The Ultimate Reservation Hack

I did it. I cracked the code. I got into the hardest reservation in New York right now, Ambassadors Clubhouse.

The trick?

I got on a plane and went to London.

There’s something deeply satisfying about solving a New York problem with a transatlantic flight. It feels aligned with the current state of dining. If you can’t get a table, change continents. Easy.

I was so pumped. But then, when I mentioned Ambassadors Clubhouse to a few plugged-in London people, I got a lot of polite blinking. They knew Gymkhana, the 2-Michelin-starred cooler sibling, but Ambassadors was not exactly dominating the group chat – or chaat.

Still, walking in to the restaurant, I felt like I had arrived. The room is gorgeous, aggressively so. Every corner looks pre-approved for Instagram but still cohesive. I sat at the bar and immediately the smells hit. Spices, smoke, butter doing what butter does best.

We started with the Beetroot Raj Kachori Chaat. It was excellent. Bright, crunchy, layered, balanced, every note exactly where it should be. You could feel the repetitions behind it, the testing, the sanding down of every rough edge until what remained was flawless and just a touch less alive. A ridiculous complaint about something this good, but here we are.

The Original Butter Chicken Chops arrived with quiet swagger. This is the dish. And they’re good, solid, undeniably crowd-pleasing. But they felt like a band playing the hit single for the thousandth time. You know they can do more, you suspect they want to do more, but the crowd wants the chorus. Would I order them again? Probably not. Not because they’re bad, because they’re almost too on-script.

The kebab was lovely, the Amritsari Kulcha genuinely excellent – and a bit less sparkle and glitz in a good way.

And then, at the very end, the Masala Chai. This is where everything snapped into place. Warm, fragrant, a hint of saffron, and, because why not, a bit of gold leaf floating around. Despite this over-the-top addition, this tea was, beautifully indulgent and completely perfect. The kind of final note that reframes the entire meal.

So here’s where I’ve landed. Would I go to Ambassadors Clubhouse in New York? Yes. Would I try to get a reservation? Also yes. But would I maybe just walk in, go straight to the bar, and order a Masala Chai to go? Absolutely.

And if that doesn’t work, Heathrow isn’t that far.