Striking décor in the style of a Gujarati village is the talking point at this Queensbury vegetarian restaurant: entire walls painted with bullock carts, peacocks, and women fetching water from wells in bright colours; sparkling lights and chandeliers; an antique doorway; puppets in traditional costumes; and a special table at the front shaded by a decorative mirrorwork canopy. The menu is vast: visit early in the day for the buffet thali. The dishes may not look as attractive as the interior design, but the buffet is the place where the widest selection of traditional fare is available. Regularly changing dishes may include tamarind and jaggery flavoured Gujarati dal, vaal (dried hyacinth beans), and undhiyu (Surti casserole of roots, fresh beans, and fenugreek dumplings). There are also classic Gujarati snacks like dhokla, khandvi, and bhajia — steamed or fried chickpea flour creations that Gujarati cooks are most admired for. 

The original Sakonis in Wembley is massively popular with the Kenyan Gujarati community, and has gradually evolved into a vegetarian mini-chain. This Harrow site is not a part of the chain though — it has the same name, logo, and signage, but it’s a stand-alone restaurant with different ownership, menu items and prices. The Gujarati dishes here have a more traditional taste — especially the buffet of snacks ranging from patra (‘swiss roll’ spirals of chickpea flour and tamarind-stuffed colocasia leaves), to yoghurt-blanketed, sev-topped chaats; rotlis and pooris; sweet and sour Gujarati dal and kadhi, kathol (a separate genre of whole bean cookery — not to be confused with dal), and assorted vegetable shaaks. They’re served alongside Indian-Chinese items — so expect a Gujarati family at the same table eating chips, noodles, and dhokla.

This tiny, chaotic, daytime-only Surti vegetarian café is as unfancy as they come: plain interior, scuffed furniture, stacks of boxes — and the much-adored owner Raju Bhai talking loudly with customers in between phone calls. There are daily changing thalis served between 12.30 and 3.30 p.m. — the rest of the time the venue lives up to its name of a ‘nashta house’, which means a snack bar. A half plate each of Surti sev khaman and sev khamani cooked by the owner’s wife is a fine choice: steamed, savoury chickpea flour ‘cakes’, whole or crumbled, topped with sev, red onions, and chutneys. The place is rammed at weekends when Gujaratis travel great distances for Surti undhiyu: Surat’s famous casserole of purple yam, sweet potatoes, fresh hyacinth beans, and pigeon peas — mercifully not ruined by tomatoes and sweetcorn as is often the case in London.

Enormously popular with the local Goan community, this inexpensive, homely café is run by a family in which the friendly, welcoming husband works front of house, and his wife cooks in the kitchen — with him and his mother chipping in when needed. On Goan feast days, the place is packed with crowds from church service; and when there are no tables available, they eat standing up. Mackerel curry is the most loved dish here (as was pork vindaloo, until they stopped serving it). Among staples such as chorizo bread, ros omelette, and chicken xacuti, there’s also green beef with coriander leaves, tamarind and potatoes that’s not widely available elsewhere. Mixed bhaji — dried white pea stew served alongside spiced potatoes — is basic but has a good flavour, and comes with a warm, hefty pav. Unlike most other Goan restaurants, the dishes on the short menu are resolutely Goan and not generically Indian.

Although London’s Gujarati venues are mostly no-frills cafés, this is not the case here. The smart, attractive Neasden venue operates like a tight ship with slick service, and customers from around the world. It’s owned by the Swaminarayan temple across the road, with access via a large car park, past an excellent Indian grocery store and counter selling savouries. The brand also produces mithai and nibbles, and has a few takeaway shops. Here there’s a vast vegetarian menu of dishes cooked without onions and garlic to cater for Jains and certain Hindu communities. Look out for weekend specials like pearl millet flatbreads, fresh pigeon pea kadhi, and a fairly decent rendition of Swaminarayan khichdi: rice and toor dal cooked with lots of vegetables and spices in a famous version of the dish created by Ahmedabad’s Swaminarayan temple in the early twentieth century.

This simple, neat vegetarian café in Wembley is owned by a Gujarati family from Africa — though there are few African influences on the cooking; the food being exactly like a grandma’s kitchen in Gujarat. The thalis — which is what everyone comes here for — include vegetable shaaks such as aubergine and spinach, or cauliflower with peas and potatoes; sweet-sour Gujarati dal or kadhi; assorted flatbreads, and rustic items like khichdi and bajri rotla (pearl millet flatbreads). Everything is demurely spiced and understated, nourishing and comforting. Every single dish is continually cooked from scratch by a team of older Gujarati women; and their warm and generous hospitality and delicious food attracts hordes of bachelors, students, and elderly people hankering after a taste of home. This is the sort of old-school fare that’s disappearing from the homes of Gujaratis, both in the U.K. and India.

