Indian cuisine is considered the most aromatic cuisine in the world. Whether you want thick, creamy, red curries, soft naan bread, oily hot pickles, or a cooling lassie, there’s an Indian restaurant primed to sort your spice cravings in Melbourne. There are tropical flavors from the south and the earthy heat from the northern menu. Melbourne has a wide Indian population and is notable for one of the best Indian restaurants in Melbourne.
This city offers world-class style as well as intense variety in their dishes of Indian food. This city has an unreal number of Indian restaurants just like home-made food everyone craves for such as Dal Makhani, Butter Chicken, Chicken Tikka Masala, and a variety of street food items such as samosa, chaat papdi, and famous Indian sweets like Gulab Jamun.
Here are our favorite places to enjoy a rich curry, some street food, or something fired in the tandoor in these amazing restaurants in Melbourne.
Aangan
There are two types of people in Melbourne, those who have heard of Aangan, and those who have not. For the ones who are not aware, Aangan is the 15-year-old, serving multiregional Indian cuisine to the local neighborhood and anyone determined enough to travel for their delicious food. Footscray is usually known as one of Melbourne’s main Vietnamese hubs, but if you keep heading west, you’ll find yourself in Little India.
The Spice Pantry
Restaurants in Melbourne serving northern Indian cuisine are ubiquitous, so a common restaurant on the less crowded part of Commercial Road is unlikely to draw any attention. But that’s the point of a home-cooking gem, it’s what’s on the inside that counts, and inside the Spice Pantry, they are serving a kaleidoscopic range of steaming, vegetable-laden curries out of their small kitchen.
Delhi Streets
Delhi Streets may be named in honor of India’s capital, but it’s menu covers the whole country. South India is represented by the dosas, while Mumbai’s famed pav bhaji also makes an appearance. Fusion dishes join Western and Eastern influences, with the paneer pizza using India’s version of cottage cheese instead of mozzarella, and the chicken burrito swapping wheat tortillas with naan.
Lankan Tucker
It is no surprise that multicultural Melbourne houses one of the largest Sri Lankan diasporas in the world. What is unbelievable is that this hasn’t signified in plenty of places to eat a decent hopper, a bowl-shaped crepe made from fermented rice batter and coconut milk, and the Sri Lankan breakfast of choice. This is all you wish for.
The Rochester Hotel
The Rochester Hotel kitchen shifted gears in mid-2018, reworking on its standard pub menu to one focused on South Indian flavors, with chef Mischa Tropp drawing inspiration from his mother’s home country. Now your pub dinner comes with restaurant-style service where the staff knows everything from Kerala to Kashmir as well.
Horn Please
This is the place when you are craving for tandoori lamb chops, where smoked meat is softened by a seasoned yogurt masala marinade spiked with cumin, paprika, and turmeric. Also, the gosht khada masala that falls apart, the meat soaked with a thick reduction of coriander, cardamom, and garam masala. Fitting to the Indian theme, where Bollywood tunes are broadcasted and birthdays are commemorated, staff pour chai back and forth between the pot and the cup from a height to ensure it’s frothy and aromatic.
Babu Ji
In India, Babu Ji is a term we use for an older male, say your dad or grandfather, and since its introduction on St Kilda’s Grey Street in 2014, the original Babu Ji has earned the self-effacing title. The owner Jessi Singh packed his bags, along with the BabuJi concept, and took it to New York and Southern California. Horn Please continued to amaze people, serving their modern take on Indian cuisine.
Tonka
At Tonka chef Adam D’Sylva and partners have definitively proven that Indian food was ready for its fine dining close-up. Tonka remains in a league of its own impressing people, serving a range of curries, and winning the love of a city by making it worth a visit.
Gaylord Indian Restaurant
You will find authenticity, classic flavors as well as some exotic dishes that too at reasonable prices. The dishes are prepared from scratch with unique sauces for each dish using quality ingredients and premium spices. Dishes served here have that freshness about them. A capable team is taking Gaylord to new heights with Raj and DJ at the helm and Surin doing wonders in the kitchen.
