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

One problem that I've found is that the majority if not all the the Indian restaurants here in Hamburg serve Norther cuisine or Pakistani cuisine. I've been trying to get my hands on a decent Masala Dosai for ages(typical Southern Indian cusine)! Can anyone lead me in the right direction?

Taj Mahal in Harburg has masala dosa and it costs 5 euros

Taj Mahal is pretty good. They open at lunchtimes too.

Am I the only Brit who cannot find enthusiasm for Indian-style food?

It's not everyone's cup of tea. Maybe some people miss things from the UK when they can't have them as often.

oy. we ate here the other night and were VERY disappointed. the chicken was like rubber in both our dishes. and, even worse, i found no fewer than three hairs in my food, one of them dark & curly. ew. i'll stick with shikara until i can find something better.

does anyone know of an indian supermarket in HH ? I wanna try to make my own curries if i go back (in NZ now), i just started to learn, i got a sudden interest when i got introduced to lassi... then got addicted to the stuff i thought i'd learn to make my own... then it lead to me discovering an indian store and then i got curious to try to make my own curry from all the raw powders and spices.. its really really super fun. if there's an indian store where i could buy all the raw ingredients then please let me know... and you should check it out too! it's pretty tough and i had to get a friends dad to give me some hints and also a lot of indian friends advice... slowly im getting there.. but it's sooo worth it!

I seem to remember there being an Indian supermarket on the Lange Reihe up near the Hauptbahnhof end. I know there is an Asian one there but I think there is an Indian one as well. I wanted to check some time ago but forgot all about it until I read your post @Jun. Next time I'm down there I shall look closer, unless somebody else knows for sure.

yes, there is an Indian store at the beginning of the Lange Reihe. I'm sure there are plenty of others.

as for restaurants...

i liked Zara, at Hallerstrasse U1.

there's also a really good one in Mundsberg... can't remember the name... have to do a litttle checking.

hey cool, if you guys know the name of the store and the address let me know yeah? and if you check it out 'mad dog' let me know if it's good and if you can buy all the different powders and seeds from bulk bins in and stuff cheers!

u can find some indian shops near steindamm in hauptbahnhof. There is one store called Dostana there

By far and away the best Indian restaurant in Hamburg is the Ashoka on Budapester Str. I was recommended it by the folks in the Shamrock pub. Really spicy (ask for scharf - its hot enough!) and GOOD food - as close as you will get to the quality of the UK curry houses. Nice staff too. http://www.ashoka.de/9event/index.html. The only problem is that they don't do deliveries. Highly recommended.

When I lived in Hamburg years ago we used to go to an Indian where the English thearte is, try there if it still exists, we always had good tucker there.

Just remembered the name of the place near Hauptbahnhof. Its right next door to the Asian supermarket. Supposed to be pretty good.

Gobinda
Lange Reihe 7, St. Georg, Hamburg
Tel: +49 40 28051632

Hear, hear.. You can actually ask there for 'English Hot' and they will know what you're tallking about. The staff there all speak english and understand us when we mean hot... and not 'German Hot' (less than mild) We go in there with the Shamrock crowd and they always look after us there...

I've been there numerous times and I've yet to be disappointed... and I'm very fussy with Spice-based dishes. It has to be the real deal, not like most Asian delivery around here that put about 1/4 teaspoon of any spice in their dishes...bland !!!

Speaking of which, I found a great Asian takeaway that has just opened. I don't know the name but it's about 50m down the road from the Shamrock opposite the bunker and next to a small kiosk (Feldstrasse). It used to be a fish-imbiss but has turned to the Dark Side.. It's the closest that I've had to real Authentic Asian food here in Hamburg so far.. The fried rice is a must !!!

I have yet to sample the Ashoka's board of fayre, but it sounds pretty good and I'd like to give it a go sometime. Maybe a TT curry night needs to be organised.

Its "Jaipur". Was in there about 18 months ago. Pretty good. Across the road from Mundsberg U-Bahn station.

the baluchistan chain (schulterblatt in sternschanze, bahrenfelder strasse in ottensen-altona, grindleallee) are good. cheap but fair is a tiny indian on susannestrasse, again in sternschanze, near the thai cowboys asian place. shikara near the fabrik in altona is not so good.

I can't believe you guys have not mentioned the following yet

Tassajara

Smoke free too

It's near the U-Bahn Eppendorfer Baum, right at the beginning of the Eppendorfer Landstr.

I can truly recommend it.