Last Updated on May 17, 2026
A modern London gastropub serving Indian food brings some spice to the most overlooked meal of the day
4.5 out of 5.0 stars‘Are you sure this is the place?’ asked my guest as we pulled up outside The Great Indian. The postcode was correct. The address was correct, but this did not look like an Indian restaurant.
‘It’s a pub that serves Indian food’, I replied, ‘and this looks like a pub to me.’
It was indeed – one that dates back to the Victorian era and has long served as a neighbourhood drinking spot for locals – tucked away off the main road on a quiet street. Inside, the décor is fancy but still retains a bit of pub character. There’s a bar, but the two main rooms have been converted into contemporary, light-filled dining spaces. It’s a sympathetic transformation that has retained the period architecture.
The food menu has been created by Executive Chef Surjan Singh, who is better known as Chef Jolly and perhaps familiar to some as a judge on MasterChef India. He sets out to blend classic Indian dishes with innovative twists, so you have dishes like Lamb Ghee Roast Roti Tacos alongside Paneer Tikka and Butter Chicken or Palaak Saag with Bocconcini next to Biryani. It’s an extensive dinner menu with small plates averaging around £10 and main dish curries around £14. Specials include Tandoor Roasted Whole Chicken, Lamb Shank Biryani and Sharing Kebab and Veg Platters at weekends. The weekday lunch special incorporates some of the mains for a very reasonable £12.95.
But while the main menu is understandably drawing a lot of attention, the reason for my visit was breakfast, and this is where The Great Indian becomes distinctive. London has lots of great Indian restaurants, but surprisingly, very few of them explore Indian breakfast culture. Here, breakfast introduces diners to some typical dishes that define mornings across India. Dishes that are comforting, savoury and spice-led plates, but Chef has added some Western influences too.
Let’s start with chai – the undeniable staple of a morning across the Indian sub-continent. I had high expectations. Proper masala chai should be fragrant, instantly warming and deeply restorative. It took a while to come, but The Great Indian gets the balance right. Somebody in that kitchen knows how to blend cardamom, ginger and tea with milk without burning it, and that was worth the wait.
Next on to cocktails, which are only served from 11 am, so if you make a reservation before then, you’ll need to wait. I am a margarita girl, and so it had to be the Imli Margarita. I am also a purist, so I wasn’t too sure about the combination of Cordero Tequila with a tamarind and chilli reduction, rimmed with black lava salt. But this is genuinely one of the most pleasing margarita variations I’ve had. Sour and not excessively sweet, mixed rather than a premix and a very reasonable price tag of £12.50.
As we waited for our food to arrive, I noticed a relaxed, local feel to the room. A family with toddlers had settled into a corner table, a few couples lingered over cocktails like us, and a large group shared plates in that easy, communal style that suits Indian food so well.
There are no variations of eggs Benedict here, no stacks of thick pancakes layered with sickly syrup and not a hint of avocado toast. The Great Indian offers Indian classics and familiar staples, which are reworked through an Indian lens. Like the porridge, for example. Not an Indian breakfast staple, but a British one for sure. Here it’s a creamy, saffron-infused version made with oat milk, sweetened with jaggery and topped with pistachios, toasted almonds and strawberry jam. The jam was not needed, and I would have preferred this much hotter, but it was a delicious pairing with the chai.
As my main, I opted for a childhood favourite – Uttapam. A griddled ‘pancake’ from South India topped with fresh tomatoes, onions, coriander, green chillies, served with a sambhar, and coconut-tamarind chutney. I chose to top this with a poached egg, which comes with a curry masala and a coconutty tamarind chutney. Please do the same if you order this, because that curry masala tasted like it had been simmering and brewing for hours and hours. The spicing was absolutely the right kind of deep without giving me that burning sensation to the core.
My guest had the Eggy Masala Paratha – a crisp, flaky flatbread filled with a spiced masala omelette and bacon. You can have it without the bacon or with a Cumberland sausage. Does it challenge the infamous Dishoom Bacon Naan Roll? Yes, I think it does.
We did not have room for Dosa – the classic, crispy South Indian crêpe filled with masala potatoes and served with a hearty sambhar (tomato soup), and a coconut-tamarind chutney. Our neighbours did go for this, and it looked every much like those I enjoyed in Chennai. There are two kids’ variations of this too – Cheese or Chocolate.
The breads and condiments deserve particular mention. They are crisp, buttery and soft enough to scoop up rich sauces like the curry masala – and they arrive fresh and hot. This isn’t always the case at even top-end Indian restaurants, where it feels like the bread has been sitting around while the curry simmers. Alongside them, you get house chutneys and pickles as you would expect on any Indian’s home table.
This breakfast left us feeling energised for the day rather than ready for a nap. It was the right amount on the plate, the spices were not overbearing or overpowering, and the variety offered enough choices for regular visits.
The service here was warm and friendly. I pretended not to understand anything about Indian food and felt that my waitress was a wonderful guide to the menu and the history of the pub itself. It’s easy to imagine dropping in casually for chai and breakfast here and getting to know the team – just as easily as you would a local ‘caff’.
There was something refreshing about seeing an Indian breakfast presented in a London gastropub setting. British diners are deeply familiar with Indian food at dinner and for takeaway, yet breakfast remains an underexplored territory. The Great Indian quietly challenges that gap, and I hope the menu will further expand. Perhaps some Gujarati Thepla (fenugreek flatbreads) with pickles or maybe even Jalebi (deep-fried spirals of fermented flour, soaked in sugar syrup) and Ganthiya with Sambharo (chickpea flour fritters with a spiced carrot and cabbage slaw).
What ultimately makes The Great Indian stand out is not simply that it serves excellent food, but that it expands the conversation around what Indian dining in London can look like at all times of day. Breakfast was our introduction to this growing venture. We will be back for Chef’s unique twist on the traditional British Sunday roast:
- Slow-braised rolled lamb shoulder with a fragrant mace and rose aromatic sauce
- Slow-roasted pork belly served with a rich vindaloo sauce
- Half tandoor-roasted chicken paired with a creamy tomato and fenugreek sauce
- The Great Indian Vegetable Pot Pie filled with seasonal vegetables
Each of the above is accompanied by a range of sides, including pan-fried new potatoes with garlic, cumin and spring onion, roasted parsnips and English carrots with fennel, coriander and black pepper, buttered tenderstem broccoli with Parmesan and toasted almond slivers, topped off with an oven-baked Yorkshire pudding.
If you’re tempted, The Great Indian is open every day from noon til 10 pm, 10.30 pm on Fridays and 5 pm til 10 pm on Mondays. The breakfast menu is available on Sundays from 10 til noon. It’s perfect for couples, groups and family celebrations.
The Great Indian
139 Marlborough Rd, London, N19 4NU
For reservations, call 020 71672090 or Book Online
For more Indian food in London, check out Roti Chai, Kokum and Chook Chook.
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