The best Indian restaurants in Nelson cover everything from a slow cooked Punjabi banquet to a quick lunch plate of butter chicken and naan. Whether you want a fully licensed dining room for a group booking, a courtyard table on a warm evening or a takeaway curry on the way home, Indian restaurants in Nelson stretch from the city centre out to Tahunanui and Stoke. The Indian Cafe has been in the city since 2002 and Little India since 2004, and both sit alongside newer kitchens on Hardy Street.
1The Indian Cafe
The Indian Cafe was founded in the heart of Nelson in 2002 and moved to its current Collingwood Street villa in 2007, later adding restaurants in Richmond and Stoke. Owner Bobby began as head chef in 2005 and brings more than 30 years in hospitality along with a collection of family recipes. The Nelson dining room keeps the character of the old villa, with indoor table settings, a courtyard for outdoor dining and a separate space for private groups.
Services
- Dine-in dinner seven nights a week, with lunch Monday to Saturday
- Tandoor oven entrees including chicken tikka, seekh kebab, paneer tikka and tandoori chops
- Curry mains across chicken, lamb, beef, seafood and vegetarian, cooked mild, medium or hot
- Original and vegetarian banquets for two or more, plus set menus for functions and business meetings
- Event catering with Indian and Nepali menus, alongside takeaway and home delivery
Highlights
- Founded in Nelson in 2002 and on the Collingwood Street site since 2007
- Owner and head chef Bobby has over 30 years in the hospitality industry
- Private dining for up to twenty people at the Nelson restaurant
- Courtyard area for outdoor dining through the warmer months
- Fully licensed, and every curry on the menu is made gluten free
Location & Contact
Name: The Indian Cafe
Address: 94 Collingwood Street, Nelson
Phone: (03) 548 4089
Website: theindiancafe.co.nz
2Little India Nelson
Little India has been serving Nelson since 2004 from Hardy Street in the middle of the city, with an outdoor dining area and parking at the rear. The kitchen cooks North Indian food from the Punjab using recipes from grandmother Premjit Kaur Gill, who trained each of the group’s head chefs in her own kitchen in Chandigarh. The Nelson restaurant is hosted by Mani and Sonia, and sits within a family business started by Sukhi and Joanna Gill in Dunedin in 1991.
Services
- Dinner seven nights, with lunch Tuesday to Friday and Sunday
- North Indian and Punjabi curries, tandoori dishes and breads
- Set group menus for functions and celebrations
- Takeaway and delivery through the restaurant’s own online ordering
- Separate lunch, dessert and children’s menus
Highlights
- Serving Nelson from Hardy Street since 2004
- Family business founded by Sukhi and Joanna Gill in Dunedin in 1991
- Fully licensed and BYO wine, with an outdoor dining area for summer
- Ample car parking at the rear of the restaurant
- North India inspired cocktail and mocktail list alongside a whisky and port selection
Location & Contact
Name: Little India Nelson
Address: 269 Hardy Street, Nelson 7010
Phone: 03 539 1155
Website: littleindia.co.nz
3Taste of Delhi
Taste of Delhi sits further along Hardy Street in central Nelson and serves lunch and dinner seven days a week. The restaurant was opened by owner and chef Deepchand, who spent more than 20 years in hospitality across hotels and restaurants in India, Jamaica and New Zealand before starting his own kitchen. The menu runs from tandoor entrees and sharing platters through to curries, with lunch specials and a dining room used for private occasions.
Services
- Lunch and dinner service seven days, from 11am through to 9.30pm
- Tandoor entrees including tandoori chicken, murg malai tikka and samosa
- Curry mains such as butter chicken, mango chicken, lamb chops masala and vegetable korma
- Indian desserts and drinks, including mango kulfi, gulab jamun and mango lassi
- Online ordering for takeaway and delivery, plus table reservations
Highlights
- Owner and chef Deepchand has more than 20 years in the hospitality industry
- Kitchen experience drawn from hotels and restaurants in India, Jamaica and New Zealand
- Lunch specials starting at $13
- Private occasions and events hosted in the restaurant
Location & Contact
Name: Taste of Delhi
Address: 89 Hardy Street, Nelson 7010
Phone: 03 922 9599
Website: tasteofdelhi.co.nz
4Taaj Indian Restaurant & Takeaway
Taaj is an Indian restaurant and takeaway on Tahunanui Drive, a few minutes from the Nelson city centre and handy to the beach end of town. The kitchen works from recipes the restaurant describes as passed down through generations, turning out curries, tandoori dishes and naan baked fresh to order. It is fully licensed and also BYO, and serves lunch six days a week alongside dinner every night.
