Strand, Indian Restaurant Guide

“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”!).

This “historic Indian” in Covent Garden provides “traditional curry of the highest quality” with “prompt and friendly service”. The menu is built around “hearty” Punjabi food (lamb, chicken, naan breads), and some of the recipes have hardly changed since its founding in 1946 – although the Maan family’s own Butter Chicken had to wait eight years for rationing to end. Top Menu Tip – “the bullet naan (with fresh chilli and garlic) is a total must-have”.

If you’re looking for a “good pitstop in the West End”, this trio (also with an offshoot in Hammersmith) offers “tasty vegan and veggie Indian food” at “very reasonable prices” – nothing fancy, but “good basic cooking” of “South Indian staples”. Pickier diners can feel that some sauces are “rather watery”, or that the filling food can come “with no stand-out flavours”. Practically all agree, however, that “a great Masala Dosa and beer makes a very affordable meal in Central London”. Top Tip – “good choice to take a crowd: they’re not fazed by large tables”.

“Something a bit different when it comes to Indian food” – this wood-panelled chop-house off Trafalgar Square specialises in “tender meat from the tandoor oven (no wet curry sauces!), and at reasonable prices for central London”. The dishes are “packed with flavour” and in “generous portions”. Top Menu Tip – “the crispy lamb chops are a must”.

2023 Review: “Good scruffy fun with a side order of nostalgia” is to be had at this “hidden gem” in the Strand (a favourite with staff at the Indian High Commission opposite). “An almost anonymous doorway leads you up some stairs” where you “step back in time, not to a cheesy incarnation of the British Raj, but to the early days of independence”. Founded in 1951 (Prime Minister Nehru was among the founding members), the ‘club’ is open to the public and serves food that can be (but is not invariably) “excellent” at a “great price”, in an authentically “slightly chaotic atmosphere”. It’s been under siege for the past five years from a landlord itching to redevelop, but it’s “an institution that deserves to survive, and an oasis of good value in central London”. Top Tip – it’s unlicensed – “pause for a drink in the bar downstairs before or after eating” or carry your pint to the table.

2024 Review: In the heart of Theatreland, this Indian street-food operation is focused on dishes served with ‘hankies’ – hand-spun roti folded around the dish – and still receives good marks (if from a limited number of reports). There used to be offshoots in Marble Arch and Paddington, but both have closed over the last couple of years.

“A favourite curry house for many years” – this stalwart Soho venue opened in 1988 and is a well-preserved time capsule of what the curry experience looked like when nobody dreamt of an Indian restaurant ever winning a Michelin star. “Everything is always high-quality and really tasty and the price is super-competitive for the area; and the staff are lovely too”.

“Inventive and fancy Indian food a fair few notches above your standard curry house” is found at this Soho spinoff from the smart Mayfair namesake; (“have eaten here a handful of times this year and the dishes each time have been good”).

“Cheap and very, very cheerful!”, vegan Indian canteen just off Oxford Street, opened in 1979 by the Hare Krishna temple next door and serving ‘karma-free’ meals – which means no onions, garlic or mushrooms, and no alcohol. The value is pretty well unbeatable, with a 5-item plate at £7.95 or a 12-item thali extravaganza for £15.95. (“As a confirmed carnivore, I love this place as a change!!”).

The “large, two-storey” outpost of a brand from India’s Massive Restaurants group on Haymarket is worth knowing about if you’re fighting hunger in the heart of the West End; and offers “a good selection of food including a great variety of small plates” at a quality level that can surprise for such a touristy location. Wallet-friendly lunch and pre-theatre set meals add to its appeal.

“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”.

The “excellent”, “very flavourful” dishes at this duo in Soho and Covent Garden provide an “interesting and novel” answer to the question: “what is Indian food?” – showcasing, as they do, the distinctive Indo-Chinese cuisine developed by Hakka Chinese immigrants in Kolkata.

“A gorgeous, sumptuous room with food to match” – classic Punjabi dishes with a Kenyan twist are a slightly offbeat discovery at this Piccadilly hotel restaurant from the Anand dynasty, founded almost a century ago in Nairobi. “The setting is delightful, all ornate with chandeliers but it doesn’t feel too swanky or over the top”. And appropriately for the West End hotel setting, they offer an afternoon ‘High Chai’ where tandoori salmon sandwiches and murgh tikka wraps are followed by very British scones, clotted cream and strawberry preserve. Top Menu Tip – “sea bass is prepared table side for that extra bit of theatre”.

A small, veggie newcomer launched in autumn 2024 just north of Covent Garden, where the kitchen is overseen by Indian-born Priti Prakash, who promises a ‘tantalising journey through the bustling streets of Delhi, Mumbai, and beyond’. In her October 2024 review, The Sunday Times’s Charlotte Ivers gave it the thumbs-up for “Zone 5 food… the kind of cooking you get in outer London, where Indian people… actually live… and the prices have not been turned up”; and with some dishes “a revelation”.

A new casual North Indian deep in the melee of Theatreland which opened in February 2025. Owned by Indian restaurateur Gobind Chona of Covent Garden’s Gura Gura, it offers dishes such as BBQ Butterfly Chicken and is open for breakfast and Sunday lunch.

Harneet Baweja’s 10-year-old Indian street-food outfit “just gets better and better”, with “innovative, authentic and well-spiced sharing plates” and “warm service”. The Spitalfields branch is “the original and best”; while the Soho and Tower Bridge follow-ups also win praise. Top Tip – look out for the ‘India Club’ events: one-off celebrations of a particular city, region or festival.

If you’re looking for a “good pitstop in the West End”, this trio (also with an offshoot in Hammersmith) offers “tasty vegan and veggie Indian food” at “very reasonable prices” – nothing fancy, but “good basic cooking” of “South Indian staples”. Pickier diners can feel that some sauces are “rather watery”, or that the filling food can come “with no stand-out flavours”. Practically all agree, however, that “a great Masala Dosa and beer makes a very affordable meal in Central London”. Top Tip – “good choice to take a crowd: they’re not fazed by large tables”.