Indian Restaurants in City
1. The Cinnamon Club
Indian restaurant in Westminster
Old Westminster Library, Great Smith St - SW1
“Fantastic food in a fabulous building – what more could you ask for?” So say fans of Vivek Singh’s “impressive” HQ “in the beautiful setting of Westminster’s former public library”, which remains the most-mentioned non-European restaurant in our annual diners’ poll. The “progressive” cuisine is “perfectly spiced and brings together the best of Indian and European cooking” with “exquisite” results. The “lovely light, spacious and glamorous” setting “lends real class to the occasion”, but “it isn’t stuffy, and staff are very welcoming”. “It’s just a shame so many politicians eat here too!” Top Tip – “the lunch menu offers exceptional value for money”.
2. Cilantro Putney
Indian restaurant in Wandsworth
244 Upper Richmond Road - SW15
‘Fresh, Tasty, Healthy’ is the mantra at this November 2022 newcomer on the site of Ma Goa (RIP), which aims for a “modern” variant of Indian cuisine. The first UK outpost of a family-owned group with restaurants in India itself – its “above average” standards make it a worthy successor to its long-established predecessor.
3. PRAVAAS
Indian restaurant in Kensington and Chelsea
3 Glendower Place - SW7
"Pravaas’s culinary concept is to provide a journey through dishes inspired by Chef Patron Shilpa Dandekar. Her unyielding passion for the culinary arts and her insatiable desire to explore various kitchen styles have fuelled her quest for diverse culinary knowledge, allowi...
4. Cinnamon Bazaar
Indian restaurant in
28 Maiden Lane - WC2E
“From the pricing, you’d be forgiven for expecting a ‘standard’ Indian restaurant”, but Vivek Singh’s popular café is “surprisingly good” to those who’ve not yet discovered it and delivers outstanding value for somewhere in Covent Garden. “The menu is anything but run-of-the-mill, with interesting and creative twists on classics and some wholly new creations”. The worst gripe this year? It can get “too noisy when it’s packed”.
5. Benares
Indian restaurant in Mayfair
12a Berkeley Square House, - W1
“Outstandingly good Indian fine dining, curated by head chef Sameer Taneja, whose forte is a tasting menu with a strong seafood offering” wins strong approval for this “sophisticated” nouvelle Indian, located in a large first-floor space above Berkeley Square, whose “helpful service” offsets the “rather soulless” decor. Top Tip – “their bottomless thali lunchtime meal deal is amazing value for a Michelin-starred restaurant. Not to be missed!!”
6. Copper Chimney
Indian restaurant in Shepherd's Bush
Southern Terrace, Westfield London, Ariel Way - W12
Near the main entrance to Westfield, this Indian venue will celebrate its fifth year in 2024, but is easily lost amongst the glossy anonymity of the surrounding units. It’s the London outpost of a 45-year-old chain that’s 15-strong in India itself. Although it doesn’t inspire a huge volume of feedback, reports are consistently upbeat: “good value, freshly cooked dishes, lovely ambience”.
7. Babur
Indian restaurant in Forest Hill
119 Brockley Rise - SE23
To its many fans, this “small place” off the gastronomic track in Honor Oak Park “remains the best Indian in South London”, and its “engaging staff” delivering “very different food with panache and skill”, “after almost 40 years”. “Unless you’re local, it’s not entirely easy to get to, but it’s well worthy of a journey.”
8. Rangrez
Indian restaurant in
32 Fulham Palace Road - W6
2023 Review: Limited but good all-round feedback on this family-run Punjabi stalwart, which has long been a feature of the restaurant strip just to the south of Hammersmith’s Eventim Apollo (and which sometimes only serves a restricted menu in the early evening during events there). It also has a branch in Ealing (not listed).
9. Pure Indian Cooking
Indian restaurant in Fulham
67 Fulham High Street - SW6
There’s “always something new and original to tempt you” at this understated and “very good value” contemporary Indian on Fulham High Street near Putney Bridge. Chef-owner Shilpa Dandekar (who trained with both India’s Taj Group and Raymond Blanc) “proves you can give a nod to tradition while being a little more modern, and not have to pay Mayfair prices to get it”. Husband Faheem Vanoo ensures the front of house “always provides courteous service”. Top Menu Tip – “the best black dhal”.
10. Light of India
Indian restaurant in Kensington and Chelsea
67/69 Gloucester Road - SW7
2022 Review: Worth knowing about near Gloucester Road tube – this large hotel dining room has been serving Indian cuisine since 1984. Too few reports for a rating, but promising feedback and worth bearing in mind if you are in the vicinity.
