Tharavadu in Leeds

Have been before and loved it but the service was terrible this time - wrong drinks, wrong food and the whole experience was followed by a bout of explosive diarrhoea. Good location, though and the atmosphere was jolly.

I cannot think of enough superlatives to describe my experience at Tharavadu. The flavours were exquisite and all the staff extremely attentive and courteous. I cannot recommend this place highly enough.

I would have preferred to be sat away from the bar area as this is quite noisy

Easily best place to eat in Leeds!!!

Best restaurant in Leeds. Food was fantastic, service efficient and warm. Loved it.

My friend, who is vegan, and myself a vegetarian, loved the food at Tharavadu. We had the vegetable Lunchtime Special Thali. It was simply delicious with so many different spicy flavours. It wasn't too hot, just aromatic. There was a bed of rice in the middle, and the huge crispy rice roll was very tasty and contrasted to the overall textures. A perfect meal, reasonably priced with excellent service and ambient atmosphere atmosphere.

Thank you. As always first class at all levels. Excellent.

The managers behaviour seemed a bit off to me...wasnt very friendly or polite about the issues i had with the food...the waiting staff on the other hand delivered pretty good service...im not really happy with the management and the atmosphere is also a bit dull. Even that the food was good the overall vibe wasnt really something i would go for

Fabulous meal and service. We were introduced to this restaurant by friends and had one of the best Indian meals. We have been since and were not disappointed. Recommended to friends and family. Wish we had not had to rush as it was a pre theatre meal!

I had a disappointing experience at Tharavadu due to the poor service. The staff seemed uninterested and lacked basic courtesy—no greetings, no smiles, just a cold and unwelcoming attitude. Service was slow and unresponsive, making the entire visit uncomfortable. It felt as if the staff didn’t care about customer experience at all. A little friendliness goes a long way, but unfortunately, that was missing here. No matter how good the food is, bad service ruins the experience. I won’t be coming back.

Very bad Service. I went there with my 3 friends, they are not smiling. It is a South Indian restaurant and we are also from south India. Very Disappointed.

Best curry about. Every time I go they smash it out the park. Great flavours and really good service.

I left this place with a happy heart and a full tummy!❤️ The food was absolutely delicious, and I have to say, the porotta, appam, and beef roast were cooked to perfection—soft, flavorful, and incredibly tasty. Every bite was a delight!😋 A special thanks to Treya, who was super kind and friendly. Her warm and attentive service made the experience even better. One small suggestion would be to add a bit more lighting towards the back area—it would help in capturing good pictures of the amazing food. Overall, I truly enjoyed the food, service, and ambiance. Highly recommended, and I can't wait to visit again!

Fantastic restaurant. The food is excellent, the service is exemplary. I would thoroughly recommend going here if you enjoy Indian cooking.

Absolutely delightful lunch, really tasty food and reasonable prices

Went here on Saturday afternoon, 4:30pm This is a restaurant, so I will start with the food. 10 out of 10 I couldn't fault anything. The people are lovely. I don't Complain, just for The sake of it, just so you don't think this person you just couldn't please. In my opinion, I think they try and get as many people in, I sat for 15 minutes without even being asked if we wanted a drink, I actually had to wave to somebody in the end to get their attention. They took our Drink and food order all in one go, The food arrived and we're just about finished our first drink. So we re-ordered the same drink order. That never arrived, When we finished our food, I waved to somebody and said that our second drinks had not arrived, The lady couldn't of been any nicer, Very apologetic and said she would go get our drinks, She come back and said there was never ordered, We had finished our food, so we said never mind so we didn't have the second drink. We was never asked if we wanted anything, We wasn't asked if the food was okay, The place was very full, In my opinion, not enough stuff on. Just need someone at the front of the house making sure everybody is okay with drinks, And if everybody's meal is okay. And some of the staff smelt of BO so they should take that into account when Serving food.

Had an amazing experience with all the team members at Tharavadu ( Allan, Seba, Milan and many more to the team). Food was scrumptious!! I Excellent customer service. Also has an amazing birthday surprise by the team 🥳

We have eaten here on several occasions and it is always top class. The staff are friendly and welcoming and the food is tasty and plentiful.

