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Our favourite Indian restaurants across Britain
Published 29 October 2024

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 some of our favourite spots across Britain, from budget-friendly cafés to decadent fine-dining restaurants.

27 restaurants

Local Guide

Rice and three in Manchester

Walking through Manchester’s rainy city centre you may stumble upon a record shop, a green-tiled pub, an iconic red brick building or one of the city’s many restaurants or cafés. Yet down an auspicious alleyway in the Northern Quarter, lies one of the city’s best loved and longest standing places to eat.  

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.

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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.