Best Indian restaurant
YOUR PICKS
1) Swapna
You say, “Swapna is by far the best Indian in Atlanta. We’ve eaten at nearly every Indian restaurant in the area and Swapna constantly delivers.”
2) Bhojanic
3) Zyka
4) Himalayas
5) Mirch Masala
Lazeez Tava Fry's Bhindi Masala is tender okra simmered with onion and Indian spices. Photo: Becky Stein / special
OUR PICKS
1) MGR Palace
No one griddles dosai better than MGR Palace. But there’s more to this palace than South Indian pancakes. Medhu vadai is a favorite — a crispy doughnut-like goodie made of white lentil and studded with bits of black peppercorns and ginger. Or try tiny pani puri (little crispy crunchy puffs) and fill them with an array of potatoes, chickpeas and tamarind chutney before popping them in your mouth.”
2) Moksha
4) Vatica Indian Vegetarian Cuisine
5) Royal Sweets
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171 comments Add your comment
Dixie
January 11th, 2010
1:21 pm
Swapna Indian Cuisine just north of 285 on Cobb Parkway. Someone I worked with who was Indian said this place was the best in Atlanta. They suggested I try it for the buffet lunch to get a good sample. The food was great, it was very clean and has always had a large Indian clientele when I have been.
Tequila Lamar
January 11th, 2010
1:44 pm
Niramish Indian Vegetarian Restaurant in Little 5 Points is the absolute best! Great food, great prices, and great service!!! Ask for Merza!
Sara
January 11th, 2010
1:59 pm
I like Bombay Cafe. There’s an Indian grocery store right next door too!
Fram
January 11th, 2010
3:16 pm
Swapna on Cobb Parkway gets my vote. Don’t know the exact address but my car goes on auto-pilot as soon as it senses my craving for Indian food. Swapna specializes in North Indian non-veg but their Idli and Dosa (South Indian vegetarian) are more than adequate. I am of Indian origin but everyone I have taken there, Indian, American, British or Thai, love eating there. More importantly my very American teenage grandsons, who became connoisseurs of Indian cuisine in Philadelphia, choose Swapna so frequently that the wait staff will get an extra order of papad for them as soon as they walk in. Clean, pleasant, unpretentious, my only caveat is that the waiters sometimes think they have to keep you waiting just to live up to their name.
TH
January 11th, 2010
3:41 pm
Panahar on Buford Hwy. Great food, great price and its BYOB!!
foodie
January 11th, 2010
4:00 pm
Bhojanic in decatur hands down for some authentic indian food…
MochaDLyte
January 12th, 2010
12:07 am
Ashiana in Global Mall off Jimmy Carter
Dennis
January 12th, 2010
5:25 am
Vatica , a vegetarian indian place on Terell Mill in Cobb county. It is an award winning restaurant.
We LOVE it. Plus you can buy food by the pound and take it home.
We really like it because it much less oily than most Indian food we try. The owner is there every day and is a nut. He will sit at your table and chat for a few minutes. We always leave smiling.
No alcohol and you get what is cooked that day. Thali? style-5 little dishes of different things and you can refill on whatever you like.
Michael
January 12th, 2010
6:29 am
My wife travels to London a good bit and compares Bhojanic to some of the finest Indian cusine she has eaten over there. I have to agree. It is good, consistent and where else can you listen to good live music and eat excellent and authentic Indian food?
Donna
January 12th, 2010
6:50 am
Swapna is the best Indian Cuisine in all Atlanta. The restaurant is easy to get to – just off I-285 and Cobb Parkway – North about a block. The owner and staff are the most generous and gracious hosts I’ve ever encountered. If you’re craving Indian food Swapna is definitely the place to go.
Katz P. Ajamas
January 12th, 2010
6:51 am
The Indian food I find in Atlanta(ITP) is prepared with WAY too much ghee. Hell, it’s difficult to find good Indian food in India unless one eats with a family or from a street stall.
