New Indian Restaurants in Singapore (August 2026)

TL;DR

• 🍛 Singapore's Indian dining scene added 20 notable spots in 2026, spanning every regional cuisine from Gujarati to Chettinad.
• 🫓 North Indian seekers can explore Awadhi dum cooking, tandoori classics, and Punjabi flavors across the island.
• 🌿 South Indian vegetarians have a particularly strong lineup this month, with Vanabhojanam and Komala Vilas leading the way.
• 🍚 Biryani lovers can compare styles at Biryanibrews and Bismillah Biryani without leaving the island.

Singapore has long been a crossroads for South Asian cuisine, and August 2026 is one of the strongest months on record for Indian restaurant openings. The city's Indian community, concentrated around Serangoon Road and Race Course Road but reaching well beyond, has anchored decades of culinary tradition. What this latest crop of restaurants shows is that the tradition is still evolving — regional cuisines that once played second fiddle to generalist curry houses are now getting their own dedicated spaces. The 20 restaurants in this roundup represent almost every Indian regional style worth knowing.

North Indian: From Awadhi Dum to Punjabi Grill

The North Indian segment is deep and varied. Shivam Restaurant on 87 Syed Alwi Road is one of the most complete options on this list, offering Gujarati, North Indian, and Indo-Chinese under one roof with hours stretching from 11:30am to 11:30pm. It occupies a prime spot in the Mustafa Centre neighbourhood and draws both the Indian expat community and curious locals.

AWADH focuses specifically on Awadhi cooking, the slow-cooked dum tradition from Lucknow. Dum biryani and kormas are the headline items, and the kitchen takes the time these dishes actually require. SHAAN — North Indian Cuisine and KOTHI — Authentic Punjabi Restaurant round out the north-of-Vindhyas representation, with KOTHI leaning into the smoky, robust flavors of Punjab — tandoori meats, sarson da saag when in season, and dal makhani that has been on the fire for hours.

For those who prefer a Gujarati-specific experience, Sakhi runs a tightly curated menu of Gujarati fare, a cuisine rarely given this much focused attention outside of India. Khansama Tandoori Restaurant brings the tandoor front and center — naan, seekh kebab, and tikka as they are meant to be, with the char and smokiness that only a clay oven delivers.

South Indian: Chettinad, Andhra, and Vegetarian Havens

The South Indian lineup is arguably the more exciting half of this month's additions. Machans at 74 Race Course Road is an established name on Singapore's Tamil restaurant circuit, serving Tamil and Chettinad food from 11AM to 10PM. Chettinad cooking is among the most complex regional styles on the subcontinent — heavy with pepper, kalpasi, and marathi mokku — and Machans handles it with confidence.

Kavin Chettinad Kitchen is a newer player in the same lane, offering a slightly different take on the same spice-forward tradition. For Andhra food, Uppuluri's at Orchard brings the fire-forward cooking of coastal Andhra — prawn curries, gongura preparations, and rice dishes built to hold their own against serious heat.

The vegetarian-first options deserve special attention. Vanabhojanam specializes in South Indian vegetarian cooking, positioning itself as a meal destination rather than a snack counter. Komala Vilas, one of Singapore's most respected Indian restaurants, continues to be the benchmark against which all South Indian vegetarian cooking in the city is measured. Sri Kumbhakarna and Veera Flavours add more options for those sticking to vegetarian plates. Kumar Mess fills the role of no-frills South Indian canteen — the kind of place that does one or two things extremely well and does not try to be anything else.

MANAM rounds off the South Indian section with a modern interpretation of the cuisine, showing there is room for both the traditional and the contemporary on Singapore's Indian restaurant map.

Must-Try Classics and Newcomers 🍽️

The biryani category deserves its own attention. Biryanibrews and Bismillah Biryani both represent serious commitments to rice-based cooking. Biryanibrews approaches biryani from a more experimental angle, while Bismillah Biryani sticks to the tried-and-true Mughlai template that has made biryani Singapore's unofficial Indian comfort dish.

Al Deen Cafe offers Indian Muslim food, a cuisine deeply woven into Singapore's food culture and often overlooked in favor of the more prominent South and North Indian categories. Tant Restaurant in Bukit Batok and Rangooli fill geographic gaps in the Indian dining map, ensuring that residents outside of Little India proper have solid options nearby.

Insider Tip: Race Course Road between Hastings Road and Serangoon Road is the single most concentrated strip of Indian restaurants in Singapore. Take the MRT to Farrer Park and walk the strip on a weekday afternoon — most places open at 11AM or 11:30AM and the lunch crowd thins out by 1:30PM, giving you a quieter window to actually taste the food without waiting for a table.

FAQ

How many Indian restaurants are there in Singapore? The exact number changes constantly, but estimates put the total at several hundred across the island, ranging from hawker stalls to full-service restaurants. Little India around Serangoon Road and Race Course Road holds the densest cluster.

Is Indian food in Singapore mostly North or South Indian? Both traditions are strongly represented. The Tamil community has historically anchored South Indian cuisine on the island, while a significant Punjabi and Gujarati population supports North Indian restaurants. Newer openings like AWADH and KOTHI show continued growth on the North Indian side, while Machans and Kavin Chettinad Kitchen anchor the South Indian side.

Are there good vegetarian options among Singapore's Indian restaurants? Yes. Komala Vilas has been a vegetarian institution for decades, and newer spots like Vanabhojanam and Veera Flavours have expanded the purely vegetarian options considerably.

What neighborhoods should I focus on for Indian food? Little India — Serangoon Road, Race Course Road, Syed Alwi Road — remains the obvious starting point. Orchard has Uppuluri's, and Bukit Batok has Tant Restaurant for residents in the west.

Is Chettinad food very spicy? Chettinad cooking from Tamil Nadu is known for its bold spice profile, particularly pepper and dried chilies. Both Machans and Kavin Chettinad Kitchen serve the style authentically, so expect heat — though most kitchens will accommodate requests to tone it down.

Bottom Line

August 2026 is a strong month for Indian food in Singapore. The diversity on offer — Gujarati at Shivam Restaurant and Sakhi, Chettinad at Machans and Kavin Chettinad Kitchen, Andhra at Uppuluri's, vegetarian at Komala Vilas and Vanabhojanam, and biryani at Biryanibrews and Bismillah Biryani — means you can eat differently every day without repeating a cuisine. The scene is not just growing in numbers; it is deepening in specialization, which is good news for anyone who takes Indian food seriously.