Greenhithe, Indian Restaurant Guide

A “wonderful restaurant, run by great people for nearly 30 years!” – Cyrus & Pervin Todiwala retain a mega-loyal fan club, who have followed them from their old site in E1 to this new distant unit on the Royal Docks (which they moved to in 2022). The draw is “just the most creative food” – “outstanding” cooking that’s “not Indian as you know it” but “with a Portuguese influence” – all delivered by “the nicest team” in a setting with views over the water. Even those who feel it’s “not a great location, being a long way out of town” say “oh the food! it’s well worth the journey!” Top Menu Tip – “be adventurous, the chutneys are unbelievable, the mains mouthwatering. You must try the Roast Chicken Cafreal Zambeziana and the beetroot and coconut samosa”.

“The food never disappoints” at this better-than-standard Nepalese and Indian specialist on the edge of Blackheath Common. Notwithstanding the choices of artworks and wall hangings, the contemporary interior avoids the classic curry house look.

2024 Review: This suburban subcontinental offers an unusual take on Indian street food, having been set up by three brothers keen to pay homage to their grandmother’s cooking, inflected by her travels in Africa and Saudi Arabia; its “authentic” recipes attract nothing but positive reports.

“Excellent, tasty Nepalese and Indian cuisine” is to be found at this outfit with “a good chef in the kitchen” that is “new to Blackheath”, having enjoyed a good run at former premises in Lewisham. There’s also a branch in Hither Green.

“You’ll almost always find a queue of people waiting for a table and a palpable energy of excitement in the room” when you visit these “vibrant” and “exotic”-feeling Indian favourites, which “whisk you to Bombay and back”. Cousins Shamil & Kavi Thakrar started in Covent Garden in 2010 and their growing group has become the most commented-on business in our annual diners’ poll, complete with seven London branches, three outside town; their ‘Permit Rooms’ spinoff brand, and turnover of over £100m. The interior design, a homage to Mumbai’s Irani cafés, absolutely slaps – “wherever you sit it’s quirky” and even though the busy scene can become “a bit of a zoo”, it’s all so upbeat that “you leave feeling good about your meal and yourself!”. Dishes are “bursting with flavour” and served by “efficient” waiting staff “who know their stuff”. The menu is “deliciously different”, although so many Londoners have now sampled it that once-arcane items like the “legendary black dahl (so rich and filling!)” are now part of London’s culinary canon. And what better way to start a new day than with an “unbeatable bacon and egg naan roll” – a high watermark of dining out invention of the last 50 years that’s core to their “game-changing breakfasts” (“you will never want an English bacon roll again”!).

“Interesting and unusual Indian food” – “not heavy curries at all, but a less familiar range of dishes, with very well-judged spicing and a huge range of delicate flavours” – again inspires rave reports for this superb Brit-run chain (founded by Will Bowlby & Rik Campbell), which also has a brilliant service ethos: “cheerful and obliging throughout and very prompt”. In 2025, they opened their latest 80-cover outpost in Shoreditch, which also introduced a debut breakfast menu alongside an all-day 50-cover Kafé and bar concept (serving street-food snacks). And coming soon – a launch in Covent Garden’s Neal’s Yard is planned. Top Menu Tips – “date and pistachio kuicha is particularly good; excellently light panipuri with tomato rasam”.

Nisha Katona’s Liverpool-based operation has two branches in London (Charlotte Street and Westfield Stratford) offering her “very tasty” Indian street food – “with the occasional hint of raw spice”. The Lancashire-born former barrister launched the business in 2014 and now has 28 outlets around the country, whose “enjoyable, authentic food” is “really great for a chain”.