Narrowing down the best Indian restaurants in Melbourne is a challenge. Even the term “Indian food” could never capture the sheer diversity witnessed through varying regions and cuisines throughout India – or here in Melbourne. From Punjab, the state neighbouring Pakistan, with its well-loved butter chicken and tandoori dishes, all the way down south to Kerala where the food is starkly different with its tropical feel and coconutty curries.
In Australia, most Indian restaurants – or the food non-south-Asian people might commonly associate with “Indian cuisine” – is the best from India’s northern states, but there is so much more to eat if you know where to look. These are our top picks on where to source Indian snacks, curries, rotis, sambals, rice and more at some of Melbourne’s best Indian restaurants.
Videos by VICE
Spice Mix Restaurant, Brunswick East
There’s a myriad of things that make this restaurant so great – namely exceptional service and the breadth of regional cuisines on offer. The owner of Spice Mix Restaurant, Hari from Nepal, is the beating heart behind this gem of a venue on Lygon Street and it’s his hospitality that makes guests feel right at home. If you’re unsure of what to order, or South Asian cuisines aren’t your forte, he will wax lyrical about every dish on his menu all the way from Pakistan to Nepal to Sri Lanka and everything in between and select for you based on your taste.
I like it hot, and this is the only venue that has given me mouth sweats. My partner refused to talk to me because he felt like he had entered the seventh circle of hell. This is only upon request after you’ve effectively signed Hari’s verbal waiver.
Don’t sleep on Spice Mix’s version of the ever-popular South Indian classic Chicken 65 or, better yet, order the Momos 65 – Nepalese chicken dumplings deep fried and wok-tossed in the same spices and sauces as the famous original. And go for the latest addition to the menu: the creamy poppy seed patty curry.
180 Lygon St, Brunswick East VIC 3057
Diamond Indian and Hungarian, Clifton Hill
Not only is this a Melbourne first, dare we say, this is a world first? Regardless, we think this is one of the greatest restaurants to exist.
The dishes at Diamond Indian and Hungarian in Clifton Hill are split into two menus: an Indian menu and a Hungarian menu. Despite the fact the husband-and-wife-owners have never lived in Hungary (they’re from Amritsar, the capital of Punjab) they’ve worked with Melbourne’s Hungarian community for years at a previous venue and subsequently learned and admired the cuisine. It would be amiss to not fuse the two cuisines together. It seems strange but it truly is an eye-opening experience.
Take the lángos, a Hungarian dish of cheese-stuffed, deep-fried bread, and dip it into a creamy malai kofta and then take that same gravy and douse a schnitzel and chips in it. Heavenly.
149 Queens Parade, Clifton Hill VIC 3068
Swagath Spice Kitchen Indian Restaurant, Coburg
On busy Bell Street a few doors down from the Sydney Road corner is one of the best South Indian restaurants in the northern suburbs. It opened at the end of 2023 and within weeks was packed with families hungry for a taste of home. Come for the forearm-length dosa stuffed with potato masala and served with fragrant sambar and the best peanut chutney that side of the city. They’re also know for their Hyderabadi biryani which comes in many varying forms – veg or non-veg. A great spot for vegans and anyone looking to stuff their faces for cheap.
Unit 1/114 Bell St, Coburg VIC 3058
Aangan, West Footscray
Aangan is an institution in Melbourne’s Indian restaurant scene, but its Footscray post is arguably the best. The venue adds a feather to the cap of Barkly Street in West Footscray’s booming Indian dining strip.
It’s always packed, but you’re almost always guaranteed a seat, and the menu spans from the north to the south of India. You can’t go past an ice-cold Kingfisher and Chicken 65 (that you can choose according to your spice tolerance) as your starter while you wait for the rest of your food to arrive. The Amritsari fish is a crowd favourite for good reason. Battered and fried fish is coated in a tangy sauce dotted with fresh white onion and cashew nuts. The achari chicken makes the perfect shared main with slight acidity coming through from the pickle and is paired nicely with a rich, creamy dal makhani.
My carb of choice is the lachha paratha – a crisp and buttery spiral roti that gives naan a run for its money.
559 Barkly St, West Footscray VIC 3012
Mitroo Indian Food Truck, Clayton South
If you’re looking for a proper street-food experience, you cannot miss Mitroo Indian Food Truck. Tucked away next to a servo in Clayton South, this food truck shares a little outdoor space with a few other Indian food trucks that come to life in the evening under a rainbow of pontoon lights.
Share tables with Indian punters looking for a taste of home and dig into some exceptional pani puri, also known an golgappa. They’re paper-thin, hollow spherical shells packed with spiced potatoes which you dip into both mint water and tamarind water, before eating them whole so they erupt in your mouth.
Another favourite is their pav bhaji, the classic Mumbai dish of a soft toasted bread roll and hearty slow-cooked vegetable curry topped with a dollop of butter. Or the vada pav, featuring the aforementioned bread roll with a deep fried potato dumpling sandwiched in the middle smeared with spicy chutney. The vibes alone in this space make it worth the try.
2-6 James St, Clayton South VIC 3169
Toddy Shop, Fitzroy
Toddy Shop, just off Smith Street in Fitzroy, is Melbourne’s newest mid-range Indian fine diner serving Indian cuisine, specifically Keralan food alongside insanely delicious cocktails. Chef and owner Mischa Tropp has been running pop-ups all over the city for years but this gorgeous 20-seat grotto is finally a permanent home for his beautiful food. Order one of literally everything on the food menu because no two dishes are even remotely alike – in each, the spices, aromatics and star ingredients stand out distinguishably and shine. The same advice applies to the cocktail menu.
