The Fabulous Restaurant Group to launch Indo-Chinese brasserie beneath its Westminster restaurant Yaatra

Billed as a brasserie, the 78-cover Shanghai Noir is described as ‘a sultry, art-deco style eatery that harks back to the heyday of 1920s and 1930s Shanghai when the burgeoning Asian city became known as The Paris of the East’.

The lower ground floor restaurant’s menus will be overseen executive chef Amit Bagyal (previously at Benares and Kanishka by Atul Kochhar) and head chef Velino Goes (previously at Kanishka by Atul Kochhar and JKS Group) and promises ‘a daring reinterpretation on the sharp, spicy fusion of flavours that has been experiencing a recent spike in popularity in the US’. 

Starters and small plates will include seared black bean scallops; five-spiced beef with wild mushroom bao; paneer garlic cream mushroom bao; devil’s chicken lollipop; and green papaya and mango salad.

Main courses include a spatchcock chicken prepared with the ‘hottest chilli in the world’ and served with Glenmorangie fire sauce. 

Soups, noodles and more familiar Chinese-rooted dishes are set to be given ‘a surprising Shanghai Noir spin’.

Created by mixologist Nick Smith, cocktails will include The Firecracker (Szechuan-pepper infused gin, Campari, vermouth, orange bitters, mango syrup and soda); The Shanghai Margarita (Tequila blanco, kiwi, coriander, lime and almond). 

“We are incredibly excited to announce this next stage in our restaurant group’s journey. Yaatra has been grown from strength to strength over the past 18 months and we are grateful to be a go-to dining destination for Londoners and tourists seeking incredible fine-dining Indian cuisine,” says English.

“We have always wanted to experiment with concepts that focus on India as well as its surrounding countries and the beautiful downstairs area has provided us with the perfect opportunity to realise that ambition. We are thrilled to now have two diverse, but linked cuisines with our new Indo-Chinese brasserie, Shanghai Noir. There is so much to explore!”

Yaatra was initially launched as Mathura in 2021 by high-profile Indian chef Atul Kochhar​ ​but changed its name when English - who had previously worked alongside Kochhar - assumed full control of the restaurant.