15 Best Indian Restaurants in Tbilisi

Most tables in Tbilisi have to pick between a curry house and a grill, and this is the one that refuses to choose. Aroma brought its Batumi kitchen to Liberty Square and runs biryanis, curries, kebabs and Arabic mezze off one menu. It's a basement room, marked casual, cosy and quiet on its own listing, with a kids' menu, free Wi-Fi and a salad bar. Come here when your table is split between vegetarians and people who want lamb. It holds 4.8 from 1,664 reviews, takes reservations, and you'll find it open any day between 11:59 AM and 12 AM.

Specialist Indian kitchens are rare this far from India, and this one puts Jain, Gujarati and Marwari food at the front of its own description. The Master Chef is on Galaktion Tabidze Street near Liberty Square, serving Indian, Arabic and continental dishes with halal meat and a long vegetarian section. Kind staff takes 8 mentions in its review topics and the caring chef another 2, which is roughly how a 4.9 from 306 reviews gets built. Come here when someone at your table eats Jain or vegetarian and you don't want to negotiate with a kitchen. It's open 11 AM to 12 AM daily.

Somewhere in this city has to still be serving biryani at 1 AM, and this is it. Al Madina Cave does Indian, Pakistani and Arabic food out of a vaulted room on Gia Tetelashvili Street, and halal food takes 92 mentions in its review topics, ahead of any dish on the menu. Biryani follows at 67 and welcoming staff at 27, which is about the shape of an evening here. Come here when your table wants halal and you're in no hurry. It's open 12 PM to 2 AM, 7 days a week, and it holds 4.7 from 1,619 reviews.

Royal Kitchen Premium is the Saburtalo option, and it helps to know what you're walking into. It's an Indian, Chinese and continental kitchen on Vazha Pshavela Avenue whose review topics read distinctly Keralan: panoor chicken at 4 mentions, masala tea at 4, sadya at 3 and ghee at 2. It holds 4.6 from 316 reviews, and slow service is the thread running through the 1 and 2-star ones. Come here when you've got a whole evening rather than an hour, and the table wants biryani. The kitchen runs 11:30 AM to 1 AM every day.

Freedom Square is not where you'd expect the vegetarian half of the menu to be the strong one, and Khushi is the exception. It's an Indian restaurant on Pushkini at Freedom Square with a fireplace, a private dining room and a bar on site, and authentic food takes 10 mentions in its review topics against kind staff at 7. Google puts a meal at 20 to 60 GEL. Come here when half your table eats vegetarian and the other half wants butter chicken, which leads the topics at 13. Book through its own site; the kitchen runs to 11 PM, and 9 PM on Sundays.

Most Indian kitchens in this city don't unlock the door until lunch, and this one has been serving since 8 AM. Maharajah Lounge sits on Dimitri Uznadze Street inside the Marjan Plaza hotel, one of 8 branches the group runs across Georgia's tourist cities, and its breakfast service goes from 8 AM to 2 PM before the main menu takes over. Hospitality takes 5 mentions in its review topics and ambiance 3, off a small base of 53 reviews at 4.6. Come here when you're up early and want something other than a Georgian breakfast. The doors shut at 11:30 PM.

2 things run through this restaurant's review topics before any dish does: halal food at 85 mentions and cash only at 23. Spice Garden is an Indian and Pakistani kitchen on Davit Aghmashenebeli Avenue with a private dining room, free parking and 4.5 from 2,493 reviews. Its own description names Jain-friendly food beside the biryani and the tandoori, which is what makes it work for a mixed group. Come here when you're feeding a crowd and need everyone covered. It's open 11:30 AM to 11:30 PM every day, and you'll want notes in your pocket before you sit down.

Small rooms make people nervous, and they shouldn't here. Beans & Barrel has a seating area one reviewer calls small, on Nikoloz Berdzenishvili Street in Saburtalo, holding 4.5 from 93 reviews with Google's band at 20 to 70 GEL. Its listing leads on great coffee and a tea selection as much as on the kitchen, and it runs delivery and takeout beside the tables. Come here when you want dal and paratha without making a whole evening of it. It's closed on Sundays and open 12 to 11 PM the other 6 days.

This one stays open until 3 AM, which is most of the reason to know where it is. It's a modern Indian restaurant on Vazha Pshavela Avenue that runs as a cafe, holding 4.5 from 61 reviews at 10 to 20 GEL a head. Google lists it as casual and cosy, popular for lunch and for solo dining, and vibe is its loudest review topic at 8 mentions. Come here when you want samosas and chai rather than a full dinner. There's on-site parking and takeaway if you'd rather not sit, and table service if you would.

The vegetarian menu is not the afterthought here: it's the pitch. Its own listing leads on veg, Jain, vegan and non-veg options, and vegetarian food takes 4 mentions in its review topics. It's on Shalva Nutsubidze Street in Saburtalo, holding 4.5 from 262 reviews, open 10:30 AM to 10:30 PM every day. Come here when you want the heat set where you like it, which its review topics list as spiciness on choice. Go earlier rather than later: 2 reviews describe arriving to a closed door well before the listed 10:30 PM.

Halal cooking is the promise this one makes on its own listing. Indus Valley is a modern Indian restaurant on Ortachala Street, 4.4 from 60 reviews, at 10 to 20 GEL a head, with free Wi-Fi and free street parking outside. Its own description puts it at over 500 clients a day across dine-in, takeaway and catering. Google marks it casual and cosy, popular for lunch, dinner and solo dining, and there's outdoor seating when the weather allows. Come here when you're eating alone and want something other than khachapuri in front of you.

Kerala cooking is what this kitchen is known for, and it asks something of you in return. Nadan kerala food takes 4 mentions in its review topics, with butter chicken at 3 and parota at 2. Royal Kitchen is on Atskuri Street in Isani, 4.4 from 165 reviews at 10 to 20 GEL a head, and it's dine-in only. It's open 12 PM to 1 AM every day, with free Wi-Fi and a free car park outside. Ask for the menu with the prices on it before you order: scam takes 2 mentions in its review topics.

Bring the table that can't agree on anything. Taste of India is a halal restaurant on Patardzeuli Street in Isani, holding 4.4 from 183 reviews, doing dine-in, takeaway and delivery, and large menu takes 3 mentions in its review topics. Its own listing points it at family dinners, casual lunches and romantic evenings, which is a wide brief. Vegetarian carries 6 mentions and momos 7, so you can order across the whole thing. It's open 11 AM to 11 PM, and to 10 PM on Mondays, with wheelchair access at the entrance, the seating and the restroom.

Vegetarian food takes 23 mentions in its review topics, close to 3 times the next loudest thing on the list. Rasthal is a pure vegetarian kitchen by Isani metro station, 4.3 from 114 reviews, and jain food carries 3 mentions of its own. Its listing writes itself a job: Indian students living in Georgia who want food from home. Homely food sits at 8 mentions and gujarati food at 5. Come here when you want a thali rather than a curry, and go in the evening: one reviewer turned up twice at 1 PM and was told the chef wasn't in.

Location does a lot of the work here. Mashallah is a halal Indian restaurant on Kote Abxazi in the old town, near the market and the sulphur bath area, and it stays open until 3 AM every night of the week. It holds 4.1 from 76 reviews, with friendly staff as its loudest review topic at 6, polite staff and cosy feel at 3 each. Come here when you're out late in Old Tbilisi and want biryani rather than another khachapuri. Order before you're desperate: one 4-star reviewer in January found the food fresh and the wait long.