Brilliant all round. First time and won’t be the last

Chef's Special was incredibly amazing, never tasted anything like it - clearly a very special Chef! Had a great evening, thanks

The food was quite exceptional. I really recommend the beef streetfood starter.

Have been here a couple of times and the food is delicious, really really great - as well as the service!

Excellent food and amazingly friendly staff.

Great restaurant. Even gave us some drinks because we waited a while longer than they were happy with. Delicious. HOT. Food. it was pretty spicy I'm not going to lie. But if that's the regional flavours, than it's definitely authentic.

Amazing curry. Took awhile to arrive but worth the wait..

A must try Indian Kerala cuisine restaurant. I would recommend to try Kerala khozi curry(medium spicy Chicken curry in coconut), Meen kootan (Fish curry) with Kerala Paratha. If you are a vegetarian, must try there Kootu Curry ( mix vegetables curry fried in coconut oil). Falooda(Icecream with fresh fruits) in the dessert is one of the best dishes you will find.

Out of this world. The only problem, Kier Starmer has eaten here in the past :(

Food was amazing and staff were wonderful, friendly without being overbearing.

Interesting menu with delicious food and lovely service.

Wow. Our 3rd or 4 th time here and always good but this time was even better. All dishes honed to perfection and sooo tasty. We love it!

Really great curry. Lovely staff. Will be coming back. Thanks 👍

Very authentic food, service was excellent and had a very enjoyable afternoon meal with family, worth the journey on the train from Doncaster- highly recommend you try the different dishes to usual Indian food

Amazing food. Had been excited to go and didn’t disappoint. Everything we ordered was delicious. We had all vegetarian and gorgeous. Service great and it was super busy. Lovely staff. So much to try and will be back !!

Not often something lives up to the hype. The food is epic, flavoured with ingredients beyond the normal UK curry. Run with a warm, embracing atmosphere.

Yet another in an increasingly long (unbroken) line of fantastic evenings at Tharavadu under the ever-wonderful care of Prakash, Siby -- and more recently, Abbi -- and the Leeds-branch team. I can only repeat what I've said in my previous reviews (plural) of this fantastic restaurant -- which is -- "Have lost count of the number of times I've dined here over the years, every one of which has been a 5* experience on all counts of food, service and atmosphere. We've been looked after so well on anniversaries, birthdays and when taking colleagues and friends out for a meal. I cannot think of a _consistently_ excellent curry experience that comes remotely close to the Tharavadu. Keep up the great work -- we'll be back again and again as long as you're open! Thank you!! "

unreal food and presentation 👌🏼highly recommended! 🤩

Excellent meal and first class service. Thank you.

The curry was not good, and all items were overpriced. I had great expectations, but it was disappointing.It could have been done much better.

One of the best masala dosas I have ever had. So fresh tasting and full of flavour. Yum! Great service, too. Friendly and professional.

Had a lovely dinner tonight everything was spot on

Best curry in Leeds by far Staff super friendly and the tastes are amazing Went for lunch but dinner is great too

Great staff helped find us a better table than first selected, because of the physical need a of a guest.

Excellent place. I was transported back to India via a delicious prawn starter, followed by a Dosa which was as big as a hat. Beautiful food, great service.

The price for vegetarian sadya thali and the food provided doesn’t match the price. What we get for an express thali for a sadya thali they added 3 dishes along with soup and sweet. The management should look at offering buffet when going for sadya thali

The food here was amazing! and the alcohol selection was really good!

Not your usual Indian restaurant. With the menu being based on Keralan cuisine you won't be getting your usual korma here! Came here after seeing Gary Eats review on YouTube and we weren't disappointed. We even had a chat with a member of staff after the meal who told us that they raise money for charity as well. They were also kind enough to give us a little box to take our left overs home with us.

Really great restaurant specialising in South Indian cuisine. Staff really helpful and great service - they managed to accommodate us on Valentine’s Day. Restaurant very busy and vibrant. The food is always amazing, love the thali and bread (paratha).

Lunch reunion with ex-colleagues. Great choice, great service and so good to catch up

This was our second visit and it didn’t disappoint. My relatives were over here from Norway and I really wanted them to try the fabulous food in this restaurant. They make everything from scratch, the recipes are full of fresh spices, herbs, vegetables, sea food or meat and fruits.Wonderful Biryani, Giant Fresh Prawns in Kerala sauce with green mango.the best paratha I ever had. Wholeheartedly recommend.

