Written on Tuesday, August 26, 2008 by Prasanna Gopalakrishnan
Best Indian Restaurants in Melbourne

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OK, I reckon there is a pressing need for this post! If there is a downside to the great variety of restaurants Melbourne offers, it is finding the great ones among the rest. This, is an attempt at making this a tad bit easier. Being a major foodie, I know I have wanted a list like this many a times !

My observation with Indian restaurants in Melbourne generally is that, there are very few who have got the whole package right. Many very well-located restaurants with great service does not seem to focus enough on the quality of the food itself, others that have a great menu often have mediocre service and so on.

1. Madras Banyan Tree

- Hampton East
This one is my personal favorite and probably the only south Indian restaurant I can think of that makes this list. Indian food is so much more than just curries and naan breads and this restaurant is a great place to start if you have never tried south Indian. Nice ambience and good service. Highly recommended.
www.madrasbanyantree.com (03) 9555 7170

2. Bala Da Dhaba

- Glen Iris, Elsternwick
Extremely professional, helpful staff and great food. They have 2 restaurants and the good thing is the quality of the food and service remains the same in both the places.
(03) 9822 5069

3. Gujju's Cafe and Chaat House - Malvern East

This is another sub-niche of Indian restaurants from the state of Gujarat. For first-timers I would recommend the all you can eat banquet meal, so you get to try a variety of dishes. The staff are some of the most helpful, which makes the who dining experience very pleasant. Vegetarian.
Address and business hours (03) 9571 1188


4. Cinnamon Club

- Cheltenham
Cinnamon Club is all ambience. With live music and dancing over the weekend, the atmosphere is unlike any Indian restaurant. The buffet on fridays and saturdays is highly recommended.
(03) 9584 4774

5. Nirankar - Melbourne

One of the classier of the Indian restaurants. Great city location, excellent ambience and all round great food, makes it one of my favorites.
www.nirankar.com.au (03) 9642 1995

6. Red Pepper - Melbourne
The only reason this restaurant is here is because, it has one of the best Indian food in Melbourne. The service on the other hand is below par, and even though the location is great, the small space leaves a lot to be desired. Good value for money.
www.redpepperindianrestaurant.com (03) 9654 5714

7. Namaskar India - Malvern, Melbourne (Lygon St)

Another restaurant which is great value for money. The food is pretty good, has a lot of variety, and the staff helpful. Make your bookings early, because this restaurant is virtually always full! In my experience, I have noticed that the food at the Malvern restaurant is much better. This is from some time back, and stands to be verified.
www.namaskarindia.com.au (03) 9500 9558

There, thats my list. The number one reason any of these restaurants is in the list is because of the quality of its food, everything else takes second place. The list is by no means comprehensive, feel free to leave a note if you have tried one of the restaurants.
What are your favorite Indian restaurants ?

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10 Responses to "Best Indian Restaurants in Melbourne"

Anonymous

Nice to see a fellow Aussie, even if you are a Melbournite ;). That is a pretty good list of restaurants and I will have to keep them in mind next time my wife drags me down to Melbourne.

I have gone Indian for awhile, but the last one I went to that I enjoyed was Tandoori Temptations in Salisbury. It's only a little place but the food was good. At least it was when I went there.

Prasanna Gopalakrishnan says
August 30, 2008 at 9:34 PM

Hi Sire.. Thanks for visiting and the comment.. will try the one you have suggested.. I like to try out new restaurants all the time anyway..

By the way, the place you live is.. adelaide.. is it ?? Is that a real place or fictitious for blogging purposes.. Never heard of it !! ;)

Thanks again buddy

Anonymous

LOL Nope, it's for real. I actually blog about it on another blog.

App says
September 6, 2008 at 5:14 PM

I am so jealous!

I live in an area of the US that even though we have a pretty large Indian population around here, there aren't that many Indian restaurants, oddly enough.

There is only one that I know of, and everything is greasy and has goat in it. So greasy that you can feel your arteries clogging just by looking at it. They offer nothing healthy or vegetarian.

Gujju's Cafe and Chaat House sounds like my kind of place. I wish there was something like that here.

Prasanna Gopalakrishnan says
September 8, 2008 at 12:02 AM

Oh no.. Thats terrible.

Actually I am a vegetarian myself. Usually Indian restaurants tend to have more options for vegetarians than many other cuisines.

All the restaurants I have suggested have excellent vegetarian options, and I know from my mates that the meat options are really good too !!

Hope you have good options in other cuisines ??

App says
September 9, 2008 at 4:55 PM

There are quite a few options for vegetarians around here, just not Indian food.

If you want Chinese, Japanese, Tai, Mexican, Italian, standard American faire served up vegetarian style, etc... you got it. But not Indian food.

My daughter is a vegetarian, so is my step-mother, and I don't eat meat that often, and we have no problems finding places that serve food we are willing to eat.

Even the local steak houses cater to vegetarians by offering meatless dinners and great all you can eat salad bars that often surpass the quality of the dinners they serve. And they will allow you to just have the salad bar without buying a dinner (not for free, of course).

Chetana Suvarna Ganatra says
July 20, 2009 at 4:42 PM

Hey thr, u hv indeed a great list of eating houses.
Ditto like u, i also like to pop around different indian restaurants looking for incredible & real indian fare. Wud advise u to try Bombay by Nite in Caufeild, Milan @ Kew & a new joint called Nawabs Palace in Carnegie.... bet u will love every bit of it.
Cheers.

Prasanna Gopalakrishnan says
July 23, 2009 at 10:21 PM

Hey Chetana,
I have heard nice things about Bombay by night and Milan. Should make some bookings soon..

I did try Nawab's palace, not sure if it was one off, but they made bad Dum biriyani. Should probably give one more try...

Thanks for popping in..

Anonymous

Hey Guys
Try Le Taj near Vic market ,its my local and it rocks. they do really good indian food........just thought of leaving comments for Indians who live near city.
cheers
Josh

Vikram says
November 24, 2009 at 1:07 PM

Hi Prasanna,
Nice to see some blog on this. Well, i have been to most of these restaurants after reading this blog( as i have been reading it for a while) but never commented. Well, regarding the other comments for non-Indian vegetarian food options do you guys know about all the food acids that go in Chinese food or the cheeses( animal rennet) that goes in the food. Check this

http://www.mbm.net.au/health/296-385.htm

Me being a vege made me aware of all this food acids and colours that you can never imagine of. Look at the back of your fav noddles or a sauce and compare with the info provided in the above link. I was shocked to see beef in a chewing gum !!.

Coming to the best restaurant in Melbourne I was a big fan of kake da dhabba and aangan, but over the years they have deteriorated their quality and quantity. From past few months I have been going to this new Indian restaurant called Tandoori Flames , in South Kingville( just off the west gate bridge), the food is absolutely delicious and there is heaps of room and entertainment. I don't mind travelling 43 k to have their food. I will say a must try. Their website is

www.tandooriflames.com.au

The owner claims that their chefs are from the five stars hotels in India with 20 years plus experience. But must admit the food is far best Indian food in the Melbourne.

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