Punjabi Food in Southall, London

A guide to eating Punjabi and South Asian food in Southall, from tandoori and dhaba plates to sweets on the Broadway.

Southall, out in Ealing, is one of the most Punjabi places in Britain, never mind London. The Broadway is lined with sari shops, jewellers, sweet shops and kitchens turning out tandoori, dhaba-style curries and fresh naan all day. If you want food cooked by people who grew up eating it, and plenty of it, this is where you come. Come hungry, because portions here are not delicate.

What to eat

Tandoori is the obvious draw. A proper tandoor gets fiercely hot, so look for chicken tikka, lamb chops and seekh kebabs with real char and smoke, not just red colouring. Lamb chops done well, marinated and pulled straight off the coals, are one of the best things you can eat in Southall.

For a sit-down feed, go dhaba style: dal makhani cooked long and slow, butter chicken, saag with makki di roti, chana, and a stack of hot tandoori roti or a buttery naan. Order a few dishes to share rather than one each. That is how the table is meant to look.

Do not skip breakfast if you are here in the morning. Chole bhature, a big fried bread with spiced chickpeas, is a Southall specialty, and there are cafes doing it right. Wash it down with a masala chai or a sweet lassi.

Then there are the sweets. The mithai shops on the Broadway sell jalebi, barfi, gulab jamun, ladoo and more by weight. Get a box to take home even if you are full. Fresh jalebi, still warm, is hard to beat.

Where on the Broadway

South Road and the Broadway are the main run. You will find everything from quick sweet-and-snack counters to full sit-down restaurants and grill houses. Vegetarians eat very well here, as a lot of the cooking is naturally veg-friendly. Weekends get busy, especially around the sweet shops, so be ready to wait a little.

The listings below pull in real Indian restaurants in Ealing covering Southall and around.

Ordering notes

• Share. Two or three curries, a couple of breads and a rice between a few people beats one dish each.
• Ask for the bread hot and fresh. In the good places it comes straight from the tandoor.
• Heat can be serious. If you want it toned down, say so, but the food is meant to have spice, not just chilli.
• Save room for mithai, or take a box away. It keeps for days.
• Lassi, sweet or salted, and masala chai are the drinks to have. Sweet lassi cools the heat.

Cooking it at home

Southall is also a shopping trip. The grocers and spice shops carry everything: atta for chapatis, whole spices, ghee, paneer, pickles, fresh methi and mustard greens in season. Between the restaurants, the grills and the sweet shops, you can eat brilliantly and stock the kitchen in one afternoon.

Whether your family is Punjabi or you are just here for the tandoori, Southall is generous with anyone who turns up interested. Order a mix, take the sweets home, and do not fill up before the lamb chops arrive.

Written by See The Smoke · kept current from the directory, last checked 2026-09-07