Restaurants

Chutney Mary

When Chutney Mary opened in 1991 it was the smartest and most ambitious Indian restaurant in the UK, serving proper regional cooking from across India. It continues to...

Chelsea: 535 King's Road, SW10 0SZ

Cinnamon Club

Housed in a former Victorian library, the Cinnamon Club is a grand affair with high ceilings, a gallery of bookshelves and elegant leather chairs, which all help...

Westminster: The Old Westminster Library, 30-32 Great Smith Street, SW1P 3BU

Five Hot Chillies

If you can’t grab the attention of one of the friendly but busy waiters, simply walk up to the counter of this clean, no-frills café to place your order. Contrary...

Sudbury: 875 Harrow Road, Sudbury, Middx, HA0 2RH

Imli

Indian tapas is the hook here, but Imli is no passing fad. Cut-price brethren of the classy Tamarind, this vibrant restaurant has culinary zip aplenty. Deep orange and...

Soho: 167-169 Wardour Street, W1F 8WR

Masala Zone

Soho: 9 Marshall Street, W1F 7ER

Moti Mahal

The London branch of Delhi’s long-standing Moti Mahal chain sighs with restrained elegance. Its interior is furnished in muted colours, with dimmed lighting and...

Covent Garden: 45 Great Queen Street, WC2B 5AA

New Asian Tandoori Centre (Roxy)

This Southall institution has been a family-run business for more than 30 years. Over time it has expanded from takeaway joint to an expansive ‘tandoori centre’....

Southall: 114-118 The Green, Southall, Middx, UB2 4BQ

Sagar

One of the few restaurants in London to serve Udupi vegetarian dishes from Karnataka, Sagar now has three branches stretching from the West End to Twickenham. This...

Hammersmith: 157 King Street, W6 9JT

Veeraswamy

London’s oldest Indian restaurant (established 1926) has been modernised twice since being taken over in 1997 by the Masala World group. You might not realise this...

Mayfair: Mezzanine, Victory House, 99-101 Regent Street, W1B 4RS

Apollo Banana Leaf

The stretch between Tooting and Colliers Wood has a few low-rent Tamil caffs, but Apollo Banana Leaf makes that little extra effort and succeeds in being a proper...

Tooting: 190 Tooting High Street, SW17 0SF

Benares

A magnet for moneyed media moguls and wealthy tourists, Benares is buoyed by celebrity chef Atul Kochhar’s TV appearances. It’s a stylish set-up – a flight of...

Mayfair: 12A Berkeley Square House, Berkeley Square, W1J 6BS

Indian YMCA

No-frills, home-style Indian food in Fitzrovia

Fitzrovia: 41 Fitzroy Square, W1T 6AQ

Madhu's

Gleaming glass panels, glossy black tiles and crisp table linen set the scene for upmarket dining at Southall’s smartest restaurant. Although the dishes are mainly...

Southall: 39 South Road, Southall, Middx, UB1 1SW

Mango & Silk

Udit Sarkhel, long a major influence on Indian food in London, closed his own Earlsfield restaurant in 2007, but he’s now head chef here. A beige and white colour...

Barnes: 199 Upper Richmond Road West, SW14 8QT

Masala Zone

Earl's Court: 147 Earl's Court Road, SW5 9RQ

Masala Zone

Islington: 80 Upper Street, N1 0NU

Masala Zone

Covent Garden: 48 Floral Street, WC2E 9DA

Masala Zone

This recent addition to the Masala Zone chain is especially popular with hip youngsters who come for the buzzy vibe, reasonable prices and decent pan-Indian and...

Camden: 25 Parkway, NW1 7PG

Ram's

This small café, simply furnished with wipe-clean tables and framed images of Hindu deities, champions the best of Gujarati vegetarian cooking. It duly attracts a...

Harrow: 203 Kenton Road, Harrow, Middx, HA3 0HD

Rasa

This, the original branch of the Rasa chain, caused a stir when it opened in 1997. The vegetarian home cooking of the Nair caste of Kerala had never before been so...

Stoke Newington: 55 Stoke Newington Church Street, N16 0AR

Rasa Mudra

South Indian specialities

Leytonstone: 715 High Road, E11 4RD

Rasa Samudra

Forgive the kitsch interior of this upmarket Keralite seafood restaurant, its pink walls decorated with saris and wooden sculptures. You might also, on occasion, have...

Fitzrovia: 5 Charlotte Street, W1T 1RE

Rasoi Vineet Bhatia

Located within a smart Chelsea townhouse, Vineet Bhatia’s much lauded restaurant sighs with hushed elegance. The chocolate-hued interior is complemented by sweeping...

Chelsea: 10 Lincoln Street, SW3 2TS

Red Fort

The epitome of elegance, the Red Fort has a calming, restrained demeanour. Lighting is low (apart from spotlights on the pristine white tablecloths), artefacts are...

Soho: 77 Dean Street, W1D 3SH

Sakonis

This flagship branch of a vegetarian chain is a no-frills destination popular with local residents. Turnover is fast, service efficient but abrupt, and the food keeps...

Wembley: 129 Ealing Road, Wembley, Middx, HA0 4BP

Tamarind

Alfred Prasad has maintained Tamarind in the top rank of Indian restaurants since taking over the cheffing from Atul Kochhar in 2002. Behind an unassuming frontage,...

Mayfair: 20-22 Queen Street, W1J 5PR

Tayyabs

The Tayyab family came from the Punjab in Pakistani in 1972, and set up their first daytime café, simply called ‘Tayyab Kebab House’, at 89 Fieldgate Street, on...

Whitechapel: 83 Fieldgate Street, E1 1JU

Trishna London

Mumbai seafood in Marylebone

Marylebone: 15-17 Blandford Street, W1U 3DG

Amitas

This neat, spacious vegetarian eaterie, with glossy white marble floors, has a counter selling Gujarati snacks, savouries and sweets to one side, and a restaurant to...

Upton Park: 124 Green Street, E7 8JQ