Tharavadu in Leeds

Great South indian restaurant 5 mins from Leeds City Station You'll find Kerala classics and inventive Chef's Specials feature in Tharavadu's exciting menu, the dishes we chose were generous, rich and well executed (including UZHUNNU VADA and KOZHI DOSA). We've had great seafood dishes here previously too Little touches like homemade chutney and exciting poppadom selection really add to the place Friendly staff who know their stuff, we're already looking forward to our next visit

Anytime in Leeds a must place to eat. Fantastic food, exceptional service and awesome atmosphere.

Been twice amazing food and great service both times. Definitely worth the price possibly the best restaurant in Leeds.

heard about via Gary Eats on You Tube. Lived up to the praise. Great staff and service. Food was another level above a curry. This was cuisine. Everything full of flavour and well presented. We went earlier but was filling up by 5pm ( Saturday)

we always have a wonderful dining experience at Tharavadu. The staff are always welcoming and remember us from previous visits. The food is amazing, we tried the paneer dosa for a change which was delicious with plenty of cheese. My partner ordered the Meen Kootaan (fish curry) as this is his favourite and he was not disappointed. I had the Mutter Paneer which is my favourite and again I was not disappointed. We always have the Appam (rice breads) which again did not disappoint. The waiter came with a new signature dish they were trying and asked for our opinion, this was a fish dish and was wonderfully presented, it has a mash of Cassava with fish and a sauce with prawns. My partner said it was delicious, but could not eat it as too full. We packed it and gave it to a friend, who also said it was delicious. We had desserts as it is unusual for an Indian restaurant to have good quality desserts, I had a vermicelli pudding which was pleasant and my partner had the chocolate cake which looked like it had been steamed, so was quite light. We were very full when we left. I would recommend this restaurant. It was very busy at 5pm on a Saturday, so would recommend booking.

Wow wow wow!!! One the best Indian (Kerala) taste I can recommend. Been here for the first time and definitely more and more to go. Very authentic Kerala tastes. Make sure you end it with ‘Vattayapam Fudge Cake’

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.

Really wonderful accommodating restaurant. Our booking changed a couple of times and we had to preorder, but the staff worked magic. Beautifully presented food and friendly, efficient service. Very busy

always great food , consistent over the years and great ambience

The best curry and amazing service, many thanks!

Top food , great service, perfect atmosphere and friendly staff.

Great food and service. My first time here. Had a chat with the server about some options and it was overall a great experience

I visited with my wife, step-son and his girlfriend. We had a lovely meal, the food was delicious and the staff were very helpful and friendly.

This was our second visit. First visit was a few months ago when we absolutely enjoyed the food and all the flavors which made us visit again. This time, it's a much shorter menu and the food was nowhere as tasty as it was last time. Very disappointed with the taste and much lesser options on the menu this time

Really good food. Lovely staff and great service.

Very lovely staff and food! We are just back from a party at Tharavadu and I cannot say enough thank you to all the amazing stuff who helped organizing it. We will come back 100%

Food was amazing. We had all vegetarian and the daal was fabulous, and the potatoes! Wow! Also had kerala paratha which is like a subcontinental croissant. Everything by tastes fresh and delicious. It’s the sort of place I’d happily drive an hour to get to.

Superb restaurant. Everything about the place is excellent- we will definitely be back many times

You won't find more delicious keralan eating in this country. Incredible flavours. Perfect spicing. Indulgent and rich. Whatever you have as a main, have paratha to go with it. Coconutty perelan lamb was meltingly soft and the aubergine is sweet and smoky. The staff are warm and attentive and there's plenty of space to spread out your huge banquet of food. Tremendous value too.

I have been a customer of Tharavadu Leeds since 2016, making it a point to visit every time I am in Leeds. I have raved about it to friends. However, I was genuinely disappointed during my recent visit in Oct 2024 to find that the lamb biryani has been discontinued. For me, the lamb biryani wasn’t just a dish, it was the reason I kept coming back. Losing such a great dish feels like a significant miss. A once-perfect dining experience now feels a little less special. P.S. I ended up getting chicken biryani. Chicken biryani isn't real biryani.

