Sometimes a bog-standard curry just won’t do, so we’ve scoured the city's streets to find five of the best Indian restaurants in Bristol where you can feast on authentic, flavoursome, and (in some cases) award-winning Indian cuisine.
Urban Tandoor
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. They 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.
Image Credit: urban-tandoor.com
Find Urban Tandoor at 13 Small Street, Bristol.The Mint Room
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 Years 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.
Find The Mint Room at 12 - 16 Clifton Road, Bristol.
Urban Kohinoor
Urban Kohinoor takes home the prize for the most interesting history. Owner Nazir Ahmed got his foot in the food industry door in 1974, working his way up to open his first restaurant in London in 1979. A string of successful restaurants saw him purchasing Regent’s Park’s Mumtaz Restaurant, serving celebrities such as Elizabeth Taylor, Dolly Parton, Ian Bothan, Imran Khan, Take That, and U2. Regular family visits to Bristol eventually led him to open Kohi Noor in 2008. In 2012 it took home a Bristol Good Food Award for Best Indian Food. To this day, they continue the tradition of delivering authentic, high-quality food with a star-studded seal of approval.
Find Kohi Noor at Bristol BS8 2XS.
Myristica
As well as being recognised by The Telegraph as one of Britain’s ‘Top Curry Restaurants’, Myristica has taken a British Curry Award for Best Restaurant in the South West and an Asian Food Award for Best Asian Restaurant in Avon & Somerset. This is another one straying from the standard anglicised curry house set-up, with delicacies like rabbit varuval, achari venison, and Barbary duck being plated up by chefs recruited from top restaurants in India. If all of the above isn’t enough to assure you that your evening is in good hands, their £5 tiffin box might sway you. Plus, you can take one of their cookery classes and learn how to transform fresh, exotic ingredients into authentic Indian dishes.
Find Myristica at 51 Park Street, Bristol.
Ganesha
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.
Image Credit: Ganesha
Find Ganesha at 54 - 56 Bedminster Parade, Bristol.