Vic Healey
January 12th, 2010
7:04 am
Swapna is the best Indian Cuisine in all Atlanta. I once ate with a friend who suddenly stopped talking as sweat broke out on his face. He had picked one of Swapna’s hotter dishes and chewed a pepper. After from giving him some Indian yogurt to recover I thought it was funny. I looked up Swapna to see why they would open a restaurant with a name that sounds like a GA Swamp. It seems it means ‘dream like’ or in a ‘dream state’ in Indian culture and that amply describes the food’s affects after a delicious meal.
Most dishes are vegetarian but there are some goat or chicken dishes to choose from.
Christina
January 12th, 2010
7:16 am
I agree with Katz about the Atlanta restaurants using too much ghee, but hey, this is the South. It’s Paula Deen-style Indian Food. LOL!
mm
January 12th, 2010
7:19 am
It’s ALL about Swapna. We love that place.
mm
January 12th, 2010
7:20 am
That said, Bhojanic is good, too. And hey have that cute market right next door now that has carry-out Indian food and cool gifts.
Mary
January 12th, 2010
7:35 am
Bhojanic.
Matt
January 12th, 2010
7:42 am
Mirch Masala in Decatur is my favorite.
mirza baig
January 12th, 2010
7:55 am
The best Indian restaurant in Atlanta is “ZYKA”(TASTE)located on scott blvd in Decatur Chicken–65 (signatue Dish )is out of this world on the whole the food is tasty and the enviroment is clean.
Enjoy the food it is tasty(veg & NON_VEG).
MB
Robert
January 12th, 2010
7:55 am
Raja on Peachtree Rd. in Buckhead….been going there for 30 years, its the best!
Chris
January 12th, 2010
8:00 am
My vote goes to Swapna also, unless I’m in Decatur then it’s Mirch Masala.
SteveR
January 12th, 2010
8:06 am
It may not be the best but Unique Indian Cuisine (2772 Cumberland Boulevard SE, Smyrna) around the corner from Swapna, is a good little local place that has a nice atmosphere with white table clothes and private booths. Better date place than Swapna. Used to be called Daabha, and they had a little old lady who could do a mean dish of butter chicken.
SP
January 12th, 2010
8:07 am
Madras Chattinad, now in Alpharetta is the best all around. It serves North and South indian food. We go there once a week. http://www.madraschettinaad.com
snb
January 12th, 2010
8:15 am
Bhojanic
CC
January 12th, 2010
8:16 am
Bojanic is wonderful. Panahar on Buford Hwy. has excellent food as well.
Holt
January 12th, 2010
8:18 am
Bhojanic-My Indian clients from NY say its the best too and a great vibe @ night.
indian
January 12th, 2010
8:20 am
try Viceroy in AShford Dunwoody Rd. Its new, but very good food. Also Udipi Cafe and Moksha are very good too.
Michelle
January 12th, 2010
8:24 am
Zyka is great. I never liked Indian food because of the smell but that chicken 65 OMG.
Frank
January 12th, 2010
8:30 am
I love Bhojanic in Decatur but I have to laugh at all the comments describing their favorite Indian restaurant as authentic. How the heck do you know what’s authentic unless you have been to India or are from there?
I’m sure some commenters have that experience but don’t say authentic unless you can say it with authority. It’s almost as bad as the misuse of “literally”…
Katherine
January 12th, 2010
8:38 am
cafe bombay is great
F& B Guy
January 12th, 2010
8:41 am
Bhojanic in Decatur is the best. My family loves going there for the food and the entertainment at night is great!
Delicious!
Cecilia
January 12th, 2010
8:42 am
SWAMPNA is the best Indian food that has ever touched my lips, and I’ve eaten at a lot of the other places. They serve both Northern and Southern Indian food. The lunch buffets let you see what is offered before you eat it. Everything is quality!
VV
January 12th, 2010
8:47 am
TRY Royal Indian Cuisine off Abbots Bridge Road. Food is great and by all means real authentic food. Try their weekend Buffet they have 40 + items both meat and vegetarian. Enjoy the taste and flavour !!!!
