Indian BBQ & Bar · Bloomberg Arcade, City
By Monty Khas, Anonymous Critic. Pays every bill.
The City of London is not short on places to drink after work. It is short on places where the bar snacks are this good. Brigadiers, tucked into Bloomberg Arcade since 2018, is the JKS group's love letter to the army mess bars of India, and specifically to the Sethi siblings' grandfather, a brigadier in the 4th Gurkha Rifles, whose regiment still has a pale ale named in its honor on tap.
The room
The space is a warren of rooms, each with its own mood, seating around 140 inside plus a terrace. There's a dining room for proper meals, a standing tap room for the post-work crush, a booth-lined main bar called Blighters, and a pool room with a whisky vending machine that is exactly as dangerous as it sounds. The playlist hops from hip hop to bhangra to funk, and on a Thursday evening the whole place hums like the best pub you've ever been in, if that pub had a tandoor and a charcoal grill.
What to eat
The kitchen runs on fire. Goat tikki bun kebabs are perfect drinking food: spiced, soft, a little messy, gone in three bites. The Indo-Chinese chicken lettuce wraps have become the dish regulars order on reflex, with the sticky chili-garlic hit that anyone who grew up on desi "Chinese" will recognize instantly. Amritsari fried fish paos, mini ox-cheek vindaloo samosas and butter chicken wings round out the snacking.
If you're eating rather than grazing, go big. The tandoori lamb chops come by the half or full rack and have a fan club that has been calling them some of the best in London since the day the doors opened. The mixed grill sizzler, built for two, arrives with all the noise and smoke its name promises. The dum beef shin and bone marrow biryani, also for sharing, is the most indulgent thing on the menu and worth every minute of the nap it will require.
Vegetarians get more than an afterthought: there's a dedicated vegetable sizzler, chili paneer lettuce cups, tandoori aloo gobi vada paos and a rich dal makhani.
Drinks and dessert
Drinks are a big part of the deal: rotating craft taps, cocktails on tap for speed at the bar, and a whisky selection that rewards curiosity. The house 4th Rifles pale ale, brewed with Derbyshire's Thornbridge, is the pint to start with. For dessert, the BBQ brownie is the playful pick and the saffron or tender coconut kulfi the refreshing one.
Groups and feasts
Brigadiers is built for groups. The private rooms, with names like the Kukri Room and the Bidi Room, start at around ten guests and scale all the way up to taking over the whole venue. For the truly ambitious, the Beast Feast (a whole suckling pig or a lamb biryani for the table) needs 48 hours' notice and is one of the great office-party flexes in the Square Mile. On Saturdays there's a sports feast, two courses from midday with the game on.
Before you go
Book online, especially Thursday and Friday evenings, when the City empties into the arcade. Midweek lunch is calmer and a good way to try the grill without the crush.
It's also a reminder of how wide the JKS range really is. The same family that runs two-star Gymkhana and Michelin-starred Trishna also does pool tables, pints and bun kebabs, and does them with exactly the same care. Gymkhana is where you go to impress. Brigadiers is where you go to have fun with the people you already like.
The Quick Fix
What to order: Goat tikki bun kebabs; Indo-Chinese chicken lettuce wraps; mini ox-cheek vindaloo samosas; tandoori lamb chops; dum beef shin and bone marrow biryani (to share); BBQ brownie; a pint of the house 4th Rifles pale ale
Pricing: Mid-range to upscale. Snacks and pints are easy on the wallet; a full feast with whisky is not.
Best for: After-work groups, office celebrations, birthdays, and casual nights out in the City
How it compares: Gymkhana's family in jeans; the best Indian pub experience in the Square Mile; better for groups than BiBi or Trishna; more of a night out than Kricket
See where Brigadiers ranks: The Best Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi Restaurants in London: Our Top 10 for 2026
The food was always this good. We're just paying attention.