Namaste by Delhi Darbar
Grandad's Masala Chai took three stars at the 2023 Great Taste Awards, the top tier of a scheme judged blind by The Guild of Fine Food, and the kitchen followed it with six more awards in 2024 out of a field of 13,650 products from nearly 3,500 businesses (DRAM Scotland).
Why go
A family business trading on the first floor of the St Enoch Centre, beside the Vue, cooking Old Delhi food and describing itself as a third-culture kitchen raised on Irn-Bru, bhangra, Bollywood, and our Grandad's chai
(venue). The 2024 Great Taste haul is dish-specific and worth knowing before you order: two stars for the Chicken Butter Masala and its rich and fragrant curry sauce,
one star each for Chicken Malaidar, Lamb Bhoona, Shahi Paneer, Vegetable Pakora and the Mango and Ginger Lassi (DRAM Scotland). CEO Rashpal Singh called it an immense privilege to have our dishes recognised at the 2024 Great Taste Awards. As a small family business, it is incredibly rewarding
3. The room then took Indian Restaurant of the Year (Glasgow) at the 5th Scottish Asian Food Awards on 25 November 20242.
Order this / avoid
- Order: the chai, then the Chicken Butter Masala. Those are the two highest-rated things in the building on a blind panel's judgment, and the chai is the only three-star item3. For a main with char on it, Emma Mykytyn's king prawn tandoori at GBP 14 came out
spicy, a bit too spicy for Emma but still tasty with lots of chargrilled flavour
4. - Avoid: the lamb bhoona if you want a curry with edges. It carries a 2024 Great Taste star, and Hector still filed it as
Mainstream Curry for the masses, nothing offensive, safe, easy to eat
5.
What locals & experts say
- Glasgow Foodie, Emma Mykytyn (18 December 2021): the lamb karahi at GBP 9
was rich in flavour and full of tomato and onion goodness. Moderately spiced with a decent amount of non-chewy lamb.
She also marked the room down for running cold and for a server who left the missing kulfi unmentioned until dessert arrived.4 - Curry-Heute, Hector (21 August 2023), the dissent: the lamb bhoona at GBP 10 had a masala where
The Sweetness of the Masala hit first
and the seasoning ranmoderate to low,
which he summed up asMainstream Curry for the masses.
5 - Scottish Asian Food Awards 2024 (Oceanic Awards, 5th edition): Indian Restaurant of the Year (Glasgow), announced 25 November 2024 at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Glasgow. The overall Indian title that night went to Dhoom in Dunfermline.2
- Great Taste (The Guild of Fine Food), 2023 and 2024: seven awarded items in total across the two years, judged blind on the product.3
- Food hygiene, checked: Pass, though the inspection dates to 27 October 2021.7
- Local rec: Jeff's save, "Glasgow Indian of the year 2024," which checks out at the awarding body.
Good to know
- Timing: noon to 21:30 every day, with the kitchen shutting at 21:15. That makes it a lunch stop or an early dinner rather than a late one.
- Booking: worth reserving at weekends. The Vue next door fills the floor before showtimes.
- Getting there: first floor of the St Enoch Centre, a few minutes from St Enoch subway and Argyle Street.
- Prices: GBP 9 for a lamb karahi and GBP 5.50 for pakora as reviewed in 2021, so expect movement since.
Jeff's take (his words)
- Note: "Glasgow Indian of the year 2024"
Verdict
should-visit — Seven Great Taste awards across two years, judged blind by The Guild of Fine Food, including three stars for Grandad's Masala Chai and two for the Chicken Butter Masala, which is a harder credential than any local restaurant trophy because it tests the product rather than the room. Add Indian Restaurant of the Year (Glasgow) at the 2024 Scottish Asian Food Awards and a named local writer finding the lamb karahi 'rich in flavour and full of tomato and onion goodness' at GBP 9. It stops below must-visit because the most recent specialist read, Hector's in 2023, calls the cooking 'Mainstream Curry for the masses', and a shopping-center dining room is not something to plan a day around.