Best Indian Restaurants in Madrid

Benares opened in Almagro in 2015 as the Madrid outpost of Benares in London's Mayfair, the restaurant chef Atul Kochhar founded in 2003. The Madrid kitchen is now run by chef Luis Ojeda, who pairs Indian technique with Spanish product: pulpo bhuna, octopus in mustard oil with papaya chutney, and gosht rogan josh, a Kashmiri lamb curry built on cardamom and star anise. The carta also runs to ratan kebabs of spiced lamb and chicken, chicken supreme tandoori with pickles and mint chutney, and a Punjabi-style butter chicken masala. There's a weekday lunch thali at €24, changing monthly, and an €89 tasting menu served to the full table. Benares holds a Michelin Guide listing and, by its own account, is the only high-end Indian restaurant listed in the Guide across Spain and Portugal. The dining room has an interior terrace built around a water feature.

Tandoori Station has cooked Pakistani and Indian food on Calle de José Ortega y Gasset, in the Lista barrio of Salamanca, since 2005, under chef Nadeem Siraj. A traditional tandoor oven anchors the kitchen, turning out butter chicken and tandoor-marinated lamb chops alongside boti kebab, murghi ka tikka masala, samosas, a lamb madras curry and karahi gosht. The room leans on warm lighting and décor drawing on traditional Indian trains, built for both intimate dinners and group celebrations. It's closed Mondays, with Sunday service running lunch only.

Purnima is a tandoori-led Indian restaurant on Calle de Goya, in Madrid's Salamanca district, its own site billing it as auténtica cocina india in the centre of the city. The carta runs through North Indian classics: palak pakora, vegetable and lamb samosas, cheese rolls, a chicken masala roll, and tandoori chicken. It's open daily, 13:00 to 16:30 and 20:00 to 00:30, with a terrace and space for groups, mid-range at €26 to €50 a person, and the kitchen keeps a vegetarian throughline across the menu.

Annapurna Tandoori sits on Gran Vía de Hortaleza, in the Pinar del Rey area of Madrid's Hortaleza district, and frames itself as a meeting of two cultures at one table, neither only Indian nor only Nepalese. The carta runs Nepalese dishes like momos and sekuwa alongside Indian tikka masala, korma and tandoori-oven plates, plus naan, biryani and rice, with vegetarian and vegan options and allergens flagged throughout. It's open for lunch and dinner Tuesday to Sunday, closed Monday, with a terrace and a reservation form that takes groups of up to 20, mid-range at €20 to €30 a person.

Himalayan Tandoori is the project of three partners of Nepali origin settled in Spain, cooking the traditional flavours of Nepal and India from a clay tandoor oven in the Concepcion quarter of Ciudad Lineal. Its own site describes the tandoor as the cylindrical clay oven whose high, dry heat gives Nepalese and Indian cooking its signature breads and char, and the founders frame the menu as the original flavours of Nepal, cooked to Spanish restaurant standards. The menu opens with a mixed appetizer plate of aloo chop, pakoda, samosa and chicken pakoda, alongside chicken samosa and vegetable pakoda on their own. It's budget-priced, under €25 a person.

Moharaj is a curry-led Indian restaurant on Calle Ave María in Lavapiés, one of the most multicultural quarters of central Madrid, pitched around Indian curries to share with friends and family. The menu opens with samosas, pakoras, onion bhaji, paneer rolls, prawn poori and dhal soup, followed by a run of naans including a signature Moharaj naan. There's a terrace, and it's set up for groups, with vegetarian options throughout. It's open Monday to Thursday 13:00 to 17:00 and 19:00 to 00:00, and Friday to Sunday straight through from 13:00 to midnight.

Curry Masala sits on Calle Silva, off Gran Vía near Callao, on the Malasaña side of Madrid's Centro district, and bills itself as Indian street food. Its menu was created by Shipra Khanna, the chef who won the second season of MasterChef India, and spans à la carte, tasting and daily-menu options, including chicken and vegetable samosas, pani puri, sabzi pakora and aloo tikki among the starters. It runs lunch and dinner daily, mid-range at €20 to €30 a person, and is set up for groups and families with vegetarian options.

Nilah brings South Indian cooking to the top of Calle de Toledo, by Plaza Mayor, framing the food as food for the soul, a trip to South India without leaving Madrid. The menu is built around dosas, made fresh daily: a plain dosa, butter and ghee versions, podi dosa, Mysore dosa, and masala dosa in several variations up to a ghee Mysore masala dosa, all served in a sophisticated dining room. It's open Tuesday to Sunday from 14:00, closed Monday, mid-range at €20 to €30 a person, with cocktails and vegetarian options, and cards accepted.

Bombay Palace serves Indian food, with vegetarian options, on Calle Ave María in Lavapiés. There's no website or published menu. It's open every day: lunch and dinner as separate sittings Monday to Thursday, then straight through from 13:00 to midnight Friday through Sunday. There's a terrace, and it's mid-range at €26 to €50 a person. It works for groups and families, with cards and contactless accepted and paid parking nearby.

Baisakhi sits among the Indian restaurants of Calle de Lavapiés, in the barrio that's Madrid's centre for South Asian dining. The kitchen is Indian, with vegetarian options, and it keeps long hours every day from 12:00, to 23:30 on weeknights and 00:30 on Friday and Saturday. There's a terrace, and it's mid-range at €26 to €50 a person, with cards and contactless accepted.