Understated in its elegance, this cosy two-room Modern Indian in Marylebone is owned by the same team as Brigadiers (and the temporarily closed Gymkhana): the renowned JKS restaurant group run by siblings Jyotin, Karam, and Sunaina Sethi. Here there are contemporary interpretations of coastal cuisines — including speciality dishes of the fishing communities — from India’s western coast that stretches from Maharashtra and Goa down to Karnataka and Kerala. This includes Karnataka-style aubergines and lemon rice laced with fresh coconut, mustard seeds, curry leaves, dried red chillies, raw green mangoes, tamarind, and chana dal (used as a spice). Despite not being connected to the famous fish restaurant of the same name in Mumbai, seafood is very much a speciality here — the highlight being seafood paniyaram: mini muffin-like rice and split urad lentil ‘pancake’ puffs, studded with prawns and scallops, offset by the mild sweetness of accompanying crab chutney.

The garnishes at this stylish Modern Indian in Mayfair sum up its spirit: a jugalbandhi of fried green chillies and micro shoots — harmonious duet of Indian flavours with Western flourishes. Chaats are true to what a bhaiyaji (street food vendor) on Chowpatty beach might serve: crisp potato tikkis topped with beautifully spiced dried white pea stew, and Indian ‘sloppy joes’ of vegetable masala smothering fluffy clouds of dainty white bread rolls. Koliwada squid from Mumbai’s fishermen Koli community is shot through with chillies and garlic; and Mumbai’s egg-and-bread specialities like ghotala and baida roti are found on the Sunday brunch menu. Although (Kutir chef-patron) Rohit Ghai is no longer involved with the restaurant — part of the Leela Group that includes Mayfair’s Jamavar — his much-loved rarah keema pao has remained on the menu: a creation inspired by Mumbai’s keema pao and North Indian rara gosht in which lamb chunks give texture to lamb mince.

Set up in 1982, the most significant thing about this glamorous venue opposite Gloucester Road tube station is that it was London’s first Modern Indian restaurant, though the term had yet to be coined. Interest from celebrities like Tom Cruise led to wonderment and column inches from international restaurant critics at the time. It’s been redecorated a few times over the years, but still maintains its colonial-style interior of potted palms, gilt-edged framed photographs, tribal art, stunning chandeliers, and a beautiful bar. Try the many Bombay chaats or the seafood platter with fresh prawns, scallops and crab claws. Other impressive dishes include duck breasts with tamarind and green peppercorns, and okra pan-fried with water chestnuts. Book a secluded table in the famous, atmospheric conservatory at the back.

Maharashtrian chef-owner Manoj Vasaikar’s smart, white table-clothed, extraordinarily popular two-room venue in Hammersmith isn’t Maharashtrian as such — but there are a few classics with contemporary touches to be found here. Vegetable bhanola — steamed, griddled chickpea flour ‘cake’ with cabbage and onions — is presented on banana leaves; and prawn lonche with aubergines packs a punch with pickling spices. Chicken hirva masala from the Malvani community of the Konkan region is dressed in a fragrant green gravy of fresh coriander, coconut, and green chillies; and prawn lonvas is a rare dish from Mumbai’s lesser-known East Indian community flavoured with the famed ‘bottle masala’ — not easily found in India, let alone London. Light, aromatic biryani is made in the style of travellers’ fare on an express highway — different from the way it’s cooked in wealthy suburban households, but just as good.

There’s a constant stream of Goans coming in and out of this no-frills basement café next to a pub on the High Street in Hounslow — but the standards are inconsistent and the food divides opinion. Among the more successful dishes are (pork, liver, and kidney) sorpotel with its attractive dark terracotta colour and bright, complex pickled flavour; and beef chilli fry with tender meat falling off the fork. A fish thali includes mackerel cooked in fiery, tangy bright red recheado masala; and this is a rare place in London to find kappa pav: a recently invented Goan street food featuring sliced potatoes fried in chickpea and rice flour batter sprinkled with Goan peri peri seasoning piled into a white bread roll — simple but moreish.