I came all the way from Germany and didn‘t get disappointed 👍🏻. Food: great, Service: great, Atmosphere: great.

Great food and made a real change from the run of the mill restaurants. Will definitely be back, thank you

One of the best restaurants I've ever been to. Staff were exceptional, food was amazing. Tharavadu is a truly delightful dining experience. The restaurant's ambiance is beautiful and comfortable, and the staff are friendly, knowledgeable, and attentive. The food is nothing short of exceptional. Every dish is a bursting with fresh flavours and presented with stunning artistry. It's clear that passion and care go into every bite.

Lovely food, excellent service and reasonable prices. We will definitely go there again. Well done Tharavardu.

Great place fir a friends meal lovely food in a vlean relaxed area

Very friendly staff, always happy and helpful

Beautiful food, lovely staff, cosy restaurant

Food was Excellent. Tasty, Different from Traditional dishes and very well presented. Staff friendly. Was very busy when we were there but quietened down later on. Recommend booking in advance

Highly rated. Different southern Indian flavours.

Really great food, best Indian food we have eaten in Leeds. Service excellent and a real buzz even on a Monday night

Was there on an incredibly busy evening, staff were terrific and v helpful. Fish dishes were to die for. We will definitely be back

“We recently enjoyed a wonderful dinner at this South Indian gem in Leeds, and it truly brought back memories of home. The menu offers a delightful journey through South India’s flavors, with dishes that are both authentic and incredibly aromatic. The dosas were perfectly crispy, and the curries were rich and full of traditional spices, just like we remember. A special thanks to Milan, who made our experience even better by guiding us through the menu and suggesting some standout dishes. The service was warm and attentive, making us feel right at home. This place is a must-visit for anyone craving genuine South Indian flavors in the UK. Highly recommend!”

We really enjoyed the lovely food. Good range of drinks. Great service. Very reasonable prices too. We'd happily return. Thanks all 😀

Excellent service and good food. The ambiance upstairs wasn't the same as downstairs.

Went last night as we came across Gary's visit on YouTube a few weeks ago. Omg this really is amazing, the best Indian we have had. We travelled from Barnsley, we have been all over to Indians but this 1 is 10/10. Party of 4 of us all said the same. Will definitely go more often. There's a couple of fussy eaters in our party but they highly praised the food here. If in leeds this place is definitely a must . Can't wait for our next visit already. Staff all friendly and helpful, thank you for a wonderful experience.

Absolute banger of a restaurant - well worth a trip to eat here

Recommended by a friend and we were so pleased we chose to go. The food was delicious and the staff were fantastic. We felt very welcome and valued. We had three different mains and not one disappointed.

Lovely service and atmosphere. The Aubergine curry is so good- I’d come back to Leeds for this restaurant

Superb Keralan food with efficient staff and subtle music. Really interesting food options and perfect parathas. Was very popular on a weekday lunchtime, booking ahead might be an idea. Highly recommended!

Nice atmosphere and great food and service. A little bit noisy when we were there this time.

The Keralan inspired food here is superb. We could have started at the top of the menu and worked our way through it. It's refreshingly different from other Indian style restaurants and this is what makes it special. It was full on a Monday night, that in itself speaks volumes. Backed by excellent service this restaurant fully deserves it's reputation. Marvellous!

Best curry I have ever had! Service is extremely quick and atmosphere is great!

While I was living in Leeds this place helped me to give the feeling of being in India. The place is very close to the city centre. Not very far from the market place. Remember to reserve early. Or else you might need to wait for more than 45 mins. Especially in the weekends and any occasions. I haven't seen any Indian restaurant filled with so many foreigners having typical Indian food. I was really amazed. Twice I went with my foreign friends and they really liked it very much. The south Indian food is simply great. The Keralian fish was awesome cooked with coconut. Also you can get alcohol as well. The price was around 40 gbp for two people and that was in 2020. The behaviour of the staffs were really nice and didn't have to wait too long after we ordered the food. The ambience is so Indian. In the upstair there's enough space but personally I prefer the downstair. If a fan of Indian cricket then can see the memories of Virat and Ganguly inside the restaurant. Both of them came here during the 2019 ODI World Cup. Every taste was very authentic and has pleasant Keralian taste. The aroma of food made me think as if I was in Kerala. During busy times you might need to rush or else take time , chat and enjoy the food. Thanks for making my time in Leeds a very special one. I still miss the food from the superb restaurant. Cheers!

