New Indian Restaurants in Dublin (August 2026)

TL;DR

• Dublin's South Asian restaurant scene has grown dramatically, with options from Kerala to Kathmandu 🍛
• The city now hosts Indian, Nepalese, Andhra, Hyderabadi, and Kerala specialists across multiple neighbourhoods
• Drumcondra Road Lower alone has two standout Indian restaurants worth visiting back-to-back
• Vegetarians and meat-lovers alike will find dedicated menus across the city
• This guide covers 10+ places, from city-centre classics to suburban gems

Dublin's Growing South Asian Food Scene

Dublin has quietly become one of Western Europe's more interesting cities for South Asian cuisine. Over the past decade, Ireland's capital has attracted a significant South Asian community — professionals, students, and entrepreneurs — who have, in turn, seeded a restaurant landscape that goes well beyond the generic curry house of earlier decades.

Today you can find Andhra-style home cooking on Marlborough Street, Kerala seafood near Baggot Street, Hyderabadi biryani on Parnell Street, and at least three Nepalese restaurants serving momos and thukpa to a devoted clientele. The range spans every budget, from quick-lunch tiffin counters to sit-down dining rooms that take reservations on busy weekends.

What follows is a practical guide to where to eat, neighbourhood by neighbourhood, with an eye on the city's most exciting new and established Indian and Nepalese kitchens.

Indian and North Indian Restaurants 🍽️

Drumcondra Road Lower: A Two-Stop Corridor

If you only have time for one neighbourhood, Drumcondra Road Lower delivers remarkable density. HOLI, at 18 Drumcondra Road Lower, has made a name for itself with a menu that pulls from across the subcontinent. The room is lively on weekends, and the kitchen handles both vegetarian and meat dishes with equal confidence. A few doors down, Mint Leaf Indian Restaurant, also on Drumcondra Road Lower, offers a slightly more refined dining experience. Both restaurants have attracted repeat visitors who appreciate consistent cooking and attentive service.

City Centre and Southside

Chaska, on Talbot Street, operates as a go-to for city-centre office workers at lunch and neighbourhood diners in the evening. You can find their menus and current offerings via chaskaindian.ie. Mehfil (mehfil.ie) has carved out a loyal following among Dublin's Indian community, who tend to be the most exacting critics of authenticity. Indian Zaika (indianzaika.ie) rounds out the city-centre options with a menu that leans heavily into popular North Indian dishes.

On the southside, Kari at 205A Emmet Road operates Monday through Sunday, 4:30pm to 10:00pm, making it an excellent choice for dinner without advance planning. The focused hours suggest a kitchen that takes its time sourcing and preparing rather than running a conveyor-belt operation. Shanai (shanai.ie), accessible via Old Bray Road, brings another layer of Indian dining to the south Dublin area, while Shallots on Saint Margaret's Road (shallots.ie) covers the north and west sides of the city.

North Dublin: Howth Road

Badam Indian and Nepalese Cuisine at 93A Howth Road brings a dual-cuisine menu that reflects the closely intertwined culinary traditions of northern India and Nepal. The combination works well in practice — shared spice vocabularies and overlapping techniques mean the kitchen handles both with credibility.

South Indian and Regional Specialists 🌶️

Kerala Kitchen: Lunchtime Institution

Kerala Kitchen at 5 Baggot Street Upper runs Monday to Friday, 12pm to 2pm — a tight window that rewards planning. The focus on Kerala cuisine means fish curries, coconut-based gravies, and appam, dishes that remain relatively rare in Dublin. The limited hours keep the kitchen operating at peak quality rather than stretching across an all-day service.

Andhra Bhavan: Spice at a Different Level

For those who want to understand just how wide the range of Indian regional cuisine runs, Andhra Bhavan at 85 Marlborough Street is a revelation. Andhra Pradesh cooking — particularly from the coastal and Telangana regions — tends toward more pronounced heat and tamarind-forward flavours than the North Indian dishes that dominate most Irish restaurants. The address on Marlborough Street puts it within easy reach of the city centre.

