Indian Restaurants in Nottingham: Three Places Worth Booking

What Nottingham's Indian Scene Looks Like Now

The city's Indian cooking divides into three clear styles. Maid Marian Way carries the polished end: MemSaab pitches itself as fine dining, with regional Indian and Pakistani-influenced cooking and a modern edge. Calcutta Club, a few doors along, is the classic curry-house experience, run by two brothers and proud of its own-brewed Maharajas lager.

Mowgli sits in a different bracket entirely. It is an Indian street-food chain with a branch on Stoney Street, built around small plates, chaat and tiffin-style sharing rather than a starter-main formula. That makes it the flexible option for lunch, a solo bowl or a table of friends who all want to pick at different things.

If curry is one part of a wider eating plan, the city has plenty more to offer beyond Indian cooking, and our guide to Nottingham food covers the local dishes and venues worth building a day around.

MemSaab, Maid Marian Way: The Fine-Dining Booking

MemSaab is at 12–14 Maid Marian Way, a few minutes from Old Market Square, and treats Indian cooking as a sit-down, à la carte affair. The kitchen draws on regional Indian, Pakistani and modern Indian styles, with each chef cooking in their own idiom, so the menu runs from traditional curries to grilled meats rooted in Lahori street cooking. Owner Amita Sawhney positions the restaurant as fine dining that stays accessible rather than stiff. The restaurant's own site quotes national press praise for its food and service; treat those lines as the restaurant's claims rather than independent awards.

The practical catch is timing. MemSaab opens for dinner only: Monday to Thursday 17:00–22:30, Friday and Saturday 17:00–23:00, and Sunday 16:00–22:00. That rules it out for a weekday lunch, but makes it a sensible anchor for an evening out, with Sunday's earlier start suiting a slower end to the weekend.

Book ahead for Friday and Saturday, when the room fills with people doing exactly what you are. If you want to weigh it against the city's other special-occasion kitchens, our pick of the best restaurants in Nottingham sets it beside non-Indian options.

Calcutta Club, Maid Marian Way: The Curry-House Night

Calcutta Club is at 8–10 Maid Marian Way, a short stroll from MemSaab and equally central. It is the traditional curry-house choice: two brothers founded it to bring what they call authentic Asian flavours to the middle of Nottingham, and the kitchen runs seasonal specials alongside the core menu. It also brews its own Indian lager, Maharajas, which gives a curry night here something you will not find on every other list.

The opening hours suit late dinners but not Sundays. It serves Monday to Thursday 17:30–22:30 and Friday to Saturday 17:30–23:00, with last orders taken at those times, and it is closed on Sunday. If a Sunday curry is the plan, this is the one to rule out early.

Collections get a discount on takeaway orders at Calcutta Club, which makes it a decent fallback when the evening has gone sideways and nobody wants to cook. The discount applies to collection, so it is worth checking the current offer on the site before ordering rather than assuming it holds indefinitely. Ordering in also works if you would rather eat curry at home; our cheap eats Nottingham guide covers the wider budget end of the city.

Mowgli, Stoney Street: Street Food and Sharing

Mowgli's Nottingham branch is at 1 Stoney Street, in the Lace Market end of the city centre, in a pink-fronted building with an ornate staircase and hanging ropes and vines inside. The format is Indian street food: small dishes, chaat, Tiffin carriers and a sharing menu, plus a lunch street feast. It works for a solo lunch as readily as a group, which is unusual among the city's Indian restaurants.

It is also the only one of the three open through the day. Hours are Monday to Thursday 12:00–22:00, Friday and Saturday 12:00–22:30, and Sunday 12:00–21:30, though it closes on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. That noon opening is the reason to keep it in mind for a pre-shopping lunch or an early dinner before an evening plan, when the Maid Marian Way kitchens are still shut.

Booking is available but less essential here than at MemSaab, because the long opening hours spread demand. For larger groups, though, a table booked in advance saves the usual shuffle at the door. If your party includes plant-based eaters, our vegan restaurants Nottingham guide covers how Mowgli and others handle meat-free choices.

How to Choose Between Them

Pick by occasion first. A date or an anniversary points to MemSaab, where the à la carte format and evening-only hours set the tone. A group night with beer and no ceremony suits Calcutta Club, especially if the Maharajas lager appeals. A quick lunch, a solo meal or a table that wants to share points to Mowgli.

Then check the day. Sunday narrows the field to MemSaab and Mowgli, because Calcutta Club closes. A weekday lunchtime leaves only Mowgli, since the other two open in the evening. All three sit within a short walk of one another: Maid Marian Way and Stoney Street are a walkable ten to fifteen minutes apart, so a change of plan mid-evening is not a disaster.

If you are weighing Indian cooking against the city's top-end restaurants in general, our Michelin star restaurants Nottingham guide explains what a starred meal looks like here and how Indian fine dining fits into that landscape.

What to Order

At Mowgli, the named favourites give a sensible spine to a shared table: Gunpowder Chicken, chicken marinated in ginger, garlic and garam masala then fried in a light chickpea batter; Mowgli Paneer, cubes of paneer in a velvety sauce; and a mango lassi to cool things down. Build the table from a few of these plus a couple of vegetable dishes, and you get variety without over-ordering.

At MemSaab, think in courses rather than plates to share: a starter of grilled meat, then a traditional curry or a modern Indian main, with the bill matched to the fine-dining setting. At Calcutta Club, ask about any seasonal specials running that month, as those rotate and give regulars something new, and ask about the lager to go with the curry.

Menus change, so check each restaurant's own site for current dishes and prices before you go. That is especially true of specials, takeaway offers and any festive menus, which are advertised for limited periods.

Booking, Timing and Getting There

Book MemSaab in advance for Friday and Saturday, and for any larger group midweek. Calcutta Club also takes reservations, worth doing at peak times given the short evening window from 17:30. Mowgli takes bookings online but tolerates walk-ins better because of its all-day hours.

All three sit inside the ring road, easily reached on foot from the train station or the tram stops around Old Market Square and the Lace Market. For a pre-theatre or post-shopping meal, Mowgli's noon-to-late window is the most forgiving, while MemSaab and Calcutta Club need a booking timed around their evening openings.

To compare the named places one by one, browse Nottingham pubs and food landmarks.

Which Indian Restaurant Should You Book?

Book MemSaab if the meal is the occasion, Calcutta Club if it is a beer-and-curry night, and Mowgli if you want lunch, sharing or flexibility. Check the day against their hours before anything else: Sunday removes Calcutta Club, and a weekday lunch leaves only Mowgli.

Whichever you choose, reserve for weekend evenings and look at the menu on the restaurant's own site for current prices and specials. That single check saves the most common disappointment: turning up on the wrong day or finding the dish you wanted has rotated off the list.