18 restaurants open right now
Indian restaurant · Northwood
Indian restaurant · Childs Hill / West Hampstead border
Indian restaurant · Downham / Bromley
Indian restaurant · Surbiton
Indian restaurant · Stanmore
Indian restaurant · Barbican
Indian restaurant · Marylebone / West End
Indian restaurant · Covent Garden / West End
Indian restaurant · Earl's Court / South Kensington
Indian restaurant · Isleworth
Indian restaurant · Southall
Indian restaurant · Northwood
Indian cuisine as most Londoners encounter it is really a collection of distinct regional food cultures rather than one uniform style. Punjab and the north lean on tandoori meats, wheat breads and rich, dairy-based curries, while the south favours rice, lentils, coconut and mustard oil, and the coastal states of Kerala, Goa and West Bengal have their own strong seafood and fish traditions built around local catch. A restaurant's specific regional focus, more than the general Indian restaurant label, shapes what actually turns up on the plate.
Indian food in London draws on centuries of regional cooking traditions, and even a fairly standard curry house menu usually mixes dishes from several different states. Northern-influenced dishes like butter chicken, biryani and naan sit alongside southern staples such as dosa, sambar and idli on many menus, while some restaurants specialise more narrowly in one regional style. Vegetarian cooking is also unusually well developed compared with most other cuisines, reflecting long-standing dietary traditions across much of India.
Of the 18 indian restaurants we list, the highest concentration is in Westminster (5), Hillingdon (3), Kensington and Chelsea (3), Camden (2), Ealing (2).
Expect a mix of curries, tandoori grills, rice dishes and breads such as naan, roti and paratha, with spice levels that vary a lot by dish and by kitchen rather than following one fixed scale. Thalis, a set selection of smaller dishes served together, are a good way to try several things at once, and most menus clearly separate vegetarian and non-vegetarian sections given how central vegetarian cooking is to Indian food generally.
Seafood is a genuine part of Indian cooking in coastal regions rather than a rare addition, with Kerala's fish curries, Goan prawn dishes and Bengali specialities like fish in mustard sauce all reflecting long fishing traditions. A restaurant leaning toward one of these coastal regional styles is far more likely to have a strong seafood section than a north Indian-focused menu built mainly around meat and dairy.
Not necessarily. Spice level depends on the specific dish and region rather than being uniform, and most restaurants will adjust heat on request, so it's worth asking rather than assuming every curry is fiery.
A curry house typically sticks to a shorter, familiar British-Indian menu built around a handful of well-known curries, while a broader Indian restaurant may cover multiple regional styles, including dosas, thalis or coastal seafood dishes not always found on a standard curry house menu.
We currently list 18 indian restaurants, with the most in Westminster (5).
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