Meriden, Indian Restaurant Guide

An all-you-can-eat buffet – with options at breakfast, lunch and dinner – is a longstanding feature of this no-frills veggie veteran: a family business that started out as a market stall in 1984. It also offers an à la carte menu, which includes a significant Indo-Chinese section. No alcohol, so knock yourself out on the array of milkshakes and lassis. (It also has offshoots in Hatch End and Kingsbury).

The “absolutely delicious” South Indian vegan and vegetarian food at this quintet of low-key cafés – stretching from Harrow to Covent Garden – is “good enough to keep carnivores quiet”: in particular “the dosas, which are just what you want from a dosa: crispy, tender, flavourful”. The formula is “simple but it works, even if the menu is always the same”; and it helps that the experience comes at “very reasonable prices”.

2022 Review: An unusual theme – it’s modelled after the Indian community’s members’ clubs in Kenya – sets the tone at this wood-panelled stalwart, which celebrated its thirtieth birthday in 2021. The culinary offering (ranging from grills to sharing plates and curries) continues to gain highly positive marks, though commentary this year was scant.

2021 Review: Rohit Ghai not only opened Chelsea’s Kutir this year, but this February 2019 yearling occupying three units of the Wembley Boxpark (not the loveliest of locations, in the shadow of Wembley Stadium). As yet it’s inspired little survey feedback, but if you’re a fan of Indian cooking, its wide selection of dishes are said by some social media aficionados to be worth a try.

Malik Ahmed’s traditional but “exceptional” curry house has achieved consistently high ratings for more than 20 years. Part of a trio with siblings in Cookham and Marlow, it’s run hands-on by a family with 150 years in the business – the restaurant Malik’s great-great-grandfather founded in what is now Bangladesh is still going strong!

An all-you-can-eat buffet – with options at breakfast, lunch and dinner – is a longstanding feature of this no-frills veggie veteran: a family business that started out as a market stall in 1984. It also offers an à la carte menu, which includes a significant Indo-Chinese section. No alcohol, so knock yourself out on the array of milkshakes and lassis. (It also has offshoots in Hatch End and Kingsbury).

“A great local Indian, with tapas-style Indian dishes full of fresh, zingy flavours” – this family-run operation in Childs Hill is “definitely not your traditional curry house” and has proved a “really welcome addition to North London”.

2023 Review: This cute family-run Muswell Hill curry house with a small terrace for outdoor dining prides itself on its Mughal-inspired north Indian cuisine, which goes down well with a local clientele.

“You go for the food not the location” to this family-run Indian café, rated by locals as one of the best options for a curry in the purlieus of East Finchley.

This West London pair of Indian street-food canteens, in Ealing and Hammersmith, elicits little in the way of commentary this year but wins its usual solid ratings for food and service.

This “well-established” Kilburn curry house – purportedly the first to offer South Indian cuisine in the UK – celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. Little has changed since it opened, with its “plain good cooking”, “authentic recipes” including dishes not found elsewhere and “lovely vegetarian meals” pleasing happy locals as well as a string of celeb visitors ranging from the late Michael Winner to Diana Ross, Harrison Ford and the Indian cricket team.

“Consistently wonderful food and service” ensure that a loyal Hampstead crowd keeps coming back to this 55-year-old curry house, now run by the founder’s son. It’s “full of staff from the local hospital”, who clearly know a good thing when they see it.

This West London pair of Indian street-food canteens, in Ealing and Hammersmith, elicits little in the way of commentary this year but wins its usual solid ratings for food and service.

Nobody is entirely happy about the change of style at this “wonderful curry house” of more than three decades’ standing in Turnpike Lane, following a recent “facelift”, although “if that’s what they had to do to survive the pandemic, then fair enough I suppose – but we really miss the old place”. Some feel it’s now “essentially a large takeaway counter with the restaurant area tucked behind under glaringly bright lights”, while more positive types feel that overall it’s “still recommended for a quick casual eating experience, but not for a relaxed evening out as in the past”.

2022 Review: Adding Indian spicing to pasta and crispy Italian pizza explains the name of Devinder Singh’s Tufnell Park venue, which opened in Spring 2020. Early bird feedback suggests it's a concept that ‘has legs’.

“Clever, subtly infused curries a wonderful step up from your local Indian” (“the flavours of every option are incredible with each dish spiced to perfection”) have catapulted this project by university friends Will Bowlby and Rik Campbell from a Brixton pop-up to three thriving tapas-style restaurants, including a Soho flagship with cocktail bar, in less than 10 years.

2022 Review: After winning a mentorship in a pop-up competition at Westfield White City Shopping Centre in 2018, Mehak Kansal brought this bricks-and-mortar operation to Mayfair in October 2020. ‘Bindas’ – Punjabi for without limitations and inhibitions – here translates into eclectic decor and a varied selection of street food. No feedback as yet, but they must be doing something right, as a second site is on the cards.