Diwali Indian Restaurant

Lunch 12.30−3pm offer is a really must have in Dublin. Hands down the best Indian restaurant in Dublin. Lunch offer is only € 9.99 for a starter and main which comes with either rice or naan, and also includes coffee and tea. You also get Papadums as appetisers for free. How can you get such a deal in this city now?!
All their meats are beautifully well seasoned and so tender. I’ve never tasted such tender meat in any restaurants before. It is really really good. Very authentic Indian food, especially coming from me who have lived in Asia my entire life! :)
Very under rated place since everyone is now crazy over eggs and brunch food stuff. Definitely worth to come during lunch or when they have their offers. Ala cate menu can be really pricey though. The portion size may look small, but trust me it gets really filling! Felt so full! Never felt so satisfied.
Must try: ANY MEAT DISH. And their peshwari naan!

A shame. My sister first introduced me to this place a few years ago. It was mid recession Ireland, and these guys were trying hard. They were authentic, friendly, and most important, the food was good.
So I called in tonight. Was solo. Early enough (9.30), so not ritually in the middle of Friday night madness in Dublin. A saddle period, if you like.
It was not good. Service was poor (forgot my 7 euro beer until I reminded you, thanks), and most important, the food was meh. And I mean, signature dish, lamb gorkhali, was just not good. The lamb itself, fine. The sauce, not. The guts of 50 euro for one starter, one main, some sides and a large beer and water? Yeah. No thanks.

We booked in here for earlier this eve and when you walk in it looks a bit old and dated. Tables are very close together. But we are in the city centre. We were been seated in the middle of the restaurant but I asked could we sit along the side where the 2 seaters were and they kindly went out of their way to clear up a table and moved us.
We got free popadoms when we sat down. We ordered chicken tikka masala and a naan bread, my friend ordered rice and jalfrezi. The food was absolutely gorgeous. Its probably one of the nicest Indian Restaurants I have eaten in and the staff were so nice. We even got complimentary spicy type of potato dish.
It is on the higher end of pricing but there is a lunch menu thats very good in value and if you are in before 7, you can pick off their early bird menu.
We will defo be back.

Wow. Amazing food! Ordered the chicken korma with basmanti rice and Peshawari naan; all cooked to perfection. One of the most flavorful meals I’ve ever had!

This restaurant was extraordinary. It was a haven in the midst of a busy crazy difficult medical procedure day for me. The food was delicious, the people were kind, the atmosphere was calm and serene and beautiful. I would recommend this restaurant very very highly

The lunch deal is so worth it! 10 euro for 2 courses, my friend and I really enjoyed a meal before Christmas. The staff was super friendly, they were very busy but able to take good care of everything. The spicy lamb curry was exactly what I want, and the Mango drink is always my favourite!

Simply the best. I’ve eaten at Indian restaurants around the world and this one rates at the top. The appetizers presentation and taste was simply perfect. The main course delivered 5-​star quality. Simply excellent. The service was friendly, exact and professional. This restaurant will be on my must list every time I return to the charming city of Dublin.

When choosing food at Diwali, you cannot go wrong! I do suggest starting with the samosas, naan and the chicken dish though!
Diwali is a more expensive Indian and Nepalese food option, but it really is great if you’re willing to spend the extra! This place is nicer too so you’re also paying for the experience.
I’ve been in small group and with a large group of 10 people. The staff we had were very accommodating and helped us to split our bill at the end. They even gave us a free after dinner drink and pineapple ice cream.
They take reservations AND they are good for groups. They also have a lot of drink options like beer and wine!
#dublinshopslocal

Gorgeous lunch here today. Starter and main with rice or naan for a tenner. Must be some if the best value in the city. Loads of really tasty food. Gorgeous onion bhaji and daal. Definitely recommend.

Went here when in Dublin on business. Great food and service. Ill be back. I think this is the best Indian in Dublin. Service was great.