Wow. Simply the best curry I think I've ever had. We went as a work group of 16 and we were well looked after. The place was busy but the food arrived quickly and our glasses were topped up. Bill came with no surprises. Staff were amazing throughout. Highly recommend

Great food and service, I will definitely return. Thank you.

This is the the best Indian restaurant in Leeds I have visited 5 or 6 times this year so far with my partner and my family and it never disappoints, for starters i can recommend the Dosa (masala and kozhi) both excellent also the padipura mixed seafood platter is really good for mains on this visit we had meen koottan fish curry and the mutter paneer personally i think the paneer curry here is the best ive had anywhere! the service is excellent, we will be going back a few more times this year I'm sure I cannot recommend this place highly enough.

Been meaning to try this restaurant for ages and wasn’t disappointed. The service is friendly and attentive without being overbearing. The menu is varied, interesting and the food beautifully prepared with loads of flavour. There is a good selection of beers including their own craft ales. Every dish was beautifully balanced and packed with flavour and just so completely moreish. What a gem of a place this is! Don’t expect your standard curry list - expect to be teased with wonderful indian flavours and textures and mouthwatering food.

Theres many so what places to eat at in Leeds - this one stood out and was closest to the hotel we'd booked so it was a no brainer. It had food in there like ive never had before, spcies flavours, tastes, textures, all so different and delicious - At a push I might have go to Leeds again just to go to Tharavadu (but its a long way from Dumfries).

Delicious food and extremely authentic.

Another in a long (unbroken) line of fantastic evenings at Tharavadu under the ever-wonderful care of Prakash, Siby and the Leeds-branch team. I can only repeat what I've said in my previous review 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!! "

Stunning food great flavours and fantastic service can’t wait to go again and try more the fish curry was amazing

Amazing place, Halping staff, Delicious and Quality vege and non-vegetarian food .

This is one of my favourite Indian restaurant in Leeds - authentic, delicious and great value for money. I can't stop raving about their kerala paratha, a flaky bread, it's so perfectly chewy and crispy paired well with curry and dips. The kozhi dosa is so tasty and unique, I love the chicken underneath the dosa! Can't wait to go back <3

Not your normal indian, disappointed Biryani, no sauce very dry. No chutney with poppadoms and naan bread was wierd.

Excellent place to eat. We have had quite a few meals here both with family and ourselves. The food, service, and atmosphere are very good, with the true taste of Kerela .

Two very happy diners here! My friend suggested trying Tharavadu after seeing a you-tube video highly recommending it. We were not disappointed. Starters and mains were both excellent and the service perfect - both attentive and discreet. I intend returning for a Christmas treat!

Absolutely the best curry I've had outside India. Genuine flavours of Kerala with beautifully balanced / spiced meals. Excellent.

What a gem of a place. We’ve been visiting Tharavadu for a number of years now. It’s been a while since our last visit due to circumstance but we managed to get there on Saturday afternoon with some friends for a long overdue catch up. My word, we were NOT disappointed! The menu since COVID has been reduced but that is certainly not a bad thing. I feel the team have concentrated on their core dishes and have made the menu so ‘understandable’. Better descriptions of food therefore making it easier to select the right dish and accompaniment . The food was absolutely amazing and I can’t wait to go back. i can wholly recommend the king prawns to start and the fish stew as a main, just superb. As always the service was excellent. Thank you Team Tharavadu for another wonderful and memorable meal xx

Well worth a visit if you like Indian food

Amazing food. Agree with Jay Rayner's review.

Tasty food, but the miniscule portions were very disappointing. 3 prawns in a starter that cost almost £10 was a bit of a joke.

One of the best restaurants I've ever been to. Staff were exceptional, food was amazing. Although I would love to see them do more vegan dishes. Overall though, well worth the trip and I'll absolutely be coming back.

