Wekiva

When we were last in London we ate at an incredible Indian restaurant in Windsor. Now that we're going back to London we'd like to find another good Indian restaurant near our hotel. We're staying half way between Regent's Park and Hyde Park. We'd be willing to hop on a subway and go elsewhere if there are none in that area...but would prefer to stay close to the hotel if possible. We'll have our children along this time and this will also be their introduction to Indian food.

Thanks

JJames

My favourite restaurant for every day eating is one of the Masala Zone restaurants (www.masalazone.com).

Authentic food, friendly service, stylish, and good value.I think they have a restaurant in Bayswater which would appear to be to be convenient.

lizziea06

Tamarind is wonderful and the location is perfect, however, it's not inexpensive and you don't name a budget:

http://www.tamarindrestaurant.com/

I'll get $hit for this, but the worst Indian I've had is on Brick Lane plus it's kind of a hectic experience. And this is after trying it 4 or 5 times.

Star of India used to be my 'local' and it's great. Right in South Ken off of Brompton road and very convenient following a visit to the Museum of Natural History or the V&A

http://www.starofindia.eu/index.html

BigRuss

We had a good meal at Kerala off Regent Street near Oxford Circus, that shouldn't be too far from your hotel.

Brick Lane is near the Tower, so that's a bit of a distance from you and hopping on the Tube (in London, a subway is the underground tunnels that allow pedestrians to cross very heavy traffic intersections like Oxford Circus) to go to South Kens is a hassle because you're not likely near the Piccadilly Line and it would take a change of trains just to get dinner.

When you get to the hotel, ask the concierge or other staff. London is shot through with Indian restaurants and they should know some in the area.

Wekiva

I had given up on this thread...glad JJames found it.

I would say our budget for a family of 4 (kids are 8 and 10) would be around 60GBP ($100)...certainly no more than that. But if we can find a good meal for less then we'd do that by all means. We don't need anything fancy...just want it to be good food.

Good point on asking the hotel...will do.

Now...how well our children do with Indian food remains to be seen.

bachslunch

I had two excellent Indian restaurant experiences in London when I was there, one at Moti Mahal, the other at Mela. Both are in the Covent Garden area, a bit east of Hyde Park and southeast of Regent's Park.

Mela was the cheaper of these, offering a reasonably priced pre-theater special that was very nice indeed.

flanneruk

I don't know why the poster thinks he'll get beaten up for pointing out the difficulty of getting edible food in Brick Lane. Though surrounded by a Bangladeshi community, Bangladeshis just don't have an eating out culture. The street's perfect for crowds of chums going out for a night's shouting at each other: it's the last place on earth I'd go for a family meal.

I wouldn't go to Massala Zone for an experience: it's a chain, put together by MBAs who couldn't get into an outsourcing business, that serves OK, but unmemorable, food. Indian restaurants, both here and in India, don't really lend themselves to chaining: the best places are all one-offs - and serve regional food (Masala Zone's a kind of Greatest Hits compilation chain)

Kerala (the restaurant) is good, and well worth researching first (Kerala's a largely Christian state, so like Goa its cuisine has no real bans on any kind of food). The most interesting place that meets your brief is the Indian YMCA in Fitzroy Square, where you do actually get families of Indians eating (mostly, London's huge Indian community eats in the neighbourhoods they live, and most are miles out of the centre)

IMHO, the best place meeting your brief is La Porte des Indes in Bryanston St, W1H 7EG. Roughly based on the cooking of the area round Pondicherry, a French colony till independent India virtually annexed it, it's got the kind of French influence you get in Indo-China or Morocco/Tunisia. Prices show a French influence too.

My own personal favourite meeting your brief is Chowki, Denman St W1, though I've not been there lately. Offers (or offered) a rotating range of regional cuisines, really good advice and very low prices