Excellent lunch, friendly staff, well priced. Would definitely visit again and have recommended to other people already :-)

Really good spot for Indian food. Not the cheapest but big portions. Only fault was they forgot to bring out my friends drink and was quite busy in there so took a while for them to come round to remind them. But lovely staff and great food

Providing good atmosphere and excellent service. Food was okay okay Westernized version of South Indian food

Excellent food for a very reasonable price in the centre of Leeds, served efficiently and politely! The only thing to improve is the very strange music that was playing directly over our table

Went 2/17/25 for dinner as a group of 8. My husband and I decided to share the prawn appetizer which was 3 shrimp and spicy. I didn’t enjoy this one as much for sure. The chicken biryani and the roti were very good and Nan bread was enjoyed. The service was good. Restaurant was loud however so were we in our group. Had lots of drink options and we sat upstairs which was quite large dining room. I would return as I did enjoy our meal. Closer to 4.5 but decided 4 was too harsh

I was so impressed by this place. Couldn’t fault a single dish. Service was impeccable and the price was so reasonable. 100% recommend and we’ll definitely be back.

We booked Tharavadu after watching the Gary Eats YouTube review and I have to say Gary was spot on. I had the exact same meal as Gary, although I would have happily swapped meals with the couple sat next to us as theirs looked equally scrumptious. The service was excellent and I will definitely book again.

3rd visit. Consistently excellent.

I would have loved to have given this restaurant a full 5 stars but we didn’t have a pleasant dining experience from the get go, As soon as we were seated our server told us she wasn’t feeling very well, we got into small talk and found she’d not been in England very long and that she wasn’t finding the transition quite hard, weather wise and that she wasn’t in her head. We then went to place our food orders, we both ordered starters and main, yet only one starter came out, was a little bit baffled as to why and she apologised and stated she didn’t hear the second starter even though I placed my order first. This was at 5.20pm the second starter didn’t arrive until another 20 minutes later leaving us sat at the table wondering wether we were actually getting it, the food was brilliant when it finally arrived but we then didn’t get our mains until well after 6.15pm leaving us in a extreme rush to be able to get to the other side of Leeds for our concert, which we had left sufficient time for to begin with, so we weren’t actually able to enjoy our food properly, completely ruined our whole experience we paid for our food in such a rush at 6.40pm only half eaten mains and literally had to run out and get a taxi. The servers were quick enough to take our money the card machine was over to us in seconds, and our table was cleared instantly. Yet the whole attention to care for the evening was not there, we left hungry, paid for a service which in full we didn’t receive.

Used to be good. The quality is reduced so much and lost its authentic taste.

This was our second visit to Tharavadu, having been last year after reading a rave review in the Guardian. We adored the fish dishes last time and were really looking forward to tasting them again, and were not disappointed. Absolutely gorgeous! And dosa to die for - so much well presented and flavoursome food. Service is friendly and fast, and there are some rather lovely beers on tap. Highly recommended - also would suggest booking in advance as it was packed on a Monday night!

Unbelievable curry. Great flavours. Meat cooked perfectly. Starters are nearly the size of a main but well worth having. The beef was reminiscent of homemade curries from my Indian side of the family. Quiet place with no music or anything. Nice for a meet up and some great food.

Disappointing Experience at Tharavadu I had high hopes for Tharavadu, especially since we love South Indian cuisine, but unfortunately, it fell far short of expectations. The food quality was extremely poor – even a typical South Indian eatery would have served better dishes. It was overhyped, and honestly, I would give it zero stars if I could. On top of that, the restaurant is not at all child-friendly. I was shocked when the staff asked children to stop moving, as dining should be a comfortable experience for families. As customers, we're paying for food that's not worth the price, and it would be nice if the staff treated all customers – including children – with more respect and kindness. Next time, I hope to see a sign outside the restaurant stating it’s not child-friendly, so families can make an informed decision. We’ve had far better dining experiences in Cornwall, and it’s disappointing to see such a lack of professionalism and hospitality here. Please, Tharavadu, learn how to be more polite and respectful, and stop relying on fake reviews.