Excellent choice of food from the Kerala region of India 🇮🇳. Definitely a different style to other local restaurants with lots of tasty dishes including many great vegetarian options. Very handy for Leeds railway station if you are eating before going home. The six of us really enjoyed it. The Indian style lager brewed in Kirkstall was a perfect accompaniment to 🍺

Great, already recommended to friends

Really top notch South Indian with great service, expertly-made parathas and the best fish curry I've had in years. Superb.

I recently visited Thravadu and had a lovely experience! I arrived without a reservation but was kindly assisted by a staff member who secured a table for my partner and me. After enjoying some pre-meal snacks (which were delicious, especially with the chutney tray!), we ordered two starters and three main dishes. The chili paneer and beef starters were fantastic and reminded me of Kerala. The biriyani and lamb chops were also great, though I found the masala dosa didn’t quite meet my expectations—just a matter of personal preference. The atmosphere was vibrant and welcoming, filled with nice South Indian music, despite being busy on a weekday. While the service was generally good, a bit more attention to our starters would have made it even better. Overall, it was a pleasant dinner experience, and I’m grateful to Thravadu for making our evening enjoyable. Highly recommended! 🌟

Brilliant food and excellent service. This restaurant is up there with the best I have ever been to. King Prawn curry in particular was amazing. Beef starter (Pothu Peralan) was one of the highlights.

Sunday, we booked a table for 3 and reached there on time around 12:45pm.As we enter, we informed one of the staffs about our reservation hence he guided us to the table. After long waiting, well i certainty understand that, they are busy taking orders and bringing food to the table as well, took a while to take our order. We ordered, porrotta, Fish curry, kozhi briyani and 3 lemon juice in total. Later , waited for a while and got the food which we asked for. Comparing to the price charged, the food was below average and would never ever recommend to anyone or eat again expect the porrotta which i had. Later we finished food , and waited there for 45 mins to get our bill. 45 mins just to print the bill.??? We were running short of time and asked the staff who took our order for the final bill. In response to this he allocated a different staff to print it for us and this staff was constantly doing something in his phone.For us, it was a relief when we saw the other staff agreed to print for us.However ,unlucky, he just carry on with different different work and didnt print for us. As a solution to this, i stood up and put my jacket to seek attention however it didn't work. Later, as a final attempt, i walked to the staff and asked to give my bill. And his reaction and response shocked me. Without even apologising he literally, walked and took a print and gave me the receipt.I left the building immediately and decided that, i will write a review. Can accept the fact that, we need to wait for food, but waiting to get the bill, when the staff are not busy plus for 45mins?for What reason!

Nice friendly staff , food presented well , reasonably priced

Outstanding food in a class of it's own. The fish wrapped in banana leaf is the best curry I have ever eaten. If you haven't been here before, I envy you the moment you try this little slice of Indian heaven. Bloody Marvellous!

Loved the food, it was amazing from start to finish

Thoroughly enjoyed our meal here, friendly staff, lovely food very different from other Indian restaurants.

Best curry in Leeds, amazing service as well!

Very good food & good sevice as well! They gave us Jain food.

The sea bream curry was one of the best fish curries I’ve ever had, so fresh and delicate. Everything is tasty and fresh, couldn’t recommend it more. The staff are friendly and knowledgeable, I will be going back, one of the best of its kind in Leeds. The atmosphere is great too, you can tell people are enjoying themselves and the staff and food allow that to happen.

Brought my mum here for her birthday meal. Wonderful service from the waiters, in particular Abi was amazing. Food was impeccable both meat options and vegetarian. Lovely atmosphere, all round great experience

We travelled from Burnley and wow it is easy the best Indian we have ever visited 👏👏👏👏👏👏

The most amazingly tasting food, great service and despite being busy there was a great atmosphere.

As usual this restaurant never disappoints, again had a great South Indian (keralian) food . Great selection of sea food and non veg specialties. Variety of other veg dishes and excellent service ..

