Colonel Saab

Holborn Town Hall, a Grade II listed building near Holborn tube, is an unlikely setting for an Indian restaurant until you actually walk into Colonel Saab and see what’s been done with it: warm orange walls, leather banquettes and a ceiling hung with 48 hand blown chandeliers, alongside genuine antique furniture including pieces made for Indian royalty. It’s a properly striking room, closer to a palace dining hall than a typical High Holborn restaurant.

The menu covers regional Indian cooking with a contemporary edge, moving away from the generic curry house format towards dishes rooted in specific traditions across the country. Traditional lunch tiffins are worth trying if you’re visiting during the day, and the large dosas are a genuine standout, crisp and generously filled rather than the thin, sparse versions found elsewhere. Lamb shanks and butter chicken, comfort dishes done with more care than the name suggests, round out a menu that respects tradition without being afraid to adjust it.

The location, a two minute walk from Holborn station and close to Covent Garden, makes it a sensible option for a pre or post theatre dinner, though the room itself is grand enough to justify a special trip on its own merits rather than as an add-on to an evening out.

Mains run roughly £16 to £30, and a full meal with a couple of sharing starters and a main each comes to around £45 to £55 a head, reasonable for the quality and setting on offer. It suits date nights, celebratory dinners, and anyone who wants Indian food served in surroundings with genuine visual impact rather than a standard restaurant fit-out.

The honest caveat is that with a room this striking, expectations run high, and a small number of reviewers have noted that while the atmosphere consistently delivers, individual dish execution can vary slightly between visits. Booking ahead through the Colonel Saab website or OpenTable is worthwhile given the restaurant’s popularity for group bookings and celebrations.