The best curry houses in London for 2026, ranked

London curry has never been better and the ranking is harder to write every year. Tooting alone could fill a list, the Brick Lane scene has shifted again, and the modern Indian wave (Hoppers, Gunpowder, Kricket, Brigadiers) is now properly mature.

This is the working 2026 list. No chains, no places I have only been to once, and no hot takes for the sake of clicks. If you disagree, the comments are the place — I update this list every six months.

For one-off curry events and pop-ups, the London food events feed is the way to keep an eye on it.

1. Tayyabs

Whitechapel institution. The lamb chops are the headline and they remain a properly destination dish — charred, marinated, the right amount of fat. BYO means a couple of cans from the Tesco round the corner and you are sorted. Queue is real, especially Friday and Saturday.

The dry meat curry is the sleeper order that nobody talks about and you should always get one for the table.

2. Dishoom (Shoreditch)

I know, I know, it is on every list. The black daal is genuinely that good, the bacon naan roll is one of the best breakfasts in London, and the Shoreditch branch has stayed the warmest of them. Yes the wait is long. Yes you should go anyway.

Pro tip: Mondays at 6pm and you can usually walk in.

3. Gunpowder (Spitalfields)

Tiny Spitalfields room, no real booking, queue when full. The Karwari soft shell crab is the destination plate and the lamb chops will absolutely give Tayyabs a run for their money in a side-by-side. The wine list is also unexpectedly serious.

There is now a Soho branch and a Tower Bridge one but the original is the original.

4. Hoppers (Soho)

Sri Lankan small plates done at a level that nowhere else in London hits. Bone marrow varuval, mutton roll, hoppers obviously, and the lamb shank semolina pudding which is the rare dessert order I actually finish. Soho is still my pick.

5. Apollo Banana Leaf

Tooting Sri Lankan canteen, properly low-budget room, the food is mental. The kothu is the order, the devilled mutton is the second order, and the prawn curry is the surprise. Cash-or-card now (used to be cash-only) and the queue moves quickly.

6. Trishna

Marylebone coastal Indian, the nicer-room option. The Dorset brown crab is the destination dish and is genuinely one of the best plates in London full stop. Service is sharp, wine list is correct, the bill is real.

This is the curry house I take parents to.

7. Lahore Kebab House

The other Whitechapel BYO. Less queue than Tayyabs, slightly larger menu, the karahi is properly excellent and the seekh kebabs are arguably better than the more famous one round the corner. The room is unfussy and large which means a group of eight is workable.

8. Brick Lane Sweet & Spicy

The Brick Lane caff that has outlasted every other pretender on Brick Lane. Cabinet of curries on the counter, you point and pick, food arrives in three minutes, you are done in twenty. £12 a head and you walk out fed.

This is the after-the-pub curry option and a proper London thing.

9. Kricket (Soho)

Modern Indian small plates that have somehow stayed sharp through three branches. Soho is the original and still the best. The bhel is the order, the Keralan fried chicken is the second order, and you should always get whatever curry of the day is on.

The cocktails are above-average for an Indian small plates restaurant which is to say genuinely good.

10. Dosa Express

Tooting South Indian dosa specialist. £8 a dosa, the Mysore masala is the order, and you should also get a uttapam for the table. The room is bare and the service is fast and that is exactly correct for a dosa lunch.

Worth knowing

I have left off a couple of obvious ones. Brigadiers is excellent but more of a hangout than a curry destination. Cinnamon Club is genuinely good but feels like a corporate-lunch place now. Bundobust in Soho is brilliant and would be top eight on a longer list — they should be on the next update.

How I use the list

Birthday: Trishna or Hoppers. Saturday lunch chaos: Tayyabs. After the pub: Brick Lane Sweet & Spicy. Lunch in the City: Dishoom or Gunpowder. Solo dinner: Kricket Soho or Dosa Express.

If you want pop-ups and supper clubs from any of these places, save the cuisine on Rifio and they will turn up in the feed.