11. Cinnamon Kitchen
Indian restaurant in City
9 Devonshire Sq - EC2
“Attractive Indians with a good range of different dishes” – Vivek Singh’s dynamic duo of affordable spin-offs from his celebrated Cinnamon Club inspire practically nothing but high praise. The long-established City outlet set inside a rather 1980s atrium development is “a solid option around Liverpool Street” (although at times “the cavernous interior can feel a bit odd and echoey”); the newer Battersea branch occupies a railway arch near the power station and feels “different” (in a good way).
12. Brigadiers
Indian restaurant in City
Bloomberg Arcade, Queen Victoria Street - EC2R
“Standards remain high” at JKS Restaurants’ “Anglo-Indian sporting and military-themed eaterie” in the Bloomberg Arcade – “a go-to lunching spot (albeit that City lunching is significantly less prevalent than in days gone by)”. The “amazing and different dishes” are “full of flavour and spices”. Top Menu Tips – “the tandoori meats in particular are excellent” and “dum beef shin and bone marrow biryani is a must try!”
13. Mint Leaf Lounge
Indian restaurant in City
Angel Court, Lothbury - EC2
2022 Review: Striking design and high-quality cuisine make it worth knowing about this nouvelle Indian cocktail lounge and restaurant, hidden away behind the Bank of England.
14. temper City
BBQ restaurant in City
Angel Court - EC2R
An “open-plan kitchen” complete with fire pit is the theme unifying Neil Rankin’s four-strong BBQ-group, which takes all its supplies of beef, pork, lamb and chicken from Yorkshire farmer Charles Ashbridge. Despite some favourable steak suppers being reported, ratings took a further dive in our latest poll, continuing last year’s themes of “chaotic” service and a feeling that the overall experience can “promise more than it delivers”. Lack of value, in particular, inspires repeated gripes (“plates were minuscule at ridiculous prices…”; “we joked that you needed a microscope to find the portions…”)
15. Est India
Indian restaurant in London Bridge
73-75 Union Street, Flat Iron Square - SE1
2021 Review: If the food market in Flat Iron Square doesn’t take your fancy, remember this consistently good modern basement Indian, serving a wide mix of options, including a number of south Indian dishes like dosas; good with families too.
16. Baba G's
Indian restaurant in Southwark
Vinegar Yard, 72-82 St Thomas Street - SE1
2021 Review: “Everything here is great, but I totally loved the paneer burger” – an alternative to the best-selling bhangra burger on the menu of these popular pop-ups, in POP Brixton and now also Vinegar Yard, SE1. After over ten years in the game, the business shifted up a gear in May 2019 with the opening (flush with £300k of investment having won BBC2’s ‘My Million Pound Menu’) of the new forever-home listed here: a 50-seater in Camden Town’s Stables Market.
17. Baluchi, Lalit Hotel London
Indian restaurant in Bermondsey
181 Tooley St - SE1
“Hints of the Raj” at the Lalit Hotel Group’s flagship property in the UK (the group has sites across India), occupying “the old hall of a former grammar school” near City Hall (a big property, designed by the architect of the Old Bailey). Reports are not huge in number, but cite “attentive service” and “refined dishes from across the subcontinent”.
18. Gunpowder
Indian restaurant in City
11 Whites Row - E1
“Innovative small plates pack a flavour punch” (“the lamb chops are some of the most glorious things ever”) at this “buzzy if rather cramped” Indian street-food trio, with operations near Tower Bridge, and in Spitalfields and Soho. Top Tip – “good, if limited, pre-theatre menu. Virtually no choice but, with tasty and large portions costing £22 for two courses or £25 for three, excellent value”.
19. Gunpowder
Indian restaurant in Southwark
One Tower Bridge, 4 Crown Square - SE1
“Innovative small plates pack a flavour punch” (“the lamb chops are some of the most glorious things ever”) at this “buzzy if rather cramped” Indian street-food trio, with operations near Tower Bridge, and in Spitalfields and Soho. Top Tip – “good, if limited, pre-theatre menu. Virtually no choice but, with tasty and large portions costing £22 for two courses or £25 for three, excellent value”.
20. The Halal Restaurant
Indian restaurant in Aldgate
2 St Mark Street - E1
2022 Review: East London’s oldest Indian (established 1939 in Whitechapel) briefly found fame in late August 2020, when it was reviewed by Marina O’Loughlin for The Sunday Times. Run by four generations of the same family – and with somewhat antediluvian decor – it’s not the place to uncover the latest in food fads; or as Marina eloquently put it: “it tastes like the past, deliciously”. Reports please!
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