Reid in EAV
January 12th, 2010
8:52 am
Going to add another vote for Zyka in Decatur. There may be better dishes here and there around town, but nobody beats Zyka for sheer value. You can order up a ton of food there, eat it family style and get out without having dented your wallet much at all. (Though your palate may need lots of water and naan to recover.)
Who cares that the plates are styrofoam and that the dining room is a converted church hall? It’s the food that’s the point.
Laura
January 12th, 2010
8:53 am
Bombay Cafe on N Druid Hills Rd – amazing Indian food, nice staff, fun environment. Must eat here!
Walter
January 12th, 2010
8:54 am
Udipi Café in Duluth, just north of Pleasant Hill Road on Peachtree Industrial Blvd is the most incredible Indian Restaurant we’ve tried. All Vegetarian and well prepared foods. Even the meat lovers we take there come away happy and full just having the vegetarian entrees. Huge menu with lots of choices. The coffee is awesome too.
Poona, also in Duluth, on Pleasant Hill Road about 1/4 mile east of Peachtree Industrial Blvd is our second favorite and the best one with all around Indian dishes. Great buffet at lunch time to sample the many offerings with a full dinner service. Best Naan in town. Service is really good and they have some special meals for some holidays that are fun too.
Kenneth
January 12th, 2010
8:57 am
I’ve eaten at Swapna a dozen times. Unless it’s changed in the last year or two, I don’t think it’s anything special. Zyka is great. Bhojanic seems like a place I need to check out.
Malory
January 12th, 2010
9:00 am
I’m hopelessly addicted to the muglie chicken at Planet Bombay on Moreland Avenue.
Anne
January 12th, 2010
9:03 am
I think Madras Chettinad is great value for the money – on State Bridge Road in Alpharetta. Good lunch buffet. Also, Moksha on Old Roswell Road.
Vince
January 12th, 2010
9:04 am
The best ones are those around the Indian enclave in Decatur. Zyka, Madras Grill and Madras Sarvanaa are all wonderful. Most of the patrons are Indian themselves so they must know something!
Atlanta Native
January 12th, 2010
9:08 am
Didn’t we do this exercise a few months ago?
southnotsmart
January 12th, 2010
9:10 am
the ethnic food around here is not good – this is beer drinking, nascar, and football country.
Steve
January 12th, 2010
9:11 am
I like Bombay Cafe.
JR
January 12th, 2010
9:12 am
Swapna on Cobb Parkway is excellent. The food is great (I highly recommend the Chicken Tiki Masala meal) but the service is lacking a bit.
Jay Kumar
January 12th, 2010
9:24 am
It’s a different thing that Americans relish these Indian restaurants, but Indians who have spent better part of their life in India and think these restaurants are great……..come on !
All of them have bad to no service. there restrooms are dirty and food is oily & inconsistent. Unless your Indian wife is a very bad cook then I don’t blame you for eating at Indian restaurants. Anyways, here my opinion of the best Indian restaurant. In fact all of them are BAD ! selecting the best of the WORST is Mirch Masala in Decatur. at least they will give you freshly cooked naans in lunch buffet unlike Bombay Cafe where the naans are sitting there cooked hours before and the food is COLD. also both these places have very OILY food. you can see the level of oil above the ingredients.
GoFAlcons
January 12th, 2010
9:24 am
Planet Bombay in little 5 Points. The spinach paneer and lots of other goodies too!!!!!!
Liz
January 12th, 2010
9:25 am
Amma Kitchen in Alpharetta is amazing!!! It’s run by a whole family using Amma’s (mom’s) recipes. It’s vegitarian and delicious!!
Chuck
January 12th, 2010
9:29 am
For sure its Cafe Bombay..go see Ricky! Amazing Food!!!
http://www.cafebombayatlanta.com/
mama
January 12th, 2010
9:30 am
Swapna is just not very good. Zyka is #1, Bojanic #2 and Vatica #3 (assuming you like vegetarian).
jennyw
January 12th, 2010
9:33 am
Raja on Peachtree in Buckhead is by far the best Indian food in Atlanta!
Starwood
January 12th, 2010
9:34 am
I like Himalaya on Peachtree Industrial. It also has a grocery store next to the restaurant.