London Indian restaurants. Among the broader Indian dining options worth knowing in the capital, <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/restaurants/ambassadors-clubhouse-london-restaurant">Ambassadors Clubhouse</a> and <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/restaurants/babur-london-restaurant">Babur</a> each take different regional approaches; Empire Empire's Punjab lens is a deliberate editorial choice, not a compromise.</p><h2>What the Menu Is Actually Doing</h2><p>Northwest Indian cooking at this level is less about novelty and more about precision. The region's culinary tradition is built on the tandoor and the charcoal grill, on spiced minced meat kebabs and tikkas that depend entirely on heat management and marinade timing. A kitchen that does this well does not need to innovate constantly; it needs to execute consistently, and consistency is exactly what a Michelin Bib Gourmand rewards.</p><p>The menu moves through nashta (snacks) and starters, kebabs and tikkas, biryanis and curries. Deep-fried Amritsari pakoras, applied to fish and prawns, are the kind of snack that illustrates how the region uses the fryer: not for crunch as an end in itself, but to seal and concentrate flavour. The charcoal grill delivers a bihari ribeye beef kebab with the tenderness that only comes from controlled heat and proper resting. Sag gosht carries the gamey depth that distinguishes a confident kitchen from a cautious one, and a bhindi dopiaza loaded with tomatoes and onion demonstrates that vegetable dishes are not an afterthought here.</p><p>The butter chicken is listed as a house speciality, which in this context means something: it is the dish against which the kitchen measures itself, the one that regulars order to calibrate a first visit. The King Prawns Kadhai Masala, cooked in a wok-like kadhai with tomatoes, onions, and whole spices, is the kind of preparation that exposes kitchen skill quickly, because the technique is visible in the result. Naan arrives fresh from the oven, and gulab jamun with ice cream closes the meal in a fashion that is direct and unambiguous about its intentions.</p><p>To drink, the list runs to cocktails, beers, and a concise natural wine selection. The combination suits the room's energy without overcomplicating the decision.</p><h2>Where Empire Empire Sits in the London Indian Hierarchy</h2><p>The Michelin Bib Gourmand, awarded in 2024, places Empire Empire in a specific tier: cooking of notable quality at a price point that does not require special occasion budgeting. That distinction matters in London's Indian restaurant market, where the gap between a reliable neighbourhood curry house and a destination-level address has historically been large. The Bib Gourmand category was designed for exactly this middle register, and it functions here as a precise indicator of what to expect: serious cooking, unpretentious delivery, accessible pricing at the ££ level.</p><p>The comparison set is worth mapping clearly. Mayfair's Indian fine dining addresses, including Amaya and Benares, operate at ££££ and position themselves against European fine dining peers on service formality and wine programme depth. The Gunpowder group restaurants operate in a different register, where the cooking is the primary argument and the room supports rather than leads. Empire Empire extends that logic into a neighbourhood setting, which is why the Google rating of 4.6 across 319 reviews skews so consistently high: the expectation and the delivery are closely aligned.</p><p>For those interested in how the contemporary Indian restaurant scene is developing across the UK and beyond, <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/restaurants/opheem-birmingham-restaurant">Opheem in Birmingham</a> represents a different ambition at the Michelin-starred level, while <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/restaurants/tresind-studio-dubai-restaurant">Trèsind Studio in Dubai</a> illustrates the international direction the cuisine is taking in premium formats. Empire Empire's contribution to this picture is more local and more specific: a neighbourhood room doing regional Indian cooking with genuine conviction.</p><h2>The Neighbourhood Context</h2><p>Notting Hill's recent restaurant wave has brought serious cooking to streets that previously depended on reputation over substance. Empire Empire is among the openings that have given the area a more credible dining identity beyond its postcode cachet. All Saints Road, in particular, has the kind of foot traffic and local loyalty that allows a restaurant to build a regular clientele quickly, which is essential for the biryani-and-kebab format, where the kitchen's confidence compounds with repetition.</p><p>The room's size and atmosphere reward mid-week visits when the jukebox and ambient energy are noticeable rather than overwhelming. Weekend evenings lean into the disco references more fully, and the photo booth gets used. Either context works; they are just different versions of the same experience.</p><p>London's broader dining scene, covered in depth in <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/restaurants/london">our full London restaurants guide</a>, has a range of addresses worth knowing across every cuisine and price tier. For those planning a wider trip, <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/hotels/london">our London hotels guide</a>, <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/bars/london">bars guide</a>, <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/wineries/london">wineries guide</a>, and <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/experiences/london">experiences guide</a> cover the rest of the picture. For those whose itinerary extends beyond the capital, <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/restaurants/the-fat-duck-bray-restaurant">The Fat Duck in Bray</a>, <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/restaurants/lenclume-cartmel-restaurant">L'Enclume in Cartmel</a>, <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/restaurants/moor-hall-aughton-restaurant">Moor Hall in Aughton</a>, <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/restaurants/gidleigh-park-chagford-restaurant">Gidleigh Park in Chagford</a>, <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/restaurants/hand-and-flowers-marlow-restaurant">Hand and Flowers in Marlow</a>, and <a href="https://www.enprimeurclub.com/restaurants/le-manoir-aux-quat-saisons-a-belmond-hotel-great-milton-restaurant">Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons in Great Milton</a> represent the range of what the UK does at the leading of the market across very different formats and price points.</p><h2>Planning Your Visit</h2><p><strong>Address:</strong> 16 All Saints Rd, London W11 1HH. <strong>Cuisine:</strong> Punjab and Northwest Indian. <strong>Price range:</strong> ££ (accessible; Michelin Bib Gourmand pricing tier). <strong>Awards:</strong> Michelin Bib Gourmand 2024. <strong>Google rating:</strong> 4.6 from 319 reviews. <strong>Reservations:</strong> Booking ahead is advisable, particularly for weekends, given the room's neighbourhood scale and sustained local following. <strong>Getting there:</strong> Ladbroke Grove and Westbourne Park are the nearest Underground stations on the Hammersmith and City and Circle lines; both are within comfortable walking distance of All Saints Road.</p><h2>Frequently Asked Questions</h2><h3>What dish is Empire Empire famous for?</h3><p>Butter chicken is the house speciality and the most referenced dish by returning visitors. The King Prawns Kadhai Masala is widely noted as a demonstration of the kitchen's command of spice layering, and the Amritsari pakoras are a strong opening move. The Michelin Bib Gourmand recognition, awarded in 2024, reflects the kitchen's overall consistency rather than any single dish, but those three items are where the cooking makes its clearest argument.</p><h3>Do I need a reservation for Empire Empire?</h3><p>Given the restaurant's All Saints Road location, Bib Gourmand status, and 4.6 Google rating at the ££ price point, demand runs consistently high. Weekends in particular fill quickly, and the neighbourhood room format means there is limited flexibility for walk-ins during peak hours. Booking ahead is the practical approach. Mid-week visits tend to offer more availability and a slightly less pressured version of the room's energy.</p>