THE best curry I have EVER had!
A normal looking Indian restaurant with lots of tables and lots a staff. Very busy by 8pm on a Friday however we only had to wait 5 minutes to get a table for two, so a quick turnaround. A few people who had booked with bigger parties did seem to have to wait a while for their booked table so they clearly are very popular!
Drinks are quite dear and there are only a few choices of wine to have by the glass. They were kind enough to let us try the wine as it wasn’t one were often bought.
The menu is fairly standard although there are a few items on there that I hadn’t seen before especially on the Nepalese specials. We ordered and asked for some poppadoms.
A poppadom was brought out between two. Normally I would have asked for more but I wanted to save myself for the mains. We were pleased to see they didn’t charge for the poppadoms (especially as curry restaurants I have been recently all charge £1 and then for dips!).
There wasn’t too long a wait for mains but a complimentary starter was brought out to share (ALOO CHAP — Mashed potatoes infused with ginger, and cumin, dipped in the batter and deep fried). It was delicious!
Shortly after our mains (we shared two) and breads (we are both not interested in rice!) came out (DUCK PASANDA — curry of ground almonds, cardamom, tomato and cream & LAMB BABARI MASU cooked in Tandoor and served in rich creamy masala sauce with fresh mint with Stuffed Paratha and Roti). Both curries were delicious. The meat was cooked so well, both a little pink in the middle and the lamb fell apart in your mouth. I have never had such good quality meat from an Indian restaurant. The sauces were also both full of flavour and contrasted each other so well so as you got used to one and then tried the other it punched with flavour! Each duck and chicken dish was 17.50 euros and each lamb was 17.95. I thought that seemed a little steep however converted in to pounds it is OK and was such a good curry! Paratha was nice however wouldn’t recommend the Roti.
We were also playing cards while waiting for the main and all the staff were so friendly and came over and spoke to us (a few places it is frowned on).
We were asked at the end of the meal if we had enjoyed it –YES! We were rewarded with 10% off our bill, a free Baileys and mint choco.
I really can’t recommend this place enough!

Disappointed. The curry didn’t have a lot of curry and was rather sweet. I had the mixed grill that was fairly good. Best thing about the meal was free water and the service. They offered a drink from the bar before we left, but we didn’t try anything.

Not the best Indian food i found.
Average curry but service is amazing.
The location might be the reason why the food is so expensive, early bird menu was alright, can be better.
I wouldn’t spend so much money on the standard again, but as I said, service is good so might have it another go if the food is better next timex

My favourite Indian without a doubt!
Poppadoms and then we shared dumplings to start and they were really nice.
I had the chicken tikka for main course. Nicest I think I’ve had!
Usual accompaniments — rice & naan bread.
Service is good if a little slow but I really liked the gap between courses as you didn’t feel rushed!
If you find yourself on Georges Street looking at this place, you might well think it doesn’t look like much but if you’re a fan of Indian food you should definitely step inside. It’s worth it!

I came here on a Friday night with some coworkers. The owner told us it would be a 15 minute wait but we ended up waiting outside for about 45 minutes. It’s quite cold in Dublin so I was not pleased at all.
The restaurant is also quite small. We were very cramped and basically encroaching on the next table. Oops!
The staff is pretty nice. I guess they knew we were waiting for so long so we did get some free food and flaming shots out of the whole experience.
I got one of the korma dishes. It was not bad! It was a bit sweeter than I expected (probably because they added rose water?) and it was a bright yellow. I would eat it again though.
I probably wouldn’t wait over 30 minutes next time though.

Flavourful food. Slow service
The dumplings were a delight and the currry was good but not as spicy as I thought given the 3 chiili guidance the service was v slow but in some waya this is good as yiu are not rushed. The place was packed so reservations might be wise.

