Indian Restaurants in Barcelona – How to find a good curry

How…, Restaurants on May 22, 2009 1:23 pm

As a Brit, I am no stranger to Indian food. In fact, outside of India the one place that comes near to matching it in terms of the popularity of Indian cuisine is Britain. It has become so popular that it has now managed to integrate itself into British culture. Chicken Tikka Masala finds itself beingone ofthe favourite dishes of the average brit. Lets have a look at some Indian restaurants in Barcelona.

Of course, when you come to Barcelona you want to try the local Catalan food, some Spanish tapas or perhaps Valencian paella. But if after a week you have had your fill of all the different Spanish cuisines on offer and want a taste of ‘home’ (I suppose the term home is used loosely but you get the point), then don’t fret as there are several Indian options available in the city.

Now while I do not have the time (or money) to visit every Indian restaurant in Barcelona, I did a bit of research to find out which ones received relatively decent reviews. So I made a list of a few which had attracted positive attention.

So up popped the following restaurants: BEMBI, Mayura and Rani India (which perhaps by no coincidence are the top 3 Indian restaurants on TripAdvisor). I’ve listed them in the order I wanted to visit them, and it was lucky for me that I looked for more than one.

Upon arriving at BEMBI at Consell de Cent, 377, my housemates and I discovered that it was shut for a private party, which was a great shame because their menu (viewable online) looked fantastic and it had the best décor of the 3. Unperturbed we continued on foot to the second one, no big deal considering it was just over a 5 minute walk there. Mayura, located on Calle Girona 57, location is a key aspect for this one. I had mistakenly noted this one down as being on Calle Bailen, 57. Unsurprisingly we never found it but handily enough we were on the right street for Rani India which we had no choice but to settle for.

The restaurant itself is not very big, there’s only around 7 or 8 tables. The décor did leave a little to be desired. With mini flags of the world hanging from the ceiling and other paper ornaments hanging down, appearance isn’t something the owner spent too much time on. However we were there for the food and most importantly that’s where the restaurant came through for us.

We started with some onion bhajis, which turned out to be just onion rings. They came with 4 different dipping sauces and nonetheless were quite tasty. For the main course I ordered, ‘Murgh a la Rani’. It came with 4 generously sized pieces of chicken on the bone in a sauce which was described as a cream-butter-tomato based sauce with some spices and a nan bread.

The curry was mild though I knew that before as I lack a mouth which can deal with overly spiced foods! I should add that the waiter asked us if we wanted it mild or spicy, I asked for mild but it is well known in Spain that their ‘spicy’ wouldn’t satisfy the palate of a toughened British curry eater so ask for it extra-hot if you like a bit of kick in your dish. The nan bread was good although not as thick as you would get it in Britain.

If you have tried these, or found any other delicious Indian restaurants in Barcelona? We would love to hear from you!

Andrew

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