Correction (1 October 2026): an earlier version of this page listed ten Indian restaurants in Brighton East that we could not find in any listing we checked, gave them all the postcode 3194 (which belongs to Mentone, not Brighton East), priced dishes such as sourdough bread and pumpkin risotto, and said every place had been tested in person. It has been rewritten from scratch. Every kitchen below was checked against its own website or menu and an independent listing on 1 October 2026, and every price was copied that day from the venue’s own published menu or online ordering page.
Brighton East is best known for its parkland, Dendy Park above all, and for Indian food you look to its edges. The kitchens worth knowing sit on the roads around it: on North Road to the north-east, along Centre Road in Bentleigh, down Hampton Street, and on Bay Street in Brighton. This guide is honest about that. It is an “in and around Brighton East” list, and every heading carries the venue’s real suburb and postcode.
Community context: at the 2021 Census, 195 Brighton East residents, or 1.2 per cent, were born in India, against 4.0 per cent across Victoria. Mandarin (4.6 per cent), Greek (2.7) and Russian (2.1) were the most common languages used at home other than English. So these restaurants are not the product of a large local diaspora; they cook for the bayside suburbs at large, and three of the six say in their own words how long they have been doing it.
On the menu: nearly every kitchen here cooks from the North Indian and Punjabi repertoire, the food of the tandoor, the clay oven that chars tandoori chicken and blisters naan against its walls. Butter chicken, or murgh makhani (“makhani” means with butter), is tandoor-roasted chicken finished in a tomato, butter and cream sauce, and every one of the six menus has a version of it, which makes it a fair way to compare them. Menus and prices move, so give them a squiz before you order.
The quick picks
| If you’re after | Head to | Start with | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| The closest kitchen, on North Road | Bombay by Night | Butter chicken (breast) | $21.90 |
| Delivery that lists Brighton East | Swaad India’s Zest | Butter chicken with two naan, two roti or rice | $29.95 |
| Tandoor cooking further along North Road | Bombay Club | Half tandoori chicken (takeaway menu) | $16.50 |
| A feed for four in one order | Roti Boti | Family pack for 4 | $85 |
| The long-runner, open since 1981 | Shalimar Indian Restaurant | Murgh mumtaz (butter chicken) | $29.75 |
| Biryani on Bay Street | Royale India | Chicken biryani | $22.90 |
Bombay by Night — 355 North Rd, Caulfield South VIC 3162
North Road is Brighton East’s northern boundary as far east as Thomas Street, and Bombay by Night sits on the Caulfield South side of it just beyond that corner, the nearest kitchen on this list to the suburb. Its own site says it has been in business for more than 29 years, and its ordering page has the lowest butter chicken price here: the Chicken Makanwalla, a mild barbecued chicken breast in tomato and cream sauce, at $21.90. The Chicken Mumbai, also $21.90, is the house’s Bombay-style curry of turmeric-and-lemon chicken in a spicy coconut sauce; onion bhajia, chickpea-batter onion fritters, are $8.90 for four, and garlic naan is $5.00. Two can share the takeaway deal for $51.90 (samosas, butter chicken, rogan josh, saffron rice, naan and raita). One catch for Brighton East: on 1 October its ordering page listed delivery only to Caulfield South, McKinnon, Bentleigh, Ormond, Gardenvale and Glen Huntly, so plan on pickup. Closed Mondays.
Start with: Chicken Makanwalla (butter chicken), $21.90.
Swaad India’s Zest — 9/271-275 Centre Rd, Bentleigh VIC 3204
If you want Indian brought to a Brighton East door, this is the kitchen whose own website names the suburb: Brighton East sits in its “We deliver to” list beside Bentleigh, McKinnon and Ormond. Its curries are priced with the carbohydrate included, so the butter chicken at $29.95 comes with a free choice of two naan, two roti or rice, and the daal makhani (black lentils and kidney beans, finished with a layer of cream) is $28.95 on the same terms. The biryani, rice layered and steamed with spices and your choice of vegetables, paneer, chicken, lamb or goat, is $23.95, and the samosa plate is $12.95. Two more things set it apart: a no-onion, no-garlic curry menu, and 10 per cent off cash takeaway. Open Tuesday to Sunday from 4pm.
Start with: butter chicken with two naan, $29.95.
Bombay Club — 564 North Rd, Ormond VIC 3204
Further east along North Road, in Ormond, Bombay Club says it has been serving North Indian food since 1994, and its own site names Brighton among the suburbs it delivers to. Its 2026 takeaway menu, a PDF on its website, lists a half tandoori chicken at $16.50, the dish the menu calls its most popular from the tandoor, and the chicken butter cream, its butter chicken with cashews, at $24.50. The Goan fish, a coconut-milk curry in the style of India’s west coast, is $27.50. A separate online ordering site under the restaurant’s name charges more, $27.45 for the same butter chicken, so confirm the price when you order. Dinner runs Tuesday to Sunday, with lunch on Fridays.
Start with: half tandoori chicken, $16.50 on the takeaway menu.
