Oorja Indian Dining
Indian restaurant · St Giles
117 Shaftesbury Ave, London WC2H 8AD, United Kingdom
Highlights
Vibrant Indian comfort food, bold flavors, creative cocktails, lively atmosphere
Vibrant Indian comfort food, bold flavors, creative cocktails, lively atmosphere
"A hop, skip, and cortisol-spiked jump from London’s very own tourist Bermuda triangle—the theatre showing Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Shaftesbury Avenue, and big McDonald’s—is Oorja Indian Dining. This is an area for fleeing from people who know a little too much about Gryffindor, fleeting sloppy late-night kisses, or eating something in under five minutes flat. But this all-day Indian spot does things differently. Once you’re through the doors, the chaos of Cambridge Circus mutes and morphs into light rattan, dark wooden beams, and fragrant wafts of biryani. The creamy butter chicken and charred naan aren’t trying to be anything other than comforting and it’s a handy place to know about if the area’s fast food spots aren’t going to cut it. In fact, it’s so useful for a last-minute run-in with your favourite out-of-towner or a quickfire client breakfast that we’re willing to overlook the novelty touch lamp ordering system and the brown satin bibs on every table. photo credit: Heidi Lauth Beasley video credit: Heidi Lauth Beasley Pause Unmute Food Rundown Garlic Butter Naan If any vampires are currently reading this, we might have found the naan for you. It’s very light on the garlic flavour but we have a history of doubling the clove count in any recipe, so take that with a pinch of salt. No matter how strong your affiliation with our favourite breath annihilator is, know that the crust on this naan has an excellent chew factor. photo credit: Heidi Lauth Beasley Butter Chicken The chicken is a little tougher than we’d like it to be but this sauce understands indulgence. It’s rich, buttery, with a nice hum of nutty cashew. Vegetable Biryani The best thing at Oorja is the flaky pastry hat on top of their biryani. For those partial to a little carbohydrate ASMR, it makes an exceptional crunching noise as you dig your spoon in and the rice is packed full of green beans and onion, with a slightly floral, herby flavour. PlayMute video credit: Heidi Lauth Beasley" - Heidi Lauth Beasley
"Oorja is a big, beige-toned Indian restaurant on Shaftesbury Avenue. It’ll be open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner with dishes like the Oorja Morning Kebab—with chicken and lamb, saffron rice, grilled tomatoes, and a fried egg—braised beef short ribs, and railway lamb curry. There are express lunch and tiffin menus too." - team infatuation
Mayur Khetia
Ronald Pazdziorko
Cate Carroll
JOE CHEUNG
Yuqi Wang
April Banbury
Nandini Mazumdar
Kaya Cheshire
