An excellent restaurant. I came here about 5 years ago, and never forgot my southern Indian cuisine experience at this local. Five years later it's still stunningly good. I had Masala Dosa, and tilapia cooked in a banana leaf. The flavors were incredible. The service fast, friendly and willing to suggest if you are not sure what to pick. I will come back again for sure. Stephen read more

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I've been to Kayal a couple of times now and been mightily impressed each time. The cuisine is from the Keralan region of India and its excellent quality and unique flavours have seen the restaurateurs play host to both the Hairy Bikers and Gordon Ramsey. The restaurant is larger than you first think as it extends on two floors into the back, but its always advisable to book as its full most evenings (weekends at least). The first time i visited i ordered the Thali which comes as a 3 course meal (which a thali main) and then on my second visit i ordered one of the richest most delicious indian lamb dishes i've ever had. You cant go wrong as every dish on offer is delicious! The only difficulty we had was understanding the layout of the menu. Its a little difficult to navigate, so i recommend taking a quick look on the simplified board outside first. read more

Kayal - lamb....amazing! - Indian Near Me - Nottingham, NGM

Consider myself a bit of a curry snob and stumbled across this place whilst visiting Nottingham with work. I love Indian food from this region so had high expectations that were largely met to be fair. The service was unfortunately very poor and as a group we didn't feel very welcome. No one was particularly keen to recommend any dishes and we didn't see one smile throughout! As for the food....this was great quality and no one was disappointed. Good portion sizes at reasonable prices. Not your usual curry house for anyone who is new to food from this region. I'd asked for my dish to be made hotter than usual when in fact it tasted medium strength but I guess that's a personal preference. I'd also asked for something tomato based and yet this was a creamy sa Overall it was pretty good but sadly for me the service is a huge factor in how you rate a restaurant and I remember this poor service above the quality of the food! read more

So the first review of this restaurant, calling it the best Indian restaurant in the UK, is by the owner of the restaurant, so it might be a little biased However I was just a visitor, I don't live in Nottingham, and I unbiasedly think it might be the best Indian restaurant I've ever been to. The menu is not quite what you'd expect from a normal Indian restaurant. There are a couple of biryanis but you might not recognise most of the dishes. They're specialist dishes from Southern India (they call it 'backwater India', which tastes more appealing than it sounds), and they taste fantastic. It's not especially cheap but if you want to try as many different flavours as possible without breaking the bank, try the three-course samplers. For around £15 you simply choose 'meat' or 'vegetarian' and the starter and main courses are mini-buffet arrangements of different snacks, meats and nibbles, all very interesting. (The desert is just some weird rice pudding with fruit in, but you'll probably be too full to worry about that.) The service is as friendly as you'd want it to be. All the tables are very large, so if there are just two of you you get plenty of space, and you're not elbow-to-elbow with other customers, even at busy times. The decor's decent if a bit uninspired, though the looping DVD video of scenes from Southern India is a nice touch, though a bit distracting. read more

My wife and I popped in here for a quick lunch between Christmas and New Year's 2015 as I needed something tasty and filling before a day out on the beers! Although coming from Nottingham I had never even noticed this great little place before reading about it on a Buzzed article about the best places to eat in Nottingham, and also its top score on Yelp. The restaurant itself is quirky, if a little old school with wood panelling on the walls and odd little trinkets here and there, however it was very reassuring to see a multitude of awards they have won for top cuisine. We knew what we wanted, which was the Business Lunch Thali for a bargainous £5.99 which would get us three mini curries, a large rice, big dosa and a couple of chutneys. However this is where I knock the one star off from it being a five, as we weren't given the business lunch menu with the regular menu - so we would have missed it if we didn't know what we wanted in advance. The service also wasn't that fast, which was unfortunate as it made us 15 minutes late for meeting our pals and going out to celebrate the break with some top beers! The food itself was amazing and incredible value, I'd definitely recommend this place to vegetarians too. Just don't come expecting a Chicken Korma or something like that, it's much too authentic here! read more

I've been to Kayal many times, and i'm really happy with the food, service and value. The food is exceptional! The taste and all the flavours are just amazing. All the staff are really helpful and polite. The place looks great, it brings a real atmosphere, its very quiet and peaceful. There's a bike that's hung by the stairs and it looks great! I would definitely come again ! read more

