Indian restaurants in Hamburg

The one (only?) thing I miss about the UK is the standard - generally - of the Indian cuisine, which is far superior to anything I've yet to sample in Hamburg... they can't make a decent curry here! Does anyone know better? Is there a good 'Indian' in Hamburg?

Somehow, Hamburg seems to have very few Indian restaurants. Maybe you should move to Munich...

To be honest, I've heard so much about how superior Indian food is in the UK to Germany and I was slightly disappointed by my last visit. In some places the food was good but I wouldn't say that it was any better than some of the really good places in Munich and in one place the food was much worse than anything I've ever tasted here.

It seems the quality of Indian food in Munich has gotten quite good lately. Although I suppose this doesn't help those in Hamburg.

blasphemy!

That is because of some selfless individuals' tireless efforts to educate curry houses here as to what kind of tastes are acceptable. And of course the trick question: Do you do proper onion bhajis or just onion rings? And not once has a restaurant tried to argue that onion rings are proper bhajis.

I put a certain amount of effort in upgrading the quality of Indian food in the South of France recently. The trick is to make sure they remember you as the difficult bastard who wants a decent curry.

Try Jaipur (Lerchenfeld 14), Maharaja (Detlev-Bremer-Str. 25-27), Shalimar (ABC-Strasse 46-47), Shikara (Eppendorfer Marktplatz 8) or Dwaraka (Rentzelstrasse 38). True though, I haven't seen any other German city with as many Indian restaurants as Munich has. Stunning.

I have a few indian friends in the UK, and when I used to go to Indian places with them in London, they would constantly say that a lot of the food is not genuine Indian food, and does not exist in India. They reckon that a lot of the curry houses in the UK are really Bangladeshi, and even then a lot of their food that they serve doesn't exist in Bangladesh!

However, here in Munich, my indian friends have mentioned that the food is quite genuine, and what they would expect back home. They only say that it is normally less spicy than they are used to. In the UK, where everyone has a competition over how spicy they can handle their meal, my UK friends mentioned that normally they wouldn't eat such hot curry as a matter of course.

Because of this, I'm beginning to think that the curry in the UK is actually the fake stuff, and we're getting the genuine stuff here.

Ashoka in bundesstrasse, accross from Millerntor, in my honest opinion the best there is to be had in Hamburg, the Vindaloo and saag is fantastic, can fully recommend.

Beluchistan (sp?) in Altona is pretty good, although its more Pakistani than Indian. There's another on Grindelallee not far from the kino, but it's name escapes me. An Indian just opened recently in Harburg near the Rathaus if you're ever over that way.

Have to agree though, not enough of them to create competition although it is changing slowly. Munich does have an advantage there, having "the best curry house in the world".

Baluchistan is the name of the restaurant or rather are the names of the restaurants. It's a mini chain - Schulterblatt, Altona and Grindel possibly more. The one in Altona has a nice sitting area on the floor area so that you recline amongst the cushions and eat. The three I've mentioned have a good atmosphere but don't go expecting the food to be as spicy as in the UK. That being said the quality is very good.

There is another Indian on Rentzelstraße (the road leading from Grindelallee to the TV tower) but I've never eaten there (so far).

Changing track slightly I've always enjoyed the Thai food from Manee Thai down near the Rathaus - be warned there is no compromise on the chillis to suit local tastes (but warning is given on the menu with dishes graded from zero to three chillis - I struggle much over one...)

Hope I'm allowed a recommendation here, although I'm a German sissy that can't eat spicy at all

In Eimsbüttel there's a nice Indian called Dehli, it's in Schopstr. 25, corner Hellkamp (close to the phantastic Greek takeaway), if you take the exit towards Osterstraße it's a 2 min. walk from U2 Station Lutterothstraße.
The place isn't very big or stylish, but the food is very nice, and I've seen quite a few Indians there, so suppose it's pretty authentic, cannot say anything about spice, but I suppose if you ask for it, you can actually get REALLY spicy. Works with our favourite Pizza service who also do Indian food, so why shouldn't it work in a restaurant just to ask?

Here are the addresses of Balutschistan/Balutschi:

Balutschistan Bahrenfelder Straße 169
Ottensen

Balutschistan Schulterblatt 88
St. Pauli

Balutschistan Eppendorfer Landstraße 103
Eppendorf

Balutschi Grindelallee 91 (University quarter)
Rotherbaum

renzelstr is a fantastic indian restaurant!

No it's not, it's a street.

Shikara in Eppendorf is a solid choice - ate there plenty a few years ago. They were always happy to make it "english hot" as well

I'd forgotten about the Shalimar (ABC Straße) nice food in stylish surroundings. They also appear at a lot of the outdoor events in Junfernsteig, Gerhart Hauptmann Platz, etc with a catering tent