Where To Eat Indian Food In London Right Now

Every dish at Bibi, a high-end Mayfair spot, is exciting and innovative. Grilled Lahori chicken in a cashew and yoghurt whey sauce is so tender and creamy, you’d think it was the star of the show, only to have the raw Orkney scallop in a lemonade dressing make you feel things you didn’t think you could feel for a mollusc. The counter is perfect for date night, but if you manage to bag one of the booths for you and a couple of friends, then you’re winning. This is one of our highest-rated restaurants for a reason.

Gymkhana is an incredibly glamorous restaurant that’s perfect for doing incredibly glamorous things like eating venison keema naan while discussing whether stilettos or slingbacks are the superior shoe. It’s a moody, sophisticated space complete with intimate booths, exceptional service, and a wild muntjac biryani that is the single best use of pastry since the hallowed invention of the cheese straw. A meal at this Mayfair spot won’t come cheap but it’s worth it for classics that will stay with you long after your final bite of the tandoori masala lamb chops. 

If you’ve been trying to get a reservation at Gymkhana since before Game Of Thrones first aired, then listen up. Ambassadors Clubhouse is from the same people, the Punjabi food is excellent, the curries are rich, and the biryani is steaming and fragrant—and it’s a lot less of a faff to get into. There isn’t a single detail that hasn’t been considered at this sprawling spot in Mayfair. Everything from the warm service the moment you enter, to the shiny mirrored room downstairs that plays desi banger after banger, to the near-flawless goat shami bun kebab.

While Darjeeling Express has wildly outgrown its original supper club roots, the Kingly Court spot hasn’t lost its homely feel. And chef-owner Asma Khan still plays host, checking on diners and bringing raita to cool the excellently spicy Bengali aloo bonde. The warm, terracotta room and intimate booths turn a casual lunch into a two-hour affair, and an after-work meal into a stay-until-closing night. Book dinner for the colourful set menu thali which is a highlight reel of Darjeeling Express’ best dishes—including a silky, orange-hued prawn malaikari that pairs perfectly with the fluffy luchi.  

Calling all fans of alliteration and buttery keema pao. We have a feeling you’re going to like Bombay Bustle. The Mayfair restaurant looks like a train carriage—think Orient Express rather than that 23.45 Southeastern journey—with cooking that is more relaxed than the decadent setting. Don’t get us wrong, some dishes still come on crockery that is distinctly Anthropologie-adjacent. But there’s something homely about the big portions, sharing starters, and the can’t-stop-won’t-stop nature of the mini poppadoms. 

The first thing you need to know about Jamavar is that there’s a right order and a wrong order. At its best, this high-end restaurant on Mount Street serves excellent Indian dishes like Keralan scallop moilee sponsored by Lurpak, and Rajasthani laal maas you’ll think about often. However, if you order the lamb chops, you might leave feeling a little underwhelmed and out of pocket. So no, you can’t order blindly and expect the best meal of your life. But if you order correctly—malvani prawn curry, laal maas, and dum nali biryani—you just might get it.

Although its name refers to a member of the monarchy, The Tamil Prince is the coming together of two other British institutions: the pub and the curry house. The Islington restaurant is on a quiet corner off Caledonian Road, but nothing about the food served at this cool, casual restaurant is pared-back. Onion bhajis are wild, flailing vortexes of turmeric-stained, deep-fried onion. Things like grilled tiger prawns straight off the grill glow orange while being blackened from char. The channa bhatura is a kind of delicious deep-fried UFO. Is it a pub? Is it a restaurant? It doesn’t matter. Go in numbers big and small.

The Tamil Crown is on the sort of leafy street in Angel that gets Richard Curtis going. And if that doesn’t do it for you, the food at this polished, wood-clad pub-restaurant will make you wish you were a local. Like its sister spot, The Tamil Prince, there are crispy-edged bhajis and curries with meat more tender than a John Legend lyric—looking at you, chettinad lamb curry. The Tamil Crown does Sunday roasts too, which is our favourite thing to get here. These plates come heaving with spiced cauliflower and crispy-skin chicken, plus flaky roti which is essential for mopping up leftover gravy. 

Since the first Dishoom opened in 2010, this modern Indian mini-chain has become a go-to place for anyone who wants to eat Indian food in London, both locals and tourists alike. This King’s Cross branch is the most spacious, and therefore easiest to get a table at. As for food, the lamb chops and chicken ruby should be on your table, but it’s pretty hard to go wrong with anything here.

At Shankeys, the mood is always set to revelry. The Irish-Indian restaurant, found inside a former bookmakers in Hackney, is fuelled by Barry’s Tea-gronis and filled with groups demolishing chintzy plates of spicy cauliflower and cheese parathas. And although it’s not the place to come for a basic butter chicken, the short menu is all hits, whether you’re cheersing Carlingford oysters or szechuan scallion ghee-smothered crispy potatoes. 

If the combination of the words ‘butter’ and ‘chicken’ and ‘wings’ interest you, as well as ‘whisky’ and ‘vending’ and ‘machine’, then let us introduce you to Brigadiers. The Indian barbecue restaurant in the heart of the City is a straight-up good time filled with superb bone marrow biriyani, beef short rib, and life-affirming lamb chops. Watch the football at the bar and retire to the pool room afterwards. Or sit in a mahogany-clad booth and crack into the espresso martinis on tap. Whatever happens, you’re not leaving early. 

