| Restaurateur Gobind Chona is to open Oorja, a neighbourhood restaurant celebrating the food of Northern India, on Thayer Street in Marylebone this November. A sister to the original Oorja, which Gobind opened in the West End in 2025 serving dishes from across India, Oorja Marylebone will see the menu evolve to focus on the rich, fragrant cuisine of the country’s north. Bringing Gobind’s culinary vision to life is head chef Jadhav Tukaram, whose more than 25 years experience includes senior roles at The Cinnamon Club, Jamavar and most recently, Oudh 1722. Northern Indian cuisine embraces Punjabi, Lucknow and Rajasthani traditions, as well as drawing influences from historical Bombay and Calcutta. Oorja Marylebone’s menu will have an emphasis on tandoor and grilled dishes, biryanis cooked and steamed in their pastry-lidded bowls, and the region’s richly-sauced, boldly-spiced curries. Among the dishes Jadhav Tukaram has created especially for Oorja Marylebone are Lamb Shank Nihari – slow-cooked shank, star anise, cinnamon & fried onion; and Lamb Seekh Kebab – fresh herbs, spices, mint chutney. Lamb meat plays a central role in North Indian, Kashmiri, and Mughlai cuisines, particularly for festive occasions and slow-cooked winter meals. Other Northern Indian specialities on the menu include Tandoori Malai Broccoli – with cream cheese, mild spices and rose petals; Banarasi Palak Patta Chaat – gram-flour-battered spinach leaves beneath potato chaat, pomegranate, yogurt and tamarind; Calcutta Chilli Chicken – street-style wok-fried chicken with garlic, dried chilli, peppers and onion; and Mustard Prawns – prawns grilled in a punchy mustard marinade, with mint chutney and kachumber salad. Oorja means ‘energy’, and everything at Oorja Marylebone is done with intention and purpose. Nothing is an afterthought; side-dishes like rices, raitas and salads have been designed to complement specific dishes on the menu, rather than to simply bulk out the meal, while a ‘from-scratch’ ethos will see spice-blends, sauces, breads and desserts – like Masala-Chai crème brûlée with gulab jamun – all made in-house. |
 |
| In addition to the A La Carte, Oorja Marylebone will serve a £21 three-dish Express Lunch Tiffin menu, offering local workers an escape from grab-and-go ‘al desko’ dining. The Oorja’s Sunday Roast, will brings together the British tradition with vibrant Indian flavours. Each main course – for which choices include Spice-Roasted Lamb Rump, Tawa Masala Sea Bass and Mustard Marinated Cauliflower – comes with a generous array of accompaniments, including roasted gunpowder potatoes, baingan pickle masala and onion kulcha. From 3rd to 10th November, Oorja Marylebone will be marking its opening with a Diwali at Oorja menu, at £49 per person for a feast including Samosa Chaat, Kolhapuri Chicken Sukka and Sweet Diwali Platter. Cocktails from the Speaking Tree bar include Oorja’s interpretations of Negronis and Old Fashioneds, and signature serves like Full Moon – Grey Goose, passion-fruit sherbet and orange liqueur – and Kesariya – gin, saffron, honey and bright citrus, shaken over ice. In addition to a concise wines selection and a cocktail list, there is an alcohol-free Shoonya offering, with mango, sweet and salted lassis; Delhi’s spiced lemonade, Shikanji; Kashmiri Khawa iced tea; and sodas including India’s favourite ‘Thumbs Up!’ cola and Limca cloudy lemon & lime. Seating 90 over two floors, Oorja Marylebone’s interior design makes use of textiles, textured natural materials and ceramics, mostly sourced from in and around Delhi, to create a sense of warmth and comfort. Gobind Chona’s intention for Oorja Marylebone is for it to feel laid-back but high-quality, as a neighbourhood restaurant should. Oorja Marylebone will be the third London opening for Gobind’s Starwins Group, joining Oorja Shaftesbury Avenue and pan-Asian restaurant Gura Gura in Covent Garden, which opened in December 2022. Of the forthcoming opening Gobind Chona says, “I come from a hospitality family, my parents had a restaurant in Delhi specialising in the food of Northern India. I wanted to bring that wonderful cuisine to a global stage, and where better to do that than London? Oorja Marylebone is an evolution of the original on Shaftesbury Avenue, focusing on Northern Indian food and, being smaller, having more of a neighbourhood feel well-suited to one of London’s true ‘villages’.” On his hopes for Oorja, he continues: “I want it to be somewhere that residents and people working in Marylebone will treat as their ‘local’, and which visitors to the area will confidently seek out for the quality of our food, drink and service.” Oorja Marylebone will open at 13-14 Thayer Street, London W1U 3JR on Sunday 1st November. https://www.oorja.co.uk |
Author: George Shaw
Former BBC journalist and founder and CEO of an award-winning London advertising and PR company for 20 years, providing restaurant consultancy services. Spent a decade as the director of communications of the Asian Catering Federation in the UK and lead judge for its various restaurant and chef awards programmes. Now returned to journalism, specialising in food and travel and currently the Editor-in-Chief for Taste London, Taste Asia, the Good Curry Guide and CEO of International Culinary Guides.