Trèsind Studio ★ 4.9
Trèsind Studio holds three Michelin stars on Palm Jumeirah, a 20 seat room in the St. Regis Gardens serving one tasting menu across the regions of India.
20 indian restaurants worth the trip across United Arab Emirates, editor-ranked. All cuisines in United Arab Emirates.
avatāra ★ 4.6
avatāra in Dubai Hills is the world's first vegetarian Indian restaurant to hold a Michelin star, plating produce led tasting courses each night.
Thalassery Thattukada ★ 4.4
Thalassery Thattukada serves Malabar parottas, beef curry, potthu kaal and mutton biryani from a small room near Big Mart in Al Khalidiya, Abu Dhabi.
OrderPotthu kaal, the bone cracked at the table for the marrow, with Malabar parottas, then the mutton biryani.
TipStart with a kadak tea, as Gulf News does, then order parottas, beef curry and potthu kaal; the tables gradually fill up by evening.
Jamavar Dubai ★ 4.4
Jamavar Dubai in the Opera District, Downtown Dubai, holds one Michelin star for regional Indian cooking, with a weekday lunch and all day menu.
Namak ★ 4.1
Namak is a Michelin Selected Indian restaurant inside the Dusit Thani Abu Dhabi, cooking regional dishes with a lamb focus and sharing platters.
OrderThe Kashmiri rogan josh or the kakori reshmi seekh, the two lamb dishes praised by the Michelin Guide.
TipNamak is closed on Monday and Tuesday; Wednesday to Friday it opens for dinner only at 19:00, while weekends start at 12:30.
Sind Punjab Restaurant ★ 4.1
Sind Punjab Restaurant has served Mughlai and Punjabi cooking from Meena Bazaar since 1977, one of the oldest South Asian kitchens in Bur Dubai, Dubai.
OrderButter chicken with a garlic roomali roti, finished with a plate of pani puri.
TipOrder from the chaat side too: pani puri, sev puri and falooda sit on the same menu as the butter chicken and dal makhani.
Kalpaka A Malabar Restaurant ★ 4.1
Kalpaka A Malabar Restaurant cooks Kerala coastal seafood inside the Regent Palace Hotel in Al Karama, Dubai, with a lunch and a late dinner service.
OrderKarimeen pearl spot fry with kappa tapioca and a Malabar prawn curry.
TipLunch and dinner are separate services, with a break in the afternoon.
Pincode by Kunal Kapur ★ 4.0
Pincode by Kunal Kapur is a Michelin Selected Indian restaurant at The Galleria, Al Maryah Island, Abu Dhabi, serving upmarket street food from across India.
OrderThe Amritsari fried fish and the dates and olive malai paneer tikka, two dishes FACT magazine names.
TipMichelin suggests asking for one of the semi-private booths; the room is dressed in rich fabrics and sepia and black and white panelled walls.
Payyannur Restaurant ★ 4.0
Payyannur Restaurant serves nool parotta, thattu dosa with veg stew and Kerala-style biryani on Hamdan Bin Mohammed Street in Abu Dhabi, from 06:00.
OrderNool parotta and thattu dosa with veg stew, then the fish mango curry or the Kerala-style biryani.
TipOrder several plates for the table: Gulf News reports one group of six covered shrimp starters, fish mango curry, idiyappam and parotta.
Calicut Paragon ★ 4.0
Calicut Paragon in Al Karama, Dubai, cooks Malabari dishes from Kerala's Calicut coast, heavy on coconut, fresh seafood and slow-cooked biryani.
OrderChicken biryani, Chicken stew, Paragon pepper chicken
Saravanaa Bhavan ★ 4.0
Saravanaa Bhavan in Al Karama, Dubai, is the local branch of the global vegetarian South Indian chain, serving dosas and idli on steel plates.
OrderMasala dosa, Idli, Filter coffee
Calicut Paragon ★ 4.0
Calicut Paragon, a Kozhikode name dating to 1939, cooks Malabar biryani, fish moilee and beef fry in a plain Al Karama dining room in Dubai.
OrderChicken biryani with a side of fried Kerala prawns and a bowl of chicken curry.
TipMost dishes come in full and half portions, priced to match, so a table can try more of the Malabar menu.
MYNT ★ 3.9
MYNT is an Indian restaurant on Salam Street in Al Zahiyah, Abu Dhabi, serving tandoor dishes, curries, seafood and biryani from across India.
OrderThe murgh makhani, gosht khada masala and the daab chingri, Gulf prawns cooked with coconut and mustard.
TipFACT magazine singles out the Masala Jhinga Poppers as a crowd-pleaser and calls the chicken dum biryani and malai pista kulfi comforting bookends.
Zeera by Buddha-Bar ★ 3.9
Zeera by Buddha-Bar is a modern Indian restaurant on the Yas Bay waterfront in Abu Dhabi, with shared plates, tandoor dishes and the Raan 24 Carat lamb leg.
OrderThe Malai Lobster, the Patta Macchi sea bream or the Raan 24 Carat lamb leg that FACT magazine highlights.
TipZeera opens at 14:00 every day and runs until midnight, with cocktails that use Indian ingredients and spice profiles.
MYNT ★ 3.9
MYNT is an Indian restaurant on Salam Street in Al Zahiyah, Abu Dhabi, serving tandoor dishes, curries, seafood and biryani from across India.
OrderThe murgh makhani, gosht khada masala and the daab chingri, Gulf prawns cooked with coconut and mustard.
TipFACT magazine singles out the Masala Jhinga Poppers as a crowd-pleaser and calls the chicken dum biryani and malai pista kulfi comforting bookends.
Bikanervala ★ 3.9
Bikanervala in Al Karama, Dubai, is the local branch of the vegetarian Indian sweets and snacks chain, serving everything from burfi to full thalis.
OrderMasala dosa, Chole bhature, Assorted namkeen
Bikanervala ★ 3.9
Bikanervala serves pure vegetarian thalis, chaats and sweets behind Park Regis Kris Kin Hotel, a reliable Al Karama room for Dubai's vegetarians.
OrderChole bhature with a side of jalebi and a glass of sweet lassi.
TipThe sweets counter at the front sells by the kilo; buy dessert on the way out rather than at the table.
Delhi Darbar ★ 3.9
Delhi Darbar is the Al Karama branch of the Mumbai founded chain, a busy North Indian room on Za'abeel Road serving mutton biryani and butter chicken.
OrderMutton biryani with a side of butter chicken and garlic naan.
TipThe menu runs from rumali roti and tandoori chicken to biryani, so a table can cover the tandoor and the rice pot in one order.
Malabar Paris Restaurant ★ 3.9
Malabar Paris Restaurant has cooked coconut fish curry and appam in Sheikh Hamdan Colony since 2010, a trusted Kerala kitchen in Al Karama, Dubai.
OrderFish curry with appam and a side of prawn roast.
TipThe fish pollichathu, marinated and cooked in a banana leaf, is the dish reviewers single out.
Taste of Kerala ★ 3.7
Taste of Kerala cooks home-style Kerala breakfasts, fish molee, beef ularthiyathu and six kinds of biryani on Old Passport Road, Al Danah, Abu Dhabi.
OrderFish molee or beef ularthiyathu with ghee rice, then a biryani from the six-kind list.
TipBreakfast plates of idly, dosa, appam and puttu with kadala curry sit beside the lunch spread, and the room opens at 06:00 most days.
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