New Indian Restaurants in London (July 2026)

TL;DR

• London's Indian restaurant scene in 2026 is more regionally specific and technically ambitious than at any earlier point in its history
• Veeraswamy, open since 1926, and Gymkhana together define the ceiling of the city's Indian fine dining — and both remain fully worth the table
• Dishoom and Hoppers have become London institutions in their own right, expanding what the city expects from Indian and Sri Lankan cooking
• Regional cuisine — Hyderabadi, Keralan coastal, Konkan seafood — is no longer a novelty but a genuine expectation from London's Indian dining public
• Newer names like Kricket and Bulbul are pushing the food in genuinely new directions without losing sight of the traditions underneath

London's Indian Restaurant Scene in 2026: Where It Stands

The story of Indian food in London has never been a single chapter. It spans nearly a century of immigration, economic change, and culinary ambition — from the first formal Indian restaurants catering to the city's South Asian professional class, through the curry-house era that made Indian food a staple of the British high street, to the current moment where the city's Indian dining is as technically serious, as regionally specific, and as celebrated as any other cuisine it supports.

What has changed most noticeably in the past decade is the abandonment of the pan-Indian compromise. For much of the twentieth century, a London Indian restaurant menu meant a negotiated average — dishes adjusted for a general audience, regional identities flattened into familiar categories. That model has given way to something far more interesting: restaurants that commit to a specific region, a specific culinary tradition, or a specific point of view, and execute it with the confidence of a kitchen that has nothing to prove.

The Institutions: Veeraswamy, Gymkhana, Benares, and Jamavar

Any serious account of London's Indian restaurant world begins with Veeraswamy. Opened in 1926 on Regent Street, it is the oldest Indian restaurant in the United Kingdom and has outlasted waves of competitors, changing tastes, and the entire history of modern British restaurant culture. A century of operation has not calcified the kitchen — Veeraswamy continues to serve refined dishes rooted in the formal tradition of Indian court cuisine, and the room retains a sense of occasion that newer restaurants, however accomplished, have not yet accumulated.

Gymkhana in Mayfair occupies a different but equally important position. Inspired by the colonial-era sports clubs of the Indian subcontinent, it serves food rooted in North Indian and Mughlai cooking with a level of technical discipline that prompted serious critical attention from the moment it opened. The game meat dishes, the tandoor work, and the bar program have all developed followings of their own. It remains one of the hardest reservations in London for good reason.

Benares, also in Mayfair, works in a similarly elevated register, offering tasting menus that draw on Awadhi and Mughlai culinary vocabulary. It earns its place in the fine dining tier through consistency over years rather than hype cycles.

Jamavar brings the Leela hotel kitchen tradition to a Mayfair address — a Bangalore original transplanted to London with its sophisticated spicing and formal service intact. For diners who want the full expression of Indian fine dining in a contemporary setting, Jamavar delivers without the waiting list anxiety that Gymkhana often generates.

The Shift-Makers: Dishoom, Hoppers, and Kricket

Three restaurants, each arriving at a different moment in the past fifteen years, have collectively done more than any others to shift what London expects from Indian food.

Dishoom opened its first London site in Covent Garden in 2010, modeled on the old Irani cafes of Bombay that fused Zoroastrian and South Asian food cultures in no-frills rooms with communal energy. The format — long menus of Mumbai comfort food, all-day service, queues rather than reservations — turned out to be exactly what a large slice of London's food public wanted. The bacon nasi, the black dal, and the masala chai have become as recognizable to Londoners as any dish from any cuisine in the city. Multiple locations across London now fill daily.

Hoppers arrived in Soho in 2015 and introduced many Londoners to a cuisine that sits almost entirely outside the North Indian mainstream: Sri Lankan and South Indian food built around hopper pancakes, sambols, kari sauces, and the particular heat and tang of coastal cooking. The short-eats menu at Hoppers — devilled cashews, kothu roti, egg hoppers — is one of the best introductions to South Asian eating available anywhere in the city. The restaurant has since expanded, and the demand for its very specific food has not softened.