Rear/191A Smith St, Fitzroy VIC 3065
A1 Al-Baik House of Mandi & Indian Restaurant, Coburg
This extremely unassuming, neon-lit spot up the top of Sydney Road is known for one thing: mandi. The rice and chicken (or mutton or goat) dish actually originates from Yemen but is commonly found across the Arabian peninsula and Indian. The word mandi comes from the Arabic word for “dew”, referring to the tender, juicy steamed rice and meat, which are baked together and A1 Al-Baik’s is some of the juiciest.
Aside from mandi, the restaurant is actually also known for its haleem – a central Indian and Pakistani stew of grains and minced meat that has an almost elastic texture that pulls from your spoon like melted cheese. It is fucking delicious here. Wash it all down with a Mirinda orange soda, direct from India.
Punjabi Curry Cafe, Collingwood
Punjabi Curry Cafe is a Collingwood mainstay that has been serving Indian dishes for one billion years. A family-run business by husband and wife team Raj and Krystle, Punjabi Curry Cafe has everything you’d need from a local Indian restaurant: ambiance, Kingfisher beer, and fucking great food.
It’s hard to pick a recommendation from the menu because everything is divine but the Kashmiri naan, aloo baingan masala, goat masala and any of the paneer dishes like palak paneer are always standouts.
87 Johnston St, Collingwood VIC 3066
Parotta Station, Brooklyn
Parotta Station is the sole shop on the side of a busy highway in Melbourne’s west. It’s not that easy to find, but it is worth the hunt. This tiny restaurant serves arguably Melbourne’s best South Indian food from the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Obviously, it’s know for parotta: a crisp, roti-like flatbread that’s rolled and cooked to order then clapped together by chef Priyanka to serve in order to release all the pastry shards in a mountain of flakes. One will not suffice. Order at least two per person.
The bread is to be eaten with curries – their famous black pepper chicken is a must, as is anything “varuval” – fish, chicken or prawn. The protein of your choice is coated in a spiced batter and deep fried before it’s wok tossed with shitloads of curry leaves and more spices.
If you can’t find a spot – likely, because it’s tiny and very popular – get takeaway. Don’t worry, the parotta holds up, just hurry home.
28a Millers Rd, Brooklyn VIC 3012
Saravanaa Bhavan, CBD
One of India’s biggest restaurant chains is also one of the best restaurants in the Melbourne CBD – with some of Melbourne’s best South Indian food. There are three locations around Melbourne but the King Street restaurant right by Southern Cross station is probably the most bustling. Saravanaa Bhavan is famous for its roast dosa. I don’t know how they do it, but it is so shatteringly crisp that, when rolled into a giant tube, it stands fully erect and hollow, not even yielding to the steam of the spiced potatoes layered inside. I’ve eaten Saravanaa Bhavan’s dosas in southern India and here in Melbourne and the quality does not dip when the recipe leaves the subcontinent.
Obviously, order the dosa, but the real winner here in my opinion is the thali because legit thalis like this are hard to find in Melbourne. As a daytime dish it’s only served at lunch. The giant metal platter with a high lip comes with a mound of rice in the centre encircled by about a dozen dishes including daals, sambars, vegetables, curd and sweets. Always finish by mixing the curd into the remaining rice once all the curries are polished off.
131 King St, Melbourne VIC 3000
Bilal, Brunswick
Bilal is Sydney Road old-faithful for quick and cheap meals among the Indian and Malaysian communities. It serves both cuisines side by side because the Indian influence has made a strong imprint in Malaysia dating back centuries. But the reason we’re here is the biryani.
Biryani is a broad term for the rice dish originating from Persia and there are various cooking methods applied all over the subcontinent. “Dum biryani” involves curry and par-cooked rice being baked together in a giant pot sealed with dough so no steam escapes. It’s known to be incredibly juicy and the steamed meat will be falling apart in your fingers.
Bilal’s chicken dum biryani is truly one of the best biryanis in Melbourne. This is the order, trust me.
860 Sydney Rd, Brunswick VIC 3056
Khabbay, Carlton
Given how central it is, it’s no surprise that Carlton’s Khabbay has become synonymous with Indian food in Melbourne.
You might think a venue with a huge following in a central location might not hit the mark when it comes to flavour, but it does. Here, you’ll sample the best of Pakistani and Indian cuisines, and it’s the barbecue dishes that have won favour with the masses. There are skewers galore, with the juicy, charcoal-grilled chicken seekh kebab being a stand-out. If you can’t pick just one snack, there are mixed platters of barbecued meats and grilled fish that you can share. It isn’t just a meat-fest either, there are ample vegetarian options to choose from as well. If you’re going for a curry, the mutton (older sheep) karahi is a must-try – although technically that’s a Pakistani dish.
140-146 Lygon St, Carlton VIC 3053
Rushani Epa is a food writer and the editor of Colournary Magazine based in Melbourne.
Aleksandra Bliszczyk is the Deputy Editor of VICE Australia and the former editor of Foodservice Magazine. Follow her on Instagram.
Read more from VICE Australia and subscribe to our weekly newsletter, This Week Online.
