In Forest Hill, Babur and the Horniman Museum and Gardens are marking two remarkable anniversaries with a botanical-inspired menu that celebrates food, gardens and the particular magic of South London.
There are few better ways to understand a neighbourhood than through the things it grows, cooks and gathers around.
In Forest Hill, that story can be told in two places: among the winding paths and planted borders of the Horniman Museum and Gardens, and around the tables of Babur, the Indian restaurant that has been part of the local landscape for more than four decades. This year, their stories converge.
As Babur celebrates its 41st anniversary, the Horniman marks 125 years since it first opened its doors. To commemorate the occasion, the two South London institutions have come together for Together In Bloom, a limited-edition menu inspired by the herbs, botanicals and sustainable planting found throughout the Horniman’s celebrated gardens.
Running from 17 July to 20 September, the collaboration is an exploration of place as much as flavour. Wild lavender, cat mint, thyme and rosemary find their way into dishes and drinks, meeting the warmth of Babur’s signature spices and the imagination of Executive Chef Jiwan Lal and Head Mixologist Rupam Talukdar.
The effect is less a conventional restaurant collaboration than a conversation between garden and kitchen.
From Forest Hill, with flavour
The Horniman has always had a particular relationship with its surroundings.
When the museum opened in 1901, it was conceived as a gift to the people, with founder Frederick John Horniman — a tea trader and philanthropist — hoping to “bring the world to Forest Hill”. His vision was expansive: a place where objects, cultures, natural history and ideas could be encountered by a local audience, far from the traditional centre of London.
Today, that sense of discovery extends beyond the museum’s galleries and into its gardens.
Across 16 acres, medicinal and dye gardens sit alongside an interactive sound garden, Butterfly House and animal walk, creating an unusually immersive green space above the city. Plants are not simply decoration here; they are part of the story, connecting people to questions of nature, sustainability, history and everyday life.
It is this living landscape that provided the starting point for Together In Bloom.
Last spring, Babur founder Emdad Rahman joined Jiwan Lal and Rupam Talukdar for a tour of the Horniman Gardens with Errol Fernandes, the museum’s Head of Horticulture. Walking through the gardens, the idea for the collaboration began to take shape.
“What we’ve created is a menu inspired by what grows in our community,” says Rahman.
It is an appropriately local idea for a restaurant whose own story is so closely tied to Forest Hill.
A garden on the table
At Babur, botanicals become something altogether more sensual.
The restaurant’s Indian cooking has always been built around the complexity of spice — fragrance, heat, sweetness and acidity layered into dishes rather than treated as individual notes. For Together In Bloom, that language meets the softer, more aromatic character of the garden.
Thyme and rosemary bring their earthy, savoury perfume. Lavender offers a delicate floral note. Cat mint adds another layer of botanical character. Around them, Babur’s spices provide warmth and depth.
The resulting menu is designed to evoke the gardens without attempting to replicate them. It is an interpretation rather than an imitation — a reminder that the relationship between plants and food is one of the oldest forms of culinary storytelling.
And perhaps that is where the collaboration makes most sense. A garden is, after all, a collection of ingredients waiting to become something else: a scent, a memory, a meal.
Two institutions, one neighbourhood
The Horniman has been part of Forest Hill for 125 years. Babur arrived in 1985. Between them, they represent generations of changing London life: new residents arriving, old shops disappearing, restaurants evolving, gardens being replanted and communities continually reinventing themselves.
Both have survived by remaining connected to the people around them.
For Rahman, Babur’s 41st year is therefore less about looking backwards than acknowledging the place that has sustained it.
“With every year Babur celebrates another milestone, we reflect on what it truly means to be part of this community,” he says. “Forest Hill has given so much to us over the years, and our 41st year is all about giving thanks.”
That sentiment gives Together In Bloom its emotional centre.
The menu is not simply marking two birthdays. It is celebrating the relationship between an institution and the place that gives it meaning.
Cocktails, bottled for the journey home
The botanical theme continues beyond the dining room.
Alongside the Together In Bloom menu, Babur has created a limited-edition cocktail gift set featuring two bottled cocktails inspired by the Horniman Gardens. Priced at £12.95, the set offers a small, portable version of the collaboration — something to take home after dinner or discover while browsing the museum’s gift shop.
It is an appropriately modern souvenir: less postcard, more aperitif.
The gift set will be available from Babur via its website and from the Horniman Museum and Gardens gift shop throughout the anniversary season.
A different side of South London
For visitors accustomed to thinking of London’s cultural life as concentrated in its centre, the Horniman and Babur offer a different proposition.
Here, culture is woven into the neighbourhood.
A museum can sit beside a restaurant. A botanical garden can inspire a cocktail. A four-decade-old family story can intersect with a 125-year-old institution. The result is a version of London that feels more intimate — one discovered through local rituals rather than grand landmarks.
That is perhaps what makes Forest Hill so interesting. It has the green expansiveness of suburban London, but with a distinctly cosmopolitan curiosity. The Horniman brings collections and cultures from around the world; Babur does something similar through food.
One does it through objects and specimens. The other through spice, technique and hospitality.
Both, in their own way, bring the world to Forest Hill.
Looking to the next chapter
For Babur, Together In Bloom arrives after its landmark 40th anniversary celebrations and forms part of an increasingly community-focused programme of partnerships.
Established in 1985, the restaurant has become one of London’s longest-standing Indian restaurants, building a loyal following while continuing to evolve. It was named Best Restaurant at the Mayor of Lewisham Business Awards 2025 and has been recognised among the UK’s Top 100 Curry Restaurants for five consecutive years.
Now, in its 41st year, the two AA Rosette-awarded restaurant is looking towards its next chapter, with its sights set on earning a Michelin star.
The Horniman, meanwhile, is entering its 125th year with its own eye on the future. Its collections continue to expand and evolve, while redevelopment work is reshaping parts of the museum for a new generation of visitors. The natural history gallery, currently closed as part of the Nature + Love redevelopment, is due to reopen in early 2027.
So Together In Bloom arrives at a moment of transition for both institutions — a celebration of where they have come from, but also of what comes next.
And perhaps the most fitting ingredient is the garden itself.
Gardens are never truly finished. They are planted, tended, cut back and replanted. They change with the seasons and with the people who care for them. Their character comes from both memory and renewal.
The same could be said of a great neighbourhood restaurant.
After 41 years, Babur is still growing. After 125 years, the Horniman is still evolving. And in Forest Hill, for a few months, the two meet across a table — in the scent of rosemary, the sweetness of lavender, the warmth of spice and the simple pleasure of eating somewhere that feels unmistakably connected to where you are.
Together In Bloom runs from 17 July to 20 September 2026 at Babur, available as both a tasting menu and à la carte offering.
The limited-edition Together In Bloom cocktail gift set (£12.95) is available from Babur via its website and from the Horniman Museum and Gardens gift shop throughout the anniversary season.
Babur
119 Brockley Rise, London SE23 1JP
020 8291 2400
@baburrestaurant
babur.info
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