I had the business lunch special quite late in the afternoon when there was no one else there. The food is different from the usual curry house. I had a vegetarian selection of little dishes, and I wasn't sure what they all were, but they were all delicious. It was served with dosa, a flatbread that looked enormous, but was so light and tasty that I could have had more. The prices are very reasonable too. read more

We decided to try out this restaurant having noticed that the best Indian restaurant in Nottingham. It is in broad street, took a while to find roadside parking, the food and service was incredible and car parks nearby. The restaurant was full on Saturday night, busy friendly atmosphere and we felt welcome straight...and I will return..back ................ read more

Ate here on Saturday night and was blown away! You might not recognise anything on the menu as it isn't a standard Indian basing all their recipes on southern Indian dishes, but the waiter was happy to explain and recommend dishes. Had a dosa ( crispy folded pancake about 18 inches long! ) to start and there's enough for two, followed by the kappa erachi ( lamb stew ) and appan rice bread ( sort of a soft chapatti ) as a main, the food is outstanding, beautifully flavoured with a sneaky hot kick, and I couldn't recommend it enough, so much so I'm gonna bring my girlfriend here for a meal one night ( and I live in Manchester ). read more

Sensational! Delicious Karalan food, friendly and efficient service and great value. A far cry from your usual pot-luck curry house this place is the business. After visiting their Leicester restaurant i was excited to find one in Nottingham. read more

I really wanted to fault this place and give some criticism but for me they really nailed it. 5 stars.The prices are very reasonable and the staff seem to have a very good handle on customer service. The food was excellent. Even the fruit juice was great. It's a good spot for a group or a romantic date. Plenty of space. Thanks guys. read more

I went there with my wife the other day and we loved it! It is not cheap but also not too pricey. Main courses around £8-10, starters around £3-5, bottle of wine was £12. The food was amazing, by far the best Indian food I have ever had. Needless to say, we'll be going there again. After starter and main course we were both so stuffed that we could hardly face eating dessert. We decided to go for it anyway, and ordered something called Kulfi, which is Indian ice cream, and it was the highlight of the evening (although I am usually more into savoury food). Service was friendly and prompt, atmosphere was great. Highly recommended! read more

We went to Kayal as a party of 7 for my boyfirend's birthday and thoroughly enjoyed it. The food was excellent and imaginative and the service was good.It was extremely good value for money and I would definitely go back. read more

Genuinely the nicest Indian food I've ever had! Every time I have friends and family visit this is our go-to place. The kayal fish curry is to die for! Only thing I would say is that on my last few times coming in there were a few slip-ups eg. dishes being missed off our order, but it wouldn't stop me coming back! read more

Excellent Indian food, drawn mostly from the Kerala region, so a bit more unusual than the standard balti and rogan josh.

Kayal is miles away from standard curry house fare. This is authentic south indian keralan cooking at its finest. Dishes are cooked from good quality ingredients that are expertly spiced and always out of the ordinary. The dosas are huge and a full meal on their own - but it's also worth sharing a set of curries with rices and other breads. There is a broad vegetarian selection and a fine range of wines. The looped video of holiday scenes from Kerala on the video monitors is just plain odd. read more

its good i know

Excellent quality food served in a friendly and bustling atmosphere. They serve a refreshing range of dishes that aren't the sort of standard fare one would see at most Indian restaurants. All of the dishes I tried were delicious and excellent value for money in my opinion. It was also refreshing to see that none of our food was swimming in fat (a common issue I have had in the past at Indian restaurants). I would recommend this restaurant to anyone who likes Indian food, and also to people who don't, since it is quite different to any other Indian restaurant I have visited. read more

I was recommended this Kayal Rrestaurant by Indian friends, and was delighted to find it completely lived up to my expectations. I think this restaurant may actually serve the most authentic South Indian food I have come across in Nottingham.And the food and service was excellent............... read more

I cannot say enough good things about this Keralan restaurant. I'm so glad that Nottingham is lucky enough to have it, and i hear that leicester also has a strictly vegetarian restaurant under a different name but run by the same people that own Kayal. If you want something a bit different to normal Indian fast food kind of dining than you will love this place. The range of food on the menu is impressive, especially as it is all cooked fresh and the quality is so good. I had a set meal for one which came with poppadom and dip starter followed by a big tray of different curries, rice, bread and pickles, and then finally a dessert. All for about £15. There is a really good range of vegetarian dishes, i can highly reccommend the aubergine curry and the dahl. They also have some really unusual breads, which are really interesting. You have to try Kayal at least once, and i'm sure you will not be dissapointed. read more