Great food ,staff very friendly, first time visit but will definitely go again

Four years ago or so I visited for 2nd time and gave it a 4, but wasn't overly impressed so hadn't been back until yesterday, meeting three friends that had booked for 7.30pm. The menu is a challenge as very little recognisable given the dishes are specific to the southern region of India, but there are well written lengthy descriptions, alrhough it's still not totally clear what will arrive. I'd welcome photos of the dishes in addition. So poppadoms and dips, a bit different to the norm, and not really to my taste. Normally there are none left and no pickles/dips left, but between us we left a quarter of the poppadom tray and half the pickles. So not a big hit. Starters took nearly 30 minutes to arrive, it wasn't a full restaurant. My pothu peralan was dry, tasty and tender but dry, really needed a sauce or yogurt. Calamari, minced beef parcels and huge prawns all looked much better. And then almost another hour for the mains to arrive, and that was after chasing up where they were, and didn't all arrive together, one was 5 minutes later. The sauce on their take on tikka masala was very tasty, lamb chops were ok but not so keen on the dosa veg that came with. Paratha was very nice. Overall it was disappointing. Servers were friendly enough, but service very slow. It's not to my taste, I love Indian food and Sri Lankan, but this (3rd vistit) was my last. It's also quite expensive, £40 per head for poppadoms/pickles, starter, main, bread and a small coke. Meat choices a bit limited on the mains, think fish / seafood lovers may fair better here.

This place is absolutely amazing. Can't recommend high enough.

Soft sell crab curry (kunji njandu vattichathu) is bomb Portions not very big but fills you enough Second visit had the lamb chunk curry - it is deffo very filling with the lemon rice!

Lovely food, great atmosphere on a Tuesday evening! Would highly recommend.

Nice place with tasty food and good service.

Love this place, lunchtime specials are especially great. Staff are brilliant and the food is better.

Good food, Service was good and atmosphere was OK downstairs, there's an upstairs too, but it was not accessible at 7pm. I cannot complain much on food, but a little less oil while cooking is advisable, e.g, Adu Cheera Mappas was a bit oily and will probably give you hearburns, that was the case for my wife. However, kozhi kurumulag was absolutely delicious. Do have the Falooda from the dessert menu. It was lovely. Overall I will recommend to my friends.

Have walked past this restaurant on many occasions. It was highly recommended by a waiter in a bar we were in in Leeds. We were very very impressed, food was excellent service great and a nice atmosphere . We only visit Leeds once a year as we live in Australia. We will be going again. 5/5 the best

Brilliant food, lovely service.

Second time I have visited. Brilliant food both times - highly recommend the soft shell crab curry!

Excellent from start to finish...a little bit noisy at times but that's because of it's popularity ...so not much they can do about it but does spoil the experience slightly.....will be back

Had a post flight night in Leeds, and as this restaurant had received a glowing review in The Observer a couple of weeks before we decided to give it a go. Definitely a good choice as this was one of the best curries I've ever eaten. There aren't a lot of things on the menu that you'd recognise from the usual Indian restaurant, but every dish we had was cooked to perfection.

Not your ordinary Indian restaurant. Very original menu. Excellent food, good service reasonable prices. Very popular, so quite noisy. Definitely book ahead to make sure you get in!

Excellent food and great service. Our waiter was unpretentious and helpful.

Fantastic food. We always eat here when we're in Leeds. Best Kerala food I've had.

From the initial welcome to the bill payment, I could not have been more impressed with Tharavadu. The staff were all genuinely friendly and helpful, and each staff member I interacted with seemed 100% invested in me enjoying my visit. The food was well presented, plentiful, delicious, and very good value. Highly recommended.

Really delicious food and a great selection of beers. The staff were very generous about the quite tipsy member of our group and even brought him a birthday cake, which was really sweet.

Friendliest staff Abi was a really terrific host Made my brothers 60 th special Keralanian food is gorgeous Thank you Au revoir

Had the best kerala style food after a long time in the UK. Chef special beef roast was the highlight. We were four pax, went for lunch after a tiring long drive, and all of us were very happy with your food. Thanks to the chef and lovely staff. Cheers

In my opinion this is number 1 in the UK. Having eaten at a few Michelin ( Indian) restaurants, I can without hesitation say that Tharavadu food is just one of its kind. I would particularly recommend it if you like Fish/ seafood, Coconut, reasonably spicy food. It is also a stone's throw from Leeds railway station. Closest car park is trinity car park NCP opp Bibi's. Finally ... Please do not go without booking as they are usually fully booked most days evenings.