Roti Boti — 513 Hampton St, Hampton VIC 3188
Hampton Street is Brighton East’s western boundary, and Roti Boti is further south along it in Hampton. Its takeaway menu is built for sharing: the family pack for four is $85 and covers four samosas, four pieces of chicken tikka, lamb rogan josh, butter chicken, two rice, two naan, raita and pappadums. On its own, the butter chicken, which the menu describes as clay-oven chicken tikka in a “satin smooth” tomato gravy with kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves), is $28; two samosas, pastry triangles of spiced peas and potato, are $12; and a half tandoori chicken, four pieces, is $19. Open Tuesday to Sunday evenings.
Start with: the family pack for 4, $85, if there are four of you; otherwise the butter chicken, $28.
Shalimar Indian Restaurant — 343 Bay St, Brighton VIC 3186
Shalimar calls itself “Melbourne’s Oldest Indian Restaurant est. 1981”. Its 2026 takeaway menu, posted on its website as two images, lists murgh mumtaz, its butter chicken, at $29.75 and a half tandoori chicken at $19.95. The breads are where it plays: garlic naan is $6.75, and there is a blue cheese naan at $10.95, a house twist rather than a classic. The site also names its tandoori cauliflower as a house specialty. Dinner is Tuesday to Sunday from 5.30pm.
Start with: murgh mumtaz, $29.75, with a garlic naan.
Royale India — 228-230 Bay St, Brighton VIC 3186
Also on Bay Street, Royale India says it is now under new management, and its online ordering page lists the full menu with prices. The chicken biryani, rice and chicken cooked together with saffron, cinnamon and cardamom, is $22.90; the butter chicken makhani is $27.90; and garlic naan is $4.50. The restaurant is BYO and closed on Tuesdays, so check the day before you plan around it.
Start with: chicken biryani, $22.90.
Quick answers
Is there an Indian takeaway in Brighton East?
None of the six kitchens on this page is inside Brighton East’s boundaries. The closest is Bombay by Night at 355 North Road, Caulfield South, on the north side of North Road just past the suburb’s north-east corner at Thomas Street, where butter chicken is $21.90 for pickup. Swaad India’s Zest on Centre Road, Bentleigh, lists Brighton East as a delivery suburb on its own website.
Which Indian restaurant delivers to Brighton East?
Swaad India’s Zest, 9/271-275 Centre Road, Bentleigh, names Brighton East in its own “We deliver to” list, and its butter chicken is $29.95 with two naan, two roti or rice. Bombay by Night’s ordering page did not list Brighton East as a delivery suburb on 1 October 2026.
What is the best Indian restaurant in Brighton, Victoria?
Two Bay Street kitchens are on this list. Shalimar, 343 Bay Street, calls itself Melbourne’s oldest Indian restaurant, established 1981, and its butter chicken is $29.75. Royale India, 228-230 Bay Street, publishes a full online menu with chicken biryani at $22.90. We list prices, not star ratings.
Where is the cheapest butter chicken near Brighton East?
Bombay by Night’s Chicken Makanwalla at $21.90, on its own ordering page on 1 October 2026. Bombay Club’s 2026 takeaway menu lists its chicken butter cream at $24.50, though its online ordering site charges $27.45.
What should I order for a family Indian takeaway near Brighton East?
Roti Boti in Hampton has a family pack for four at $85 (samosas, chicken tikka, lamb rogan josh, butter chicken, two rice, two naan, raita and pappadums). Bombay by Night’s takeaway deal for two is $51.90.
How we checked
On 1 October 2026 we read each restaurant’s own website, takeaway menu or online ordering page and copied every item and price as printed. Bombay Club’s takeaway prices come from the 2026 PDF on its own site; its online ordering site shows higher prices, and we say so. Shalimar’s 2026 takeaway menu is published as images, so we read the images and checked the text against them. Royale India’s ordering page prints prices with a decimal comma (27,90 for the butter chicken); we have written them the Australian way. Each address was confirmed at a second, independent source: the Australian Good Food Guide or an Uber Eats listing. Delivery-app prices were not used. The Census figures are from the ABS 2021 QuickStats for Brighton East, and the suburb boundaries are from Wikipedia. No Indian restaurant we could verify sits inside Brighton East itself, so this is a guide to the kitchens around it. Prices can differ between counter, phone and online orders, and deals change. The photos are illustrative, from Unsplash: they show the kind of dish, not the restaurant’s own food.
Seen something out of date? Email [email protected] with the page link and what has changed, and we will check it again.
Sources
- Bombay by Night: bombaybynight.com.au and its ordering page; address also on Uber Eats, Brighton East
- Swaad India’s Zest: swaad.com.au, order online and location and hours; address also on Uber Eats, Brighton East
- Bombay Club: bombayclub.com.au, its 2026 takeaway menu (PDF) and the online ordering site; address also at AGFG
- Roti Boti: rotiboti.com.au and its takeaway menu; address also on Uber Eats
- Shalimar Indian Restaurant: shalimar.com.au and its takeaway menu page; address also at AGFG
- Royale India: royaleindia.com.au and its order page; address also at AGFG
- Brighton East population and languages: ABS 2021 Census QuickStats
- Brighton East boundaries: Wikipedia
