Sometimes a bog-standard curry just won’t do, so we’ve scoured the city's streets to find the best Indian restaurants in Bristol where you can feast on authentic, flavoursome, and (in some cases) award-winning Indian cuisine...
1) Dhamaka Restaurant
Find Dhamaka at 15, Clare Street, Bristol, BS1 1XH.
Dhamaka Restaurant prides itself on representing the culture of India through its colours, its 'easygoing' food and its warm service. As a restaurant, the food is primarily representative of India's street foods with (delicious) specialities such as Punjabi Samosa, Dahi Papdi Chaat and Cauliflower Manchurian. The perfect destination to share some wonderful food (and cocktails which are 2 for £12 before 7 pm, everyday) with a group!
2) Urban Tandoor
Find Urban Tandoor at 13 Small Street, Bristol.
Urban Tandoor has been making waves as one of Bristol's best Indian restaurants since its opening in 2014. They were awarded the Good Food Award in 2015, before making it onto Tripadvisor’s ‘Best Curry Houses in the Country’ and The Sun's ‘Top 10 UK Curry Houses’. Cooking with only the freshest ingredients containing no artificial colours and less oil, they have earned their reputation as the pioneers of light, fresh, authentic Indian cuisine.
Urban Tandoor also weave their unique approach into the dining experience, using recipes from gourmet homes and street stalls across India’s regions. Don’t forget to wash it all down with their selection of Soul Tree Indian wines.
3) The Mint Room
Find The Mint Room at 12 - 16 Clifton Road, Bristol.
The Mint Room is anything but your average curry house. Their dashing interiors and impressively stocked bar provide the perfect backdrop for their range of themed events, including previous Bond-themed New Year's Eve nights. The menu alone makes any evening at The Mint Room an event in itself, dishing up contemporary meals with a twist from tandoor-marinated quail to kaffir lime scallops and masala lamb shank.
There are sharing plates available for the smaller appetites and a range of refreshing desserts with eclectic flavours to put a sweet end to any dining experience!
4) Joy Raj Restaurant
Find the Joy Raj Restaurant at 1 Regent Street, Clifton
Clifton Village's beloved Joy Raj Restaurant has origins that span back 20 years with some excellent cookery that covers areas in Indian, Bangladesh and Pakistan. With 50 seats in the restaurant, we recommend booking to secure a table where you can sample our favourite dishes including their super tender minced lamb samosa and Roshan chicken tikka bhuna. Here's to another two decades in business!
5) Nutmeg
Find Nutmeg at 10, The Mall, Clifton.
Another Clifton native and champion of regional Indian cooking, Nutmeg takes inspiration from the 29 states that make up India. Founded in 2016, operators Raja Munuswamy and Arvind Pawar have turned Nutmeg into one of Bristol's foodie treasures and achieved a very respectable 4.5 rating on Tripadvisor. We recommend the absurdly delicious duck curry...
6) Ganesha
Find Ganesha at 54 - 56 Bedminster Parade, Bristol.
Ganesha stands as one of the strongest surviving gems lighting up the Bedminster Parade. After opening in 2008, this family-run, 70-cover restaurant outlived both a recession and the uncertainty of their owners having never run a restaurant before. Today, after having doubled in size, it serves as one of Bristol’s most talked-about curry houses, with silk sari drapes, ribbons, and fairy lights creating the perfect atmosphere to enjoy their delicious food all year round, including Christmas and Boxing Day.