In this YouTube episode, hosts Josh and Rachael Fillbrandt explore Gymkhana, a newly opened Indian restaurant at Aria in Las Vegas that carries two Michelin stars from London. They walk viewers through the bar area, décor, and seating layout, noting the restaurant’s transportive atmosphere and striking crimson ceiling. The duo reviews the drink menu, explains the optional $240 punch service, and outlines pricing across appetizers, tikkas, lamb chops, curries, biryani, and sides. They sample a chilled chickpea‑mint starter, tiger prawns, walnut‑chutney lamb chops, butter chicken masala, spinach‑corn on naan, and various breads (naan, roti). Detailed sensory notes highlight bold, smoky, and lingering heat, with the lamb chops described as the most tender they’ve ever had. They comment on the strong, adventurous flavors and the visual presentation (or lack thereof) of Indian dishes. Service observations include a strict reservation policy (tables booked 3‑4 weeks out, bar seating also reservation‑only) and the restaurant turning away walk‑ins. The hosts conclude that Gymkhana delivers a high‑end, bold‑flavored Indian experience worth reserving for, especially for diners who enjoy adventurous spice, and they give a strong recommendation, urging viewers to book early and try the naan.
Chapters
Hey everybody, I'm Josh.
And I'm Rachael.
And tonight we are going to what might be the most anticipated restaurant for me.
I agree.
In years.
Yes. And something we've been saying the Strip has been missing for years.
For years. Tonight we're going to Gymkhana, which is an Indian restaurant. It has 2 Michelin stars from London, and it just opened up here at Aria.
Let's go.
All right, welcome inside Gymkhana. Here is your drink menu. We did order our drinks already. We did not get the punch service, which is for 8, $240. You can see there are some cocktails around the $20 to $30 range. We ended up with these 2, Sour and Short. They're both at $29. And then there's some non-alcoholic cocktails at $15. Nice expensive Old Fashioned here if you're into that. And then the menu, you can see here, they did say that it's inspired by classic Indian restaurants. All dishes are bold in flavor. So if you are not into that, I don't know that you're into this restaurant. But you can see the appetizers start around $22 up to $32. They do have some tikkas that are around the $30 to $40 range, as well as like a $75 lamb chop. Over here you've got some curries and biryani ranging from $35 to $60. It looks like some Indian vegetable dishes. In the $15 range, and then sides, which we're going to definitely get the naan, and then we'll see about the rest. It's like chickpeas and— yep, stuff.
Chickpeas and stuff, and then some water. Oh no, I made a mess. I did not get it right.
Ready?
Yeah.
That's so insane. So it's chilled. That pastry is nice and light and crispy, but then you have a very spicy— it's very spicy chickpea mixture here that then is cooled off by the mint water.
Really?
Yeah, it's, it's a chilled appetizer. It says to go good with your cocktails, which we haven't tried our cocktails yet, but this is fantastic. And it is supposed to be one bite, so it does take a lot to get in there, but that sauce is so good. That mint— I think it's called a mint water.
Awesome.
And then the chickpeas.
This—
oh my gosh, way better than I was expecting.
All right, all right.
So one thing that we always talk about with restaurants in Las Vegas is we love places that transport you to a different place. Yeah, um, you know, you don't always want to be just off of the lobby or just off of the casino floor, and this place totally does. And we were a little nervous because you can't see the inside, right? But it's stunning. And we've been to the restaurant that was here before, and there's not a lick of anything left over.
Yeah, there's no resemblance to that at all.
I just went through the bar area. It's gorgeous. And then I'm like staring at a crimson ceiling behind Rachael. I think there's a chef's table right next to us.
Yeah, it's amazing.
Yeah, it is beautiful.
And it does look like they— I think by the table setting, they're far enough apart so you're not stacked on top of each other.
I love that.
And there's background music, but it's not overwhelmingly loud either.
It's not super loud. It's not super crowded. Yep, the chairs are awesome. I could sit here all night.
I agree.
All right, Rachel said this already, and these don't picture very well. It's Indian food.
It is Indian food.
Uh, but these are from the tandoori. Uh, this is prawns.
Tiger prawns.
Tiger prawns, big ones. And then this is some lamb chops. We're just in a meat realm tonight, I think.
No, she talked you into some veg.
Oh yeah, we did get one vegetable. Yeah. Yeah, and some breads. All right, so I'm gonna go ahead and try these. Uh, as Rachel said, it is a tiger prawn, so it's a nice meaty prawn.
Yeah, it looks big.
Yeah.
And what kind of chutney was this?
I think a red pepper.
Red pepper.
If not, uh, put it down below.
And 3 of them come on the thing, so pretty big portions. 1, 2, and then Josh has got the third. Looks like the same amount for the lamb chops as well.
Uh, that prawn is delicious. It's got like a coating on it, like the sauce. Oh man, it's got like a nice smokiness and some Indian herbs and spices on there. Big fan of that. It also eats lighter than I would think it would, which— not that I think that shrimp is ever heavy.
No, but we did ask about that because one of the appetizers, it was shrimp and scallops.
Yeah.
And we decided to go with these instead.
We decided to do this one because she said it eats lighter than the shrimp and scallop one because that one is fried. And she's like, if you're gonna get more food, then you should probably get that one. And we said okay.
Yeah.
All right, so we're gonna try the lamb. This has a walnut chutney.
