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Our favourite Indian restaurants across Britain
Published 07 November 2023

Indian food in Britain is no longer low-cost, one-flavour-fits-all, post-pub curry fare. Today, British Indian restaurants reflect an exciting, nuanced cuisine, inflected with the scope of flavours of the sub-continent, deserving of the same respect as the finest classical cookery. Here are 29 of our favourite spots across Britain, from budget-friendly cafés to decadent fine-dining restaurants.

29 restaurants

Feature

A grand and glittering Indian brasserie

On the evening of November 17th, 1873, two decades before Eros pitched up, Piccadilly Circus welcomed a glittering newcomer into its midst. Designed by architect Thomas Verity, who had a hand in both the South Kensington Museum (now the V&A) and the Royal Albert Hall, The Criterion was an ornate, five-storey building with the Marble Hall and a grand, American-style Long Bar on the ground floor, and a theatre in its basement; not to be upstaged, the floors above featured several dining rooms and a ballroom.

Feature

A lifetime of achievement: How Camellia Panjabi changed the face of Indian dining in Britain

Camellia Panjabi has always been an agent of change. Along with her sister and brother-in-law, she is responsible for igniting a shift in the perception of Indian food in the UK from low-cost, one-flavour-fits-all, post-pub curry to an exciting, nuanced cuisine, inflected with the scope of flavours of the sub-continent, and deserving of the same respect as the finest classical cookery. This year’s Lifetime Achievement recipient in CODE Hospitality’s annual Women of the Year Awards, tells Tessa Allingham about a drive to innovate that has defined a game-changing career.