Kricket began as a pop-up in Brixton Market and grew into one of the most discussed Indian restaurants of recent years. Its method — small plates of Indian-inflected food built with seasonal British produce — sounds like an easy compromise but delivers something more considered: a kitchen that understands Indian spicing deeply enough to apply it to new ingredients without it feeling approximate. The Soho and White City locations have both found committed audiences who return for the cooking rather than the concept.

Regional Specificity: Hyderabadi Bawarchi, Quilon, and Trishna

The most encouraging development in London's current Indian restaurant landscape is the growing space for cuisines that were historically underrepresented.

Hyderabadi Bawarchi brings the cooking tradition of the Deccan plateau to London with a directness the city needed. Hyderabadi biryani, haleem, and paya are dishes with a distinct identity shaped by the Nizam's court kitchens and centuries of Deccani culinary synthesis. The restaurant commits to this specificity rather than diluting it into a broader South Indian category.

Quilon has long been the standard-bearer for Keralan and coastal South Indian cooking in London. The kitchen's handling of seafood — the coconut-based gravies, the tamarind preparations, the careful tempering — remains among the most attentive in the city. It earns consistent recognition not through reinvention but through the quality of its fidelity to a demanding tradition.

Trishna, named after the Mumbai original, works in the Konkan coast register, with a particular focus on seafood preparations rooted in the cooking of Maharashtra's fishing communities. The fish curries and seafood dishes draw a regular audience willing to spend for serious sourcing and careful execution.

Rounding out the landscape: Tamarind in Mayfair and Chutney Mary in Chelsea have both navigated the shift from prestige Indian dining of an earlier era to the current moment without losing their footing. Bombay Bustle in Mayfair takes a more casual approach, evoking the Mumbai tiffin service with a menu of coastal Maharashtrian food and dabbawala-style boxes. Masala Zone and Roti Chai serve the essential function of providing good Indian food at accessible price points — Masala Zone with its thali format, Roti Chai with a street-food register covering chaats, kati rolls, and the snacks that form the daily eating backbone across India.

Insider Tip

If Dishoom is on your list and you want to avoid the longest queues, go for breakfast. The morning menu is genuinely different from the lunch and dinner service, and early arrivals at the King's Cross location typically face shorter waits than the evening peak. The atmosphere is notably calmer, and the Irani cafe reference that the whole concept is built on reads most clearly over a slow morning meal.

FAQ

What is the oldest Indian restaurant in London? Veeraswamy, which opened on Regent Street in 1926, is the oldest Indian restaurant in the United Kingdom.

What makes Hoppers different from other Indian restaurants in London? Hoppers specializes in Sri Lankan and South Indian cooking, centered on hopper pancakes, sambols, and kari dishes. It operates outside the North Indian mainstream that dominates much of London's Indian dining landscape.

Is Dishoom worth the queues? Most regulars consider it worth the wait, especially for breakfast service when queues are shorter. The Bombay Irani cafe format — all-day comfort food, communal energy, no reservations at walk-in service — is not replicated elsewhere in the city.

Which London Indian restaurants are best for a formal occasion? Gymkhana, Jamavar, Benares, and Tamarind are all well-regarded for occasion dining, with full tasting menu options and attentive front-of-house service.

Is there good regional Indian food beyond North Indian in London? Yes, and the options have broadened significantly. Quilon covers Kerala and coastal South India. Hyderabadi Bawarchi brings Deccani cooking. Trishna focuses on the Konkan coast. Hoppers covers Sri Lanka and South India. The city's regional range is now genuinely wide.

Bottom Line

London's Indian restaurant scene in 2026 rewards both first-time visitors and regulars who have been following the city's food for years. Veeraswamy and Gymkhana anchor the high end. Dishoom and Hoppers have become institutions in their own right, operating with the confidence of places that no longer need to prove themselves. Kricket and Bulbul represent a next direction that is still unfolding. And the regional depth — Hyderabadi Bawarchi's Deccani cooking, Quilon's Keralan seafood, Trishna's Konkan plates — means the city's Indian dining is now broader, more honest, and more technically accomplished than at any point in its long history.