Our second time here. Wasn't disappointed. Kozhi Dosa was superb. One member of our party said he couldn't remember the last time he was more impressed by a meal out.

So disappointed with this place. Went on Saturday the 8th of Feb 2025 for my brothers birthday, a family meal. We had both seen Gary Eats Review this place and couldn’t wait to try it. Clearly Gary isn’t critical enough. It’s just your typical pretentious, style over substance place. The menu reads more like a travel brochure than a food menu. Transport yourself to …. We are in Leeds just describe the dish. For starters we had the Paneer, king prawns, fish and the beef. All were disappointing. Three king prawns for a tenner, every flavour seemed to contain too much I think fenugreek, could be wrong which I think gives everything like a burnt undertone of flavour. Fish was soggy and the beef just lacking even basic seasoning. We had to wait for the paneer dish and as we were still eating the waitress started to take plates away we were still eating from. Then they started to bring the cutlery for our mains again while we were still eating we had to say can you just give us a few moments please. On to the mains. We had lamb chops, the menu proudly telling us these were Gary Eats favourite. We also had the lamb and spinach and two chicken dishes. The lamb chops were so over cooked it was untrue, three dry chops for £21. The spinach dish was watery and again and that burnt flavour. The chicken dishes were the best but these were nothing spectacular at all. Even the chapatis were a little greasy, my brother ordered and another one of their breads but sent it back as it was just a mess. In fairness to them we complained and they did knock off the price of two of the lamb dishes and the cost of the bread so what was going to be a ridiculously large bill ended up being not too bad. I appreciate food is subjective but we’ve eaten curries all over the world and this in our opinion is poor. Wouldn’t dream of returning. Even the staff weren’t particularly friendly.

Went to Tharavadu yesterday. Superb food, the staff so friendly. It was really, really good.

Diverse, delicious and super friendly. Highly recommend!

Once again an excellent meal. The atmosphere brilliant and all staff are attentive and very friendly.

Fantastic food and great service. The waiters were great to help with the Gluten Free parts of their menu. Will definitely be back!

Tamanna provided an exceptional experience while welcoming and serving a guest. Despite being younger, her knowledge was impressive for her age. She was attentive, well-groomed, and easy to approach. In the restaurant, she explained each dish in detail, showcasing her expertise and making the dining experience enjoyable.

Different type of food So don’t know - how it should be Overall, not spicy at all Good serving size Good in taste Overall - Good Experience Light on pocket too

Visited with friends whilst staying in Leeds. What a fantastic place. Staff are friendly and professional from meeting at the door to showing to table ordering and serving our delicious meal. There is nothing to fault. Everyone seems to enjoy working in this restaurant. On our visit it was obvious many of the diners were returning customers and we will definitely visit again.

Wonderful menu, amazing food and really friendly staff. Very authentic food.

Didn’t like the food at all. It was nowhere near the Kerala style or taste. Really disappointed with the food and options. Had high hopes but I think you should just call it an Indian restaurant and not Kerala cuisine. Wasted my money in this place to be honest!

fantastic restaurant with excellent food

Exceptional food and service, highly recommend.

An excellent restaurant in short. It is difficult to find restaurants worth the money but this is. Authentically made and unbelievably tasty, we ordered the seafood platter starter, the fish curry and steamed fish in a banana leaf with paratha. Every single thing was excellent and the staff ensured the spice level was milder as requested. The paratha was extremely flaky and the pineapple kesari was a lovely light end to the meal. Thank you to the staff for being so pleasant and creating a lovely calming atmosphere. Will definitely be back.

Excellent food, fantastic service. Highly recommended!

Absolutely delicious food, best I’ve had in the UK! This place is the closest to tasting just like the curries you get in India!

Outstanding food and service as always. The parathas are the best I've had - beautifully flaky and perfect to mop up the sauce from my seafood curry which was cooked and seasoned to perfection.

Finding somewhere with atmosphere, great service and outstanding food is hard any day of the year but Tharavadu delivered all of this on 30th December when most other restaurants were dead! Just excellent - would highly recommend.

Food was good,service was good. The staff even celebrated somebody's birthday, I enjoyed my time.

