Esher, Indian Restaurant Guide

“Love having such a unique Indian locally” – this “culinary stalwart of South East London is still going strong after nearly 40 years”. “Staff welcome you like an old friend” and chef Jiwan Lal’s cuisine is “at least as good as that of the West End’s fine dining establishments”, in the view of many locals; and “magnificent value for this level of cooking”. Top Tip – “good value buffet on the weekends”.

“Really classy Indian food with a modern twist” from head chef Sameer Taneja is “professionally served” at this Mayfair luminary, which remains near the “top of the pile” as one of the UK’s best known and most respected ‘nouvelle Indians’. It occupies a “large” first-floor space on Berkeley Square, and the setting gives a very stylish and sophisticated impression, well-suited to a special occasion. Top Tip – “superb tasting menu”.

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.

“Focusing on the food alone, this is right up there with the best” agree fans of chef-patronne Shilpa Dandekar’s low-key Indian seven-year-old – on the trafficky segment of Fulham High Street leading up to Putney Bridge. It’s “really worth a visit” to sample her “unusual but delicious” cooking. Shilpa’s training combined Indian and European culinary traditions (Taj Group and Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons). Her husband and co-founder, Faheem Vanoo, runs the front of house.

“A tasty offshoot of the great Cinnamon Club” – Vivek Singh’s “prettily decorated” cafés (“resembling a tropical garden centre cafe!”) offer a “good-value”, “Indian-with-a-twist” menu: “hot curry staples” plus options “reminiscent of street food”. Practically all comments refer to the original – “a go-to in Covent Garden” for its very many fans – but he also opened in Richmond this year, taking over the former Carluccio’s venue diagonally opposite the station. One caution in reports – it looks time to pep up the decor in WC2 – it risks looking a bit “shabby”.

“In the memorable setting of Westminster Library” – “still with book-lined walls” – “few restaurants can beat the ambience of this old room” (one of the Top-40 most commented-on venues in our annual diners’ poll). Opened in 2001, it can genuinely claim to have helped ‘redefine expectations of Indian cooking’ in the UK, thanks to Vivek Singh’s “always-innovative cuisine using seasonal ingredients” (“calling it an Indian restaurant conjures up a misleading picture: this is fine cooking characterised by first-class ingredients and restrained spicing so that delicate flavours can still be enjoyed”). Staff are typically “courteously graceful” (though occasionally “unresponsive” this year) and “the unusual space makes for an atmosphere for calm enjoyment”. “It is worth mentioning the wine list, which includes some fascinating Indian wines that are well worth investigating”.

Chef-owner Shilpa Dandekar (ex-Quilon and Raymond Blanc) opened this contemporary Indian close to South Ken tube station in early 2024 with 30 covers (plus a 20-seater private dining room in the basement). It‘s her first follow-up to the highly rated Pure Indian Cooking in Fulham High Street – reports please!

“Authentic cooking from the open kitchen” elevates this Indian venue, easily missed amidst the anonymous units around Westfield Shepherd Bush’s Southern Terrace. It’s the London representative of a chain founded in 1972 in Bombay by JK Kapur (with 15 locations in India) and specialises in North Indian cuisine.

“A clear cut above your standard Curry House (without attempting anything Michelin-chasing)” – this first UK outpost of a family-owned Indian group occupies the simple Putney premises that were, for years, Ma Goa (RIP). It aims for a “delicious, healthy take on Indian cuisine”. Everyone agrees the food is yummy. But while some reports say “their claims to be ‘healthy’ appear to play out with lovely dishes lacking an oily, ghee-laden feel to them”; others “totally don’t understand its billing – it all tasted good-to-very good, but was not remotely advisable for my waistline or blood pressure!”