Indian Restaurants in Kirkwall: Curry in Orkney
A practical look at Indian food in Kirkwall, covering the Indian Garden takeaway on Junction Road, what to order and how it fits a trip round Orkney.
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For Indian food in Kirkwall, Indian Garden at Junction Road is the one kitchen worth planning around, and it works as much for collection as for a night out in a curry house. It sits a short walk from the centre, cooks Bangladeshi and Indian food, and states that it serves halal food. This guide covers what to order, how the cost compares with a hotel dining room, and why you may want your beer somewhere else.
Orkney does not have a street of curry houses, so the useful decision is not which Indian to pick but how to fit one around ferry times, weather and a pub. The sections below take Indian Garden dish by dish and then set it against the wider choice of what to eat in Kirkwall, from hotel dining rooms to the chippy.
A short, takeaway-led curry scene
Kirkwall's Indian offer is a single address rather than a cluster, which changes how you use it. Indian Garden on Junction Road cooks Bangladeshi and Indian food for collection and delivery, and it is listed as a takeaway on the platforms that carry its details. Plan it as the evening you stay in, or the meal you collect on the way back to your accommodation.
With one kitchen in town, decide early in the day whether you want curry tonight, then order before you head out. Leaving it until later in the evening risks the kitchen being busier or closing earlier than you expect, so build in a margin if you are coming off a ferry or a day out.
Indian Garden, 37 Junction Road
Indian Garden is on Junction Road in Kirkwall and is described as Bangladeshi and Indian, with its menu filed under curry, Indian and tandoori, so expect the familiar repertoire of grilled starters, sauce-based curries and breads rather than a regional speciality list. It is listed as a takeaway, so the reliable plan is a collected or delivered meal rather than an assumed table.
Its ordering-platform listing gives the postcode as KW15 1AG and offers collection and delivery, so it pays to have your order sorted before you ring. If a takeaway evening is the plan, settle your dishes and collection time first, then build the rest of the night around it.
What to order
Build the order around a mix of grilled and sauce-based dishes so everything does not taste the same, and add a bread or rice to feed two comfortably. If you are feeding children, ask for a milder version of a familiar dish rather than guessing.
The vegetarian side of the list is where a Bangladeshi kitchen usually shows its value, so give it real space in the order. A vegetable dish, a lentil-based dish and a bread gives variety for less than a stack of meat mains. Two or three curries plus starters and bread is usually plenty for four.
Prices and how a curry compares
No dish prices for Indian Garden are published in the sources used here, so check the menu on the ordering platform or ask when you ring rather than budgeting from memory. As a rule of thumb, a takeaway curry is the cheaper way to eat a hot evening meal in Kirkwall than booking a table at a hotel restaurant, where setting and service carry a premium.
For a yardstick, the Kirkwall Hotel's Harbour View Restaurant on Harbour Street serves Orcadian produce and pub favourites, with booking described as essential outside breakfast. Its sample menus show the style and price bracket of a full sit-down meal in town.
Beer, drinks and the alcohol question
Indian Garden's halal listing states that alcohol is allowed but is not served on site, so do not plan on a pint with your curry there. The practical order of play is a pub first and the curry afterwards, or collecting your food and eating where you are staying. Do not assume you can bring your own; that is a question for the restaurant, not a rule you can read off a website.
The Kirkwall Hotel has two bars worth knowing if you are making an evening of it: Skippers Bar and the Highland Park Bar, where dogs are welcome and the whisky list runs to more than a hundred Highland Park bottlings. A short session there followed by a collected curry works well when the weather is doing its worst.
Groups, wet nights and late ferries
For a group, order family-style and agree a spend before you start: a spread of starters, two or three curries, a couple of vegetarian dishes and plenty of bread and rice beats everyone choosing their own main. Nominate one person to place the order and one to collect, and you avoid the muddle of four people ringing the same kitchen.
If you are arriving off a late ferry, check the kitchen's hours against your landing time before you count on it, and have a fallback plan. One halal listing gives Indian Garden as open 11:00 to 22:00 daily, but treat that as something to confirm rather than a promise, since small kitchens change hours with the season. A chippy tea is the obvious backup if you miss the window.
Booking, collection and delivery
Collection is the simplest option: order by phone or through the platform, give a time, and turn up a few minutes late rather than early so the food is not sitting. Delivery runs through at least one ordering platform, but on a small island network the driver's route matters more than the app's estimate. If you are staying outside town, confirm your address is covered before you rely on it.
Treat Indian Garden as a takeaway first: order by phone or through its ordering platform and collect, or check whether delivery to your address is offered. If you would rather eat in, ask when you order whether a table is available, because the sources describe a takeaway rather than a seated dining room. Indian Garden states it serves halal food, which is worth knowing if that is a requirement for your group; if you need certainty about preparation, ask the restaurant directly rather than relying on a listing.
Hours, halal status and what to confirm
The hours given for Indian Garden run 11:00 to 22:00 seven days a week, and the restaurant states that it serves halal food. Hours can shift with the season, so confirm the ones you are relying on before you build an evening around them. Check once, then stop worrying about it.
Beyond that, the rest of a Kirkwall evening sits in the wider choice of places to eat and drink, from seafood to a proper breakfast the next morning. Use the curry as one option on a short list rather than the anchor of the trip, and you will eat better across the whole visit.
Curry or a table at the hotel?
Choose Indian Garden when you want a hot, spiced takeaway to eat where you are staying, when the weather has turned, or when you are feeding a group without booking a table. Choose a hotel dining room such as the Harbour View when you want Orcadian produce, service and a proper sit-down meal, and accept that you will pay more for it.
Either way, sort the food before the evening starts, keep the beer separate if you are having curry, and confirm the hours and halal details with the restaurant rather than trusting a listing. That is the whole of the Indian food decision in Kirkwall, and it takes about five minutes to make. For the wider shortlist, see our pick of the best restaurants in Kirkwall.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Does Kirkwall have an Indian restaurant?
Indian Garden on Junction Road is the Indian and Bangladeshi kitchen in Kirkwall, serving curry, tandoori dishes and takeaway. It is a small operation, so plan around collection or delivery, and check whether a table is available if you want to eat in.
Can you drink alcohol at Indian Garden in Kirkwall?
The restaurant's halal listing states that alcohol is allowed but is not served on site, so have a pint elsewhere first or drink at your accommodation. Ask the restaurant directly if you want to know their rules on bringing your own.
Is Indian Garden in Kirkwall halal?
Indian Garden states that it serves halal food. If you need certainty about preparation or certification, ask the restaurant when you order rather than relying on a listing.
Sources
Notes on eating out in the UK
Optional updates when our city guides change.
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