Great food, unique flavours to the specific area of India. Service excellent to. Very enjoyable evening

I have been to this restaurant before and the food was lovely but this time was a completely different experience. We ordered the King Prawns and the squid to start. The prawns were nice but we only got three. The squid was rubbery. I had the lamb curry which was very average and Appam came clap cold. A far cry from my first visit. Will not be going again

Tharavadu has an authentic Southern Indian menu, with dishes that you will not find elsewhere. I took a group of people here in January 2025. It is necessary to book! The atmosphere on entering was bustling and friendly. The service was prompt and food arrived rapidly. The Masala Dosa was excellent and other dishes well spiced and presented. I would highly recommend this restaurant, for vegetarians and vegans.

Nice food and nice service. I have been a many time and it’s not disappointed I’d recommend to everyone to visit, but I feel it’s not that much good as Indian South Indian food, food is good but I think people from Indian they don’t like that much if they love Indian south India food. Might be I am wrong. Try it.

I visited this restaurant having lived in Thiruvananthapuram for seven years. I was very excited to find a Keralan restaurant having only just moved. Frankly I found it not to be particularly authentic and the paratha were a disappointment to say the least. I honestly cannot see what people are so excited about in their reviews. We spent over £100 and we may aswell have thrown the money at the wall. If you want an authentic ‘Indian’ experience go to Bundobust next door which I have always found to be reliable. I feel qualified to make these statements having eaten out almost every night whilst I lived in Kerala. Don’t waste your money.

Great meal all round and very helpful staff

Amazing food, every dish, from starters to dessert It was delicious. The fish was cooked to perfection and very tasty. Great service and customer care. Highly recommended.

Wasn't that great experience for me it was my first time visit recommend by someone. I was not aware that hospitality and service differs from which country and region you belong to which is quite prominent in the service this restaurant provide

Beautifully cooked food with lovely flavours and a lightness of touch.

Believe the hype. I had the seafood curry (a la Jay Rayner) and it was everything I’d hoped for - rich, fragrant, creamy and packed with flavour. The fish was cooked perfectly. The parathas - I could eat ten of them - so flaky and soft at the same time.

Yesterday, we visited Tharavadu, a Kerala restaurant in Leeds, and it was quite a letdown. The prices were noticeably higher than what we usually pay in London, which was surprising. We ordered Chilli Paneer (£8.75) as a starter, along with Masala Dosa (£9.95 each, x 2) and Kozhi Biriyani (£15.95). The Kozhi Biriyani was a complete disappointment—tasted worse than the chicken biriyani you can find in West London suburbs for just €3.50! To make things worse, the chutney served with the Masala Dosa was stone-cold, like it had just come straight out of the fridge—not even at room temperature. Overall, it was a pretty underwhelming experience and definitely didn’t live up to the expectations. Not worth the hype or the price!

Incredible food for a reasonable price. Great service and a fabulous experience! 10/10

Excellent Food and Amazing Service. Thank you Abi for taking good care of me

Simply Outstanding! If you're looking for the best spot to dine and have a wonderful time.. look no further. Come here! Excellent choices..amazing service!! Can’t wait to come back!

Had pepper chicken curry and paratha .. paratha was good but the curry no effort at all to resemble Kerala cuisine.. chicken breast boiled separately and added to a curry (my experience of having the same in home was that the meat is cooked with all the spices together so it absorbs the taste of that curry too). Also this is my personal opinion. Otherwise good atmosphere and service was good too

Oh dear Oh dear Oh dear ! Much vaunted highly rated rubbish … Paratha oily heavy doughy tasteless … Thali much of a muchness I had the meat which contained squid (no warning !) pretty bland overall in no way representative of its reviews … frankly overpriced rubbish … let’s be honest with our reviews please … after this review I was invited back with my friends by the manager and fair enough somethings had improved, the paratha was better but not really up to the exalted standards claimed by Jay Rayner amongst others and everything else was a three star, I honestly cannot see what all the fuss is about I lived in Goa for a year and travelled to Kerala many times I’m afraid this is not particularly authentic or fantastically good but give it a go I may be wrong !

Delicious, unique and impressive food, all served promptly. Not like your regular UK curry - will definitely be back! Definitely try a fish dish!

Fantastic food and service I can highly recommend and will definitely be back

Fantastic food and knowledgable and lovely service