Services
- Dine-in lunch and dinner in a fully licensed and BYO restaurant
- Curries across both vegetarian and non-vegetarian menus
- Tandoori dishes and naan baked fresh to order
- Biryani and rice dishes
- Takeaway and online ordering with delivery to the door
Highlights
- Fully licensed and BYO
- Recipes the restaurant describes as passed down through generations
- Lunch service Tuesday to Sunday from 11.15am, with dinner from 4.30pm every night
- Table bookings taken for dinners and group celebrations
Location & Contact
Name: Taaj Indian Restaurant & Takeaway
Address: 140 Tahunanui Drive, Tāhunanui, Nelson 7011
Phone: 03 548 5480
Website: taaj.co.nz
Indian Restaurants in Nelson at a Glance
| Business | Highlight |
|---|---|
| The Indian Cafe | Founded in Nelson in 2002 and on the Collingwood Street site since 2007 |
| Little India Nelson | Serving Nelson from Hardy Street since 2004 |
| Taste of Delhi | Owner and chef Deepchand has more than 20 years in the hospitality in... |
| Taaj Indian Restaurant & Takeaway | Fully licensed and BYO |
How to Choose the Right Indian Restaurant in Nelson
- Decide whether you want a sit down dining room or a kitchen geared mainly to takeaway and delivery, because the two read very differently on a Friday night
- Check the regional style on the menu: a Punjabi and North Indian kitchen leans on tandoor cooking and creamy gravies, while Goan and South Indian dishes bring vinegar, coconut and chilli forward
- Ask about dietary needs before you book, since paneer, lentil and vegetable mains are standard but gluten free and dairy free options vary from kitchen to kitchen
- Look at whether the restaurant is fully licensed, BYO, or both, and whether there is a set banquet or group menu if you are booking more than a few people
- Factor in parking and location, as the Hardy and Collingwood Street restaurants suit a night in town while Tahunanui and Stoke are easier if you are driving in from the suburbs
Frequently Asked Questions About Nelson Indian Restaurants
How much does a curry cost in Nelson?
Published menus around the city put most chicken curries in the low twenties, with lamb, beef and seafood mains a few dollars higher and vegetarian dishes a little lower. Rice and naan are usually charged separately, so a main plus rice and bread is the realistic figure to budget for. Lunch menus and lunch specials are noticeably cheaper than the same dish at dinner, and banquet menus are priced per person for two or more.
Which parts of Nelson have Indian restaurants?
Most of them sit in the central city, with Hardy Street and Collingwood Street within a short walk of each other and of the Queens Gardens end of town. Beyond the centre there are Indian kitchens at Tahunanui and in Stoke, which are easier to reach by car and usually simpler for parking. If you are coming from Richmond or the wider Tasman district, several Nelson operators also run a second restaurant closer to you, so it is worth checking the locations page before you drive in.
Do Nelson Indian restaurants cater for vegetarians and gluten free diets?
Vegetarian cooking is a large part of North Indian food, so paneer, lentil, chickpea and mixed vegetable mains are standard rather than an afterthought. Gluten free is also well covered because most curry gravies are thickened without flour, and at least one Nelson kitchen states on its menu that every curry it serves is gluten free. Breads from the tandoor are the usual exception, so say something when you order if you need to avoid them.
Should I book a table or just turn up?
Booking is worth it for Friday and Saturday nights and for any group larger than four, and most restaurants take reservations by phone or through an online booking form. Midweek you can generally walk in, though the dinner rush from around 6pm is still the busiest window. If you are planning a function or a set banquet menu, give the kitchen a few days notice so they can prepare.
What is the difference between North Indian and other regional styles?
North Indian and Punjabi cooking dominates the New Zealand curry house menu, which is why you see the tandoor oven, butter chicken, rogan josh, korma and naan almost everywhere. Goan dishes such as vindaloo bring vinegar and chilli to the front and are usually the hottest thing on the menu, while madras and korma styles lean on coconut and cashew. Several Nelson kitchens also carry Indo-Chinese dishes like chilli chicken and steamed momo, which are a separate tradition again.
Can I get Indian takeaway and delivery in Nelson?
Yes. Every restaurant on this page does takeaway as well as dine-in, and most run their own online ordering for pickup or delivery rather than relying only on third party apps. Ordering direct from the restaurant’s own site usually means the full menu is available, where app listings are sometimes a shortened version. Phoning the restaurant remains the quickest way to place a takeaway order at a busy time.
Are Indian restaurants in Nelson licensed or BYO?
Both arrangements are common, and some restaurants are fully licensed and BYO at the same time. A licensed restaurant will have its own beer, wine and often a cocktail list, while BYO lets you bring your own wine, usually for a corkage charge. If BYO matters to you, check on the restaurant’s own site or ring ahead, because the arrangement can differ between two branches of the same business.
How do I check a restaurant’s food safety record?
Food businesses in New Zealand operate under a registered food control plan and are verified on a regular cycle, with the frequency depending on how they have been performing. In the city, food premises are registered and verified through Nelson City Council, which can tell you a premises’ current status. The Ministry for Primary Industries explains how the verification system works and what the results mean.
How We Chose the Best Indian Restaurants in Nelson
Every business in this guide was found by searching for indian restaurants in Nelson, then checked against what the business publishes itself: its own website, or where it has none, its official social or booking page. Names, addresses and phone numbers come from those pages rather than a directory feed, so what you see here is what the business says about itself. We also check that each one is still trading and is actually based in or genuinely serving Nelson, rather than a national operator running a local landing page. A business we can’t confirm from its own pages is not listed.