DIFC Just Got a Swanky Mayfair Indian Room
Gymkhana’s two-Michelin London brand opened at Gate Village on September 1. Karam Sethi says Dubai already knows Indian food well enough for a deeper menu.
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- jks
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Dubai International Financial Centre already runs on expense-account dinners and destination bookings. On September 1 it added another one: Gymkhana, the two-Michelin-star Mayfair Indian restaurant from siblings Jyotin, Karam, and Sunaina Sethi’s JKS group, opened at Gate Village Building 7 with a peacock bar downstairs, clubby timber upstairs, and a terrace for the DIFC evening crowd.
Dubai already has deep Indian restaurant culture, from neighborhood counters to three-star ambition. Karam Sethi, co-founder and creative director of JKS, has said the city understands Indian food well enough that Gymkhana is not here to introduce the cuisine. It is landing in one of Dubai’s swankiest dining corridors because the audience can already tell a soft export menu from a serious one.
What landed in Gate Village
The room seats about 137 across two levels plus terrace, designed by Samuel Hosker of North End Design in the brand’s juniper-green, red, cream, and brass register. Executive chef Rahul Rana runs the kitchen under global culinary director Chet Sharma and Sethi’s creative direction. Dinner is live now; lunch is expected in October. Bookings run through SevenRooms. Confirm hours before you go.
Sethi has described an 80/20 split: most of the card carries London DNA, with room to answer the city. Mayfair regulars will recognize kid goat methi keema and salli, tandoori masala lamb chops, and chicken butter masala. Dubai-only plates named at opening include makhmali king crab with malai pyaaz, wagyu beef sukka with bone marrow, jackfruit ghee roast with thatte idli (the wide, soft Karnataka steamed cakes), and goat shank nihari. Opening write-ups have pointed to the crab and the sukka as the plates to chase first. Sample menus listed tasting menus around AED 695, or AED 595 vegetarian, with à la carte from chaat through chops. Treat prices as opening figures and check the current card.
Why Gate Village
Gymkhana opened in Mayfair in 2013, took a first Michelin star within months, and a second in 2024. The name borrows from India’s old social and sporting clubs. The Dubai site follows Gymkhana Riyadh and Las Vegas, and sits near other JKS regional moves such as Berenjak in the UAE. Gate Village is where Dubai parks international names for bankers, visitors, and residents who already know how to book a hard table.
The test for this room is whether the Dubai-only plates stay specific once the opening rush settles. A city that already knows methi keema and Chettinad heat can punish a Mayfair brand that softens for tourists. Sethi’s bet is that DIFC guests will order into that deeper card.
Further reading
- Gymkhana Fine Foods: Michelin Sauces in the Pantry Aisle
- London: South Asian Food Beyond Brick Lane
- The Chef Behind Dubai’s Three-Star Trèsind Studio Just Opened in Mayfair
- Beyond Butter Chicken: Why South Asian Dining Got Hyper-Regional
- London’s New City Indian Room Leads With a Goan Aunt’s Balchao and Mathania Chillies