It seems like it has a very similar coating to the Yeah, they're made, uh, similarly, she said, like in the tandoor pot.
That lamb—
I love lamb when it's done right. We've had bad lamb.
We've had bad lamb.
This ain't bad lamb. Oh, this is delicious. It's got that really nice Indian smokiness from the cooking.
Bold flavors.
Bold, yes.
Like I said before, if you're not into bold flavors, you're probably not gonna want to come here.
This is awesome, and it's like, it's not hard to chew.
It's like, it's super tender. Oh, it's delicious. I love them both.
Okay, so I've had a chance to try the tiger prawns and the lamb chop. Both of them cooked to perfection. There's a piece that Josh missed. He did talk about the bold flavors, but there's also a lingering and building heat. It's spicy, and I think that's what true Indian food is. So it's one of those pieces that you If you're not used to it, this is your fair warning. Like, yeah, it is delicious. That lamb is probably some of the most tender lamb I've ever eaten in my life.
I know.
It's so good, but it does have a lingering spice level to it that I'm gonna be surprised if my glasses don't fog up.
Right. Yeah, no, I think the lamb is— it's definitely going to be one of those standout dishes.
It's a, yeah, good bite.
It is. It's the most expensive thing we ordered. Yeah, so let's be fair, but it's worth it so far.
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All right, here we have the butter chicken masala, which is chicken thighs. Sure, a heck of a lot of curry spices in there.
Yeah.
It looks great. And then over here is the spinach with corn. Uh, it looks not pretty, but I think it's going to be very tasty.
This, this stuff does not— we've tried for years every time we eat Indian food to get it to picture well, and it just does not.
I was just saying, like, I wish that Indian food looked prettier. Yeah, so that we could go ahead and, uh, sell more people on it.
It definitely is not Instagrammable, right, by any means.
And then we will be putting all of our curries on top of some naan. This is the bread basket, so there's 2 different types of naan. That is beautiful.
It is so pretty.
And then there is a roti as well. This one's a bit softer. This one is a little bit crispier. Um, and then that's got to be the roti.
I would assume that's a roti.
Yeah, more thin. It's a little bit crispy. And then this is like the more original naan, I believe.
Okay, so I'm gonna start with this, uh, spinach and corn on top of The naan bread because I love naan.
Yeah, she went with the fancier naan. I decided to try it with the roti, which the spinach is delicious. It does look rough.
It does look rough, but if you want a way to get in your greens, that spinach is nice and it's fresh and creamy. Yeah, I don't know how else to describe it. I do think the corn gives it a little bit extra texture.
I do too.
But what I'm in love with is this naan bread on the bottom has a crunch to it. Oh my.
It looks unbelievable.
And it's flavored so well. Now this, I would not say that these are— you have to be adventurous to want to eat here. So this is not going to be for everybody's palate, that's for sure.
The flavors are very strong.
Yeah, even the naan is very strong, bold flavors, which is not always the case with naan bread.
Yeah.
Uh, and then the butter chicken, that looks just so creamy.
And now we've never been to India before, but we've definitely had Americanized Indian food.
Wow, that chicken is so tender. It's a tomato-based sauce and you can get a little bit of that tomato, but again, there's a heat to it. I can already start feeling myself breaking out in a sweat and that Naan bread, it works. If you could put some cheese on that naan.
Yeah.
Oh my, it'd probably be some of the best naan I've eaten. That is really good.
Whatever you do, get the naan.
Get the naan. Yep.
All right, here are your desserts. Uh, you can see they're about $17 or $12 for some ice cream. They are very adventurous, so feel free to pause this video and take the— take a look at that. But, uh, I think we are All right, uh, we stepped outside to give our final wrap-up here of Gymkhana. I think it lived up to it.
I do too. It was fantastic.
Yeah, it was. The flavors were more bold than I was prepared for. The heat was more heat than I was prepared for. So if you're not into very adventurous foods—
Yeah, bold standout flavors.
Yeah, I loved it. What was your favorite Aria's happening tonight.
Yeah, my favorite bite was the lamb, uh, lamb chops.
I agree.
Oh my God, so good, so tender, so juicy, like the best I've ever had, I think. And then I like those Golgoopa shots, the starter.
It was so unique. Yeah, it was like— it's very difficult to describe. It's flavors that I've never had before.
It's like chickpeas peas and mint.
Right?
It's weird.
Soup.
Yep.
Inside of a cracker.
That you build yourself.
Yeah, it's stuff that just— it's very unique. I, I thought it was great. I've never had it before. And I did enjoy the chicken as well.
Yeah.
The chicken with the naan.
Oh man, that naan bread is good.
I was just dunking that for days. I loved it.
I would say though, if you are looking for something like the lamb chops, the The tiger prawns we got were very similar in flavor, so I would, I would get something else.
Yeah, but, but like, some people don't like lamb.
Yeah.
And so the shrimp might be a good option for you.
Yeah.
I did check also, and right now they are booking about 3-4 weeks out to get any table. Yeah. And right now it's like 10 PM is your only chance. So if you are interested in coming here, make sure to book early.
Plan ahead.
Yeah, make a reservation. Uh, because they were turning people away when we walked in there. They don't have people just walking up and sitting at the bar, even though they have a beautiful bar area too.
I was gonna say, even their bar seating was reservations.
Yeah, either way, 2 thumbs up from us. Check out Gymkhana. If you're enjoying our videos, don't forget to hit that like and subscribe.
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