Hyderabadi Kitchen: Parnell Street's Biryani Draw

Hyderabadi Kitchen at 143 Parnell Street Upper specialises in Hyderabadi cuisine, including the dum biryani that the city of Hyderabad is internationally known for. Their platform at indiantiffins.ie suggests a delivery and tiffin-box operation alongside the restaurant itself — a useful option for weekday lunches. Parnell Street has become one of Dublin's most culturally diverse eating corridors, and Hyderabadi Kitchen is one of its genuine anchors.

Southern Spices: Suburban Specialist

Southern Spices at 5D Rockbrook Blackthorn Drive serves South Indian cuisine at a remove from the city-centre bustle. The Rockbrook location draws a local clientele who have adopted it as a neighbourhood fixture, with cooking that emphasises the lighter, rice-and-lentil-based dishes of South India.

Nepalese Restaurants: Momos, Thukpa and More

Dublin's Nepalese restaurant community deserves attention in its own right. Three restaurants in particular stand out.

Montys of Kathmandu at 28 Eustace Street, in the heart of the Temple Bar area, is the longest-established Nepalese restaurant in the city and arguably in Ireland. The menu covers classic Nepalese and Tibetan-influenced dishes — sekuwa, momo, thukpa — alongside South Asian staples. The Temple Bar location means a mixed tourist and local clientele, but the kitchen keeps its standards consistent regardless of who's at the table.

Sanai at 17A Baggot Street Lower brings Nepalese cooking to the Georgian southside. The Baggot Street setting gives it a business-lunch clientele during the week and a more relaxed neighbourhood crowd at weekends.

Kathmandu Kitchen at 18 Dame Street (kathmanudkitchen.ie) occupies a prominent city-centre spot and runs a menu that straddles Nepalese and Indian traditions. Dame Street's footfall means the restaurant sees a broad mix of diners, and the kitchen has learned to cater to varying levels of familiarity with Nepalese cuisine.

Insider Tip: If you want to explore South Indian cooking in Dublin, time your visit to Kerala Kitchen carefully — they're open weekdays only, 12pm to 2pm. Arriving at the door at 1:45pm is a gamble; plan to be seated by 12:30pm for the best selection from the day's menu.

FAQ

Are there vegetarian-friendly Indian restaurants in Dublin? Yes. South Indian restaurants in particular — including Kerala Kitchen and Southern Spices — naturally offer extensive vegetarian menus built around lentils, rice, coconut, and vegetables. Andhra Bhavan also has strong vegetarian options rooted in Andhra Pradesh cooking traditions.

Is Nepalese food similar to Indian food? There is meaningful overlap, particularly with North Indian cuisine, since both traditions share spices like cumin, turmeric, and coriander. Nepalese cooking also has distinct elements: momos (steamed or fried dumplings), thukpa (noodle soup), and dishes like dal bhat that form the staple base of Nepalese home cooking.

Which area of Dublin has the highest concentration of South Asian restaurants? Drumcondra Road Lower, Parnell Street, and the city centre around Dame Street and Talbot Street have the highest density. Baggot Street offers a southside cluster, and Howth Road provides options on the north coastal side.

Do these restaurants take reservations? Policies vary by restaurant. For weekend evenings at HOLI, Montys of Kathmandu, or Mint Leaf Indian Restaurant, booking ahead is sensible. Weekday lunches at tighter-window spots like Kerala Kitchen essentially require planning given the limited hours.

Is halal food available at Dublin's Indian restaurants? Several restaurants in Dublin serve halal-certified food or halal-sourced meat. It is worth confirming directly with the individual restaurant before visiting.

Bottom Line

Dublin's Indian and South Asian restaurant scene in 2026 is broader, more regionally diverse, and more confident than it has been at any previous point. Whether your interest lies in the fiery Andhra cooking at Andhra Bhavan, the biryani specialism of Hyderabadi Kitchen, the Kerala seafood at Kerala Kitchen, or the Nepalese tradition kept alive by Montys of Kathmandu — the city now has enough depth to reward multiple evenings of exploration. The Drumcondra Road corridor, with HOLI and Mint Leaf Indian Restaurant in close proximity, is as good a starting point as any for first-time visitors to this scene. Come hungry, come curious, and come back more than once.