Located on a residential corner of East Ham, Udaya Kerala is a small, welcoming spot you’ll return to again and again. As much for the excellent South Indian dishes as the laid-back atmosphere. Zone out to calming music, admire the beautiful paintings, and snack on crispy, spiced cubes of fried paneer 65. Plates of lacy, light appam, flaky barotta, fragrant beef fry, and beef roast are some of our favourite things to order here. Richly spiced Kerala prawn or fish curry should also be on your table. Coming with a group is best so you can work your way through all the dishes. Just keep in mind it’s a small space, and walk-in-only.

Most meals at South Indian restaurant Hyderabadi Spice start with ordering biryani and end with spooning leftovers into foil containers. At the low-key East Ham spot, the fragrant and expertly spiced rice dish is king. Every table ends up strewn with stray golden grains that are cooked dum-style (with a pastry lid), and served as a glorious mound on plates or in handis, layered with tender chicken, lamb, or prawns. Know that Hyderabadi Spice’s excellent biryanis are no secret and this spot gets busy in the evening, so book ahead. 

This laid-back, welcoming East Dulwich spot is firmly in our rotation of places to go when we want to be equal parts spoiled with delicate pani puri and comforted with naans glistening with ghee. Kokum’s sweet, sticky, glazed pork ribs is a dish we immediately sent photos of to friends, with the amount of exclamation marks usually reserved for an SOS. The same goes for a spicy, fragrant biryani, loaded with lamb that's barely able to cling to a fork. The modern Indian food is excellent and the service rivals the tender beef nihari for warmth. 

A homely, relaxed restaurant on a bustling corner of Mitcham Road, Vijaya Krishna has been serving an epic masala dosai that laughs in the face of conventional plate sizes since 1994. This spot specialises in dishes from Kerala and the friendly servers will take you on a personal tour through the long menu, featuring assertive pen points that mean ‘you absolutely should order this’. First stop, the chickpea-loaded chilli chana, then the vegetable and coconut medley avial, and delightfully fiery lamb madras. No matter where you live, that humongous masala dosai is worth travelling to Tooting for. 

Whenever we’re floating around SW6, and sometimes even if we’re not, we like to stop in at this top-notch Indian restaurant on Fulham High Street. Partly because it’s always a convenient spot for walk-ins, but mostly because the menu is filled with modern Indian classics done well, like buttery, tender tandoor-grilled malai chicken and telangana prawn masala packed with heat. This is a place where you can order with confidence, whether from the biryani section or the tasting menu with citrussy pani puri shots and some of the best dal makhani you'll find in a London restaurant.

Ganapati is a snug neighbourhood restaurant with a menu of traditional dishes done extremely well, like thaire vadai (a savoury lentil doughnut soaked in yoghurt), poppadoms with spicy garlic pickles, and things like rich mattanchery chicken curry. Our favourite place to sit is the greenhouse-like area that feels like it’s outside while being totally covered. When it’s raining outside, there are few things more therapeutic than tucking into their meaty lamb curry while hearing the rain hit the glass roof. Or come on a weekday afternoon for the thali and you’ll get one of the most filling, delicious lunches in Peckham for under £15. 

Asher’s Africana opens at 1pm every day and often has a backlog of orders by quarter past. The cash-only Gujarati restaurant in Wembley has a social club feel to it, with family and friends eager to pile into the pared-back beige room for wafer-thin roti and comforting curries. The Gujarati special thali—with five ghee-laden roti, two curries (a meltingly good aubergine and potato number stands out), daal, achaar, rice, sweet yoghurt, and two delightful little packed and fragrant samosas—is a generous and nourishing meal for one. That said, the menu deserves multiple people around the table.

This mini-chain has locations in Hounslow, Ilford, Wembley, and more, all specialising in vada pav. It’s a slider-sized Maharashtrian snack of deep-fried potato in a little doughy white bread bap, alongside whacks of chilli and coconut chutneys. As far as handheld, two-gobble snacks go, these are very much up there. The Wembley location is boxed away in the top corner of a glassy food hall, and like all of them, is a colourful, casual, fast food-ish space that’s just as good for a solo lunch as it is a quick and delicious good-value dinner. If you’re after something heartier and more gravy-heavy, get the vada misal or the methi malai mutter, and be content in the knowledge that very little here costs more than £10.

This functional little Mumbai street snack spot in Wembley is the kind of in-and-out rest stop we wish were all over London. A £1.50 vada pav with a cup of warming spiced chai is the ideal mid-afternoon pick-me-up. But really, Amols Vada Pav is good any time of day. Dishes range from variations of vada pav, pani puri, and onion and potato bhajiyas, to chocolate samosas, paneer spring rolls, and a pizza samosa wrap. It’s a vast menu—and one that’s worth exploring.

If you’ve tried London’s best pani puri, then you probably already know about this casual spot on The Broadway in Southall. And if you haven’t been here, then you should stop making claims that aren’t true. Rita’s Chilli Chaat Corner is a small, canteen-like spot, filled with shoppers coming from the market and families popping in for a midweek dinner consisting of excellent yoghurty samosa chaat, and refreshing, citrussy pani puri shots. Come for some of the best Indian street food you can find in London. And order plenty of chaat—there’s a reason it’s in the name.