We met a few friends here for dinner on Friday. Our table wasn’t ready so they were kind enough to offer a few drinks on the house while we waited. After a brief wait they took us to our table and we set to work on the menu. I always do a thorough look through Indian menus but it’s mostly for show because my favourite remains Tikka Masala. Call me a monogamist but when you find «the one» you lose a taste for everything else :) J went with the Gorkhali with Prawn and we decided to split the Saffron Malai Tikka as a starter and an order of garlic naan and pilau rice with our meal.
The starters came out pretty quickly and I’m not sure what everyone else ordered but the food all looked wonderful. Ours came with juicy chunks of chicken and a really nice sauce. It was the perfect amount of food for us to split. After more wine our mains came out and once again, everything looked heavenly. In no time the conversation stopped as people were busy inhaling their food. My masala was excellent with a great balance of spicy and sweet. The chicken was cooked well and there was more than enough food. J seemed to enjoy his dish a lot, as did the other people in our group. None of us had any room for dessert but I will definitely come back to Diwali the next time I crave Indian.

I’ve been to Diwali many many times! Is one of my top 3 in Dublin! :D haha
I was always going safe trying «Tikka Masala, Butter Chicken and Korma» because I don’t like spicy. Then I started going wild with the menu and discovered amazing dishes!
Lamb is Delicious! «The Lamb Ladovedo»… My God! I was singing!!! It had a sweet touch, texture was beautiful and had like spring onions that were doing this delicious contrast.
Yes! the rice and bread are superb! But «ME ME ME like the bread much more thinner and toasted like crunchy!»
I tried a bit of my friend’s dish «Chicken Shashlik» was chicken on the grill and you can add an special sauce that… Uhmmm!!! It’s unbelievable! You have the beautiful toasted corners of the chicken and this sauce! Man… The best combination! Wow! I was happy…
Staff are special! Very nice people and very attentive, all of them!
Easy parking on Dame ct off Exchequer st.
:D

After all these very good Unilocal reviews I started to develop a sudden craving for Indian cuisine and showed up there on Thursday night. High expectations, but not met.
The restaurant is not the prettiest from the outside, but who cares, I’m here for the food! It was relatively empty so it was easy get a table.
The starters on the menu sounded delicious and from a world very far away: Archari Murga Tikka (chicken breast marinated in yogurt, € 8.50), Chicken Pakora (chicken, battered and deep fried, € 6.95) or Mo: Mo (Nepalese dumplings, € 13.50). I went for the Saffron Malai Tikka (chicken with yogurt, € 7.50) but was surprised about the portion size — they apparently take «starter» literally. 6 small pieces of chicken and I was done in under a minute.
The main courses range between 10 and 18 Euro — not really inexpensive. Pasanda Chicken (€ 15.50) and Lamb Bhuna (€ 16.50) both were delicious and came with either fried, white, or lemon rice. They also brought naan bread with 3 sauces before the dish.
While the food itself justifies the reviews, I don’t like the value (overpriced in my opinion — 17 Euro for two small bowls of rice and the main dish) and the service. They tried too hard on selling dessert and drinks and the staff was seriously disappointed when none of their efforts worked out. They also were clumsy with the orders and forgot to bring rice and beer (elementary!). When leaving the almost empty restaurant, only one waiter actually made an effort to say good bye.
Diwali — have a good one.

I was feeling a little bit like I was cheating on KonKan coming to another Indian restaurant. Surely I would be caught out, pictures would appear on facebook and my relationship with KonKan would be over…
Fortunately Diwali is an Indian restaurant and not a mistress so the night went well.
Diwali is a Nepalese restaurant and I haven’t tried one before. Although to be honest I tried a traditional Nepalese curry and it didn’t really strike me as much different from other indian’s I have been to. So don’t let that put you off if you are afraid of trying new things.
We had onion bhaji. a chicken Balti and a Chicken something (sorry cant remember).
We also had side dishes of rice and naan.
It was all delicious and we will be going back. Two very distinctly different curries as well. The Balti had a lovely pickle flavour going through it. Delicious.
The place was packed but we got served pretty quickly, prices are not cheap I guess but this is the centre of Dublin.
The staff were very nice and all in all it was a great night out.