How it compares

• Empire Empire

  Cuisine

  Indian

  Awards

  From the people behind the Gunpowder restaurants comes this neighbourhood spot specialising in cuisines from across Punjab and Northwest India. Expect plenty of biryani and kebabs on a menu that’s so appealing, the hardest decision is choosing what not to order. If you're stuck, the butter chicken is a house speciality and you'd be a fool to overlook the terrific 'King Prawns Kadhai Masala' – a prime demonstration of the kitchen's skill with flavours. There is a loose disco theme and a cool vintage vibe, thanks largely to the fantastic jukebox and a photo booth.; In recent months, a number of restaurant openings have put the spotlight on Notting Hill as a broadly based foodie destination. Empire Empire, from Harneet Baweja of the Gunpowder group, is one of them. Inspired by India’s 1970s disco scene, it’s a cosy dining space with an old-school look rather than Bollywood-style overkill: think coloured tiled flooring, dark wood furnishings, oval-shaped lighting and white tablecloths. In addition, there's a jukebox and a photo booth, while vintage album covers of Indian disco performers and artwork by leading artists, Jorgensen Chowdhury and Rabin Mondal, adorn the whitewashed walls. Infectious Indian disco tunes provide fun and energy and the whole place is run in a relaxed and amiable manner. The food focuses on northwest India and the Punjab, with nashta (snacks) and starters, kebabs and tikkas, biryanis and curries. We enjoyed moreish deep-fried golden-brown fish and prawn Amritsari pakoras, and the charcoal grill was put to good use for a tender bihari ribeye beef kebab. Flavours are big and rich with spice – witness a gamey sag gosht and a bhindi dopiaza packed with tomatoes and onion. The naan bread, fresh from the oven, is irresistible, while sweet and spongy gulab jamun with ice cream figures among the desserts. To drink, cocktails and beers line up alongside a concise list of natural wines.; WINE: Wine Strengths: California, Italy Pricing: $$ i Wine pricing: Based on the list\'s general markup and high and low price points:$ has many bottles < $50;$$ has a range of pricing;$$$ has many $100+ bottles Corkage Fee: $20 Selections: 180 Inventory: 760 CUISINE: Cuisine Types: American Pricing: $$ i Cuisine pricing: The cost of a typical two-course meal, not including tip or beverages.$ is < $40;$$ is $40–$65;$$$ is $66+. Meals: Dinner STAFF: People Chef: Daniel Schurr Owner: Kim Reynolds; From the people behind the Gunpowder restaurants comes this neighbourhood spot specialising in cuisines from across Punjab and Northwest India. Expect plenty of biryani and kebabs on a menu that’s so appealing, the hardest decision is choosing what not to order. If you're stuck, the butter chicken is a house speciality and you'd be a fool to overlook the terrific 'King Prawns Kadhai Masala' – a prime demonstration of the kitchen's skill with flavours. There is a loose disco theme and a cool vintage vibe, thanks largely to the fantastic jukebox and a photo booth.; Michelin Bib Gourmand (2024)

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