Walk past an Indian kitchen at service and you will often feel the tandoor before you see it. The clay oven is the oldest tool in the room and still the most dramatic: a barrel of fierce, dry heat that gives tandoori cooking its colour, its smoke, and its unmistakable char.
What a tandoor actually is
A tandoor is a deep clay oven, traditionally sunk into the ground and fired by charcoal. It runs far hotter than a domestic oven, often above 400C near the coals. That heat does two things at once: it sears the outside of meat in seconds and bakes bread against the clay wall in barely a minute.
Why the heat matters
Speed is the point. Marinated meat hits the heat, the surface caramelises, and the inside stays moist because it spends so little time cooking. The faint smokiness comes from juices and marinade dropping onto the coals and rising back up. It is a flavour you cannot fake with a grill pan.
What to order to taste it
The tandoor is behind more of the menu than people realise. Chicken Tikka, Seekh Kebab, Tandoori Lamb Chops, Paneer Tikka and the whole Tandoori Mixed Grill all come from it. So does the bread: naan and tandoori roti are slapped onto the inside wall and peeled off blistered and hot. Order a tandoori starter and a fresh naan together and you taste the same oven doing two completely different jobs. There is more on the breads in our guide to Indian breads.
From Punjab to central London
Tandoor cooking is usually associated with Punjab and the north-west of the subcontinent, and it remains the backbone of how we cook. See the tandoori specialities on our menu, from the Tandoori Chicken Sizzler to the Tandoori Tiger Prawns.
Short on time before a show? Our Pre-Theatre menu starts with chicken tikka or onion bhajee and includes naan and pilau rice, served from 12pm to 5.30pm daily. Book a table and taste the tandoor at work.
