The venue features an extensive wine list by Charles Metcalfe and critically acclaimed pan Asian cuisine by Chef Manish (Best Pan Fusion Food in London, Evening Standard). A new menu launched earlier this year introduces dishes such as a tangy mango and green papaya salad with banana blossom and pandana dressing, masala morels with water chestnuts and herb lemon rice and at the same time retains all time favourites such as sweet chilli lotus root, with chives and fresh coriander. Both the menu and wine list demonstrate how thoughtfully Tamarai continues to innovate. Tamarai is best for Christmas party in London and New Year Party Venue in London UK.

Like the Lotus flower that it is named after, Tamarai metamorphoses from a fine dining pan Asian restaurant to a late night bar – a truly dynamic space that can be transformed to suit different moods at different times of the day. State-of-the-art audio visual equipment, LCD screens and a screening room makes Tamarai ideal for day time hire, film screenings, training sessions, product launches, fashion and art events.

Tamarai has a late night license till 3 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights on and offers complimentary parking for upto 300 guest cars in Central London. Undoubtedly, an ideal venue for your Christmas parties this winter. For details on bookings, email Anjali Myers at events@tamarai.co.uk. 167 Drury Lane, Covent Garden, WC2, Tel. 020 7831 9399, www.tamarai.co.uk

This is one of a handful of London’s Indian restaurants with a ‘head office’ in India. Our Chor Bizarre is a straight copy of the one in the Broadway Hotels in Delhi.

Its name is an elaborate pun (Chor Bazaar translates as ‘thieves’ market’) and, like the Delhi branch, the London bars and restaurant is furnished with Indian antiques and bric-a-brac.

Every table, and each set of chairs, is different, and you may find yourself dining within the frame of an antique four-poster bed. The food is very well prepared and encouragingly authentic. Care is taken over the detail; Chor Bizarre does, however, carry the kind of price tag you’d expect in Mayfair.

Start with simple things such as pakoras, which are tasty vegetable fritters, or coconut mussels, which come in a coconut fish broth. Kebabs are taken seriously here, too: try gazab ka tikka, a bestseller in Delhi, which is a kind of chicken tikka deluxe. Then, for your main course, choose dishes such as baghare baingan, a Hyderabadi dish combining aubergine, peanuts and tamarind.

Or Malabar prawn curry, which is marinated king prawns with a kick of chilli, or goshtaba, the famous Kashmiri lamb curry – very velvety. Breads are also impressive, including an excellent naan; pudina paratha, a mint paratha; and stuffed kulcha.

The many imposing set meals are a good way to tour the menu without watching your wallet implode. Try the Maharaja thali – a complete meal on a tray. TV dinners will never be the same again. Bravehearts will tackle the Wazwan, which is a multi-course banquet, rich food from the North of India.

Awarded Best Late Night Bar in UK in 2008 and Best Wine List in London by The Independent, Tamarai Bar is one of the most popular late night destinations in London. An in-house DJ and Video Jockey bring alive the multiple LCD screens in the venue with specially created video images synchronized to the music. Charles Metcalfe, the renowned wine consultant did the first wine list for Tamarai.

96 points / $75
5,987 cases made
Chile

Since its outstanding debut 1997 vintage, Casa Lapostolle’s Clos Apalta bottling has helped to establish Chile as a premier red-wine region. Owner Alexandra Marnier-Lapostolle and her team created a blend of Chile’s distinctive Carmenère variety, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from the estate’s oldest vines in Colchagua’s Apalta sub-valley, then kept refining: fermenting in smaller lots, hand-destemming berries and constructing a gravity-flow winery. All this came to fruition in the long, warm, dry 2005 vintage, easily Chile’s modern best. Marnier and new winemaker Jacques Begarie blended in 4 percent Petit Verdot for the first time, adding aroma and color. Rich and velvety, the 2005 Clos Apalta should reward cellaring. The wine’s price has remained relatively modest through the years.

Src: http://www.winespectator.com

To enjoy best wines in London visit Tamarai Wine bar in Covent Garden.

The magazine’s consumer orientation is reflected in stories such as family conflicts among producers, the identification of producers whose wines suffered from systematic cork taint, and alerting collectors to the proliferation of counterfeit wines. Among the critics in the magazine’s tasting panel are James Suckling, James Molesworth and James Laube.

The magazine organized and sponsored the Wine Spectator Wine Tasting of 1986 on the tenth anniversary of the “Judgment of Paris”.