Correction (1 October 2026): an earlier version of this page listed twelve “Indian” venues in Elsternwick, from Leo’s to The Red Bench, that we cannot find anywhere, on streets we cannot find in the suburb, under a postcode that is not Elsternwick’s (Elsternwick is 3185). Their dishes, prices, seat counts and parking tips had no source, and the page claimed every option had been tested, which it had not. It has been rewritten from scratch: every restaurant below was checked against its own website or ordering page, and against a second, independent listing, on 1 October 2026, and every price was copied from the venue’s own menu.
The three Indian restaurants we could verify in Elsternwick and recommend all sit on Glen Huntly Road: Qmin at number 297, Toddy at 480A and Indian Essence at 586. A fourth on the same road, Dhaba 517, is under “Also searched for” below, because its own pages disagree on when it opens. Two more are a short drive out, Curry Leaf Cafe on Brighton Road in Elwood and Bombay by Night on North Road in Caulfield South, which is why this is an honest “near Elsternwick” list rather than a padded one. All five do takeaway in some form, and four of them had prices online that we could check before you pick up the phone.
Community context: Elsternwick’s Indian restaurants are not a big-community story. At the 2021 Census, 139 residents (1.3 per cent of 10,887) were born in India, against 4.0 per cent across Victoria. The suburb’s best-known food heritage is Jewish: 17.9 per cent of residents recorded Judaism as their religion, against 0.7 per cent statewide. The four menus we could read all carry the familiar North Indian pair of butter chicken and rogan josh, with a few South Indian and modern touches around them.
The precinct: the traders’ own site places Elsternwick Village on Glen Huntly Road, “connected by the Sandringham train line and 67 tram”, and lists Qmin and Toddy among its restaurants.
The quick picks
| If you’re after | Head to | Start with | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Takeaway on the Village strip | Qmin Indian Eatery and Drinks | Butter chicken | $20.90 |
| A long menu with delivery | Indian Essence Elsternwick | Dal makhani | $18.25 |
| A modern Indian dinner with a bar | Toddy | Old Delhi style tandoori chicken | No current prices online |
| A one-person takeaway feed | Curry Leaf Cafe, Elwood | Takeaway Pack | $20.00 |
| Dinner for two at home | Bombay by Night, Caulfield South | Takeaway Deal for 2 | $51.90 |
Qmin Indian Eatery and Drinks — 297 Glen Huntly Rd, Elsternwick VIC 3185
The Elsternwick Village directory describes Qmin as a modern restaurant that gives traditional Indian flavours “a contemporary twist”, and its own takeaway menu shows both sides. Butter chicken, “twice cooked”, is $20.90; the Kashmiri lamb roganjosh is $22.90; and the Chennai chicken, cooked with star anise, fennel, black pepper and curry leaves, is $19.90. On the snack side, chicken 65 (the spicy fried chicken that South Indian menus are known for) is $12.90, and onion crisps, its name for onion bhaji, are $8.90.
On the menu: butter chicken is tandoor-cooked chicken finished in a mild tomato, butter and cream sauce. For takeaway planners, Qmin’s site runs an early-dinner offer: phone your order, pick up between 4:30 and 6:30pm, and take 15 per cent off orders over $25. It opens for dinner from 4:30pm every day, with lunch Thursday to Saturday.
Start with: butter chicken, $20.90.
Indian Essence Elsternwick — 586 Glen Huntly Rd, Elsternwick VIC 3185
Indian Essence is the furthest east of the three Glen Huntly Road kitchens. Its online ordering page, which takes takeaway and delivery orders, lists dal makhani at $18.25, butter chicken at $23.30, lamb rogan josh at $25.35, a half tandoori chicken at $17.25 and garlic naan at $4.05. The takeaway menu printed on its own website shows lower figures for the same dishes (butter chicken $19.95, dal makhani $16.95), so check the price when you order.
On the menu: dal makhani is whole black lentils simmered slowly with butter and cream; the menu calls it “Punjabi style”. It is a staple of North Indian restaurant menus. Indian Essence opens Tuesday to Sunday and lists Monday as closed.
Start with: dal makhani, $18.25.
Toddy — 480A Glen Huntly Road, Elsternwick VIC 3185
Toddy calls itself a “Modern Indian restaurant in Elsternwick”, and the Elsternwick Village directory describes it as a cafe, bar and restaurant that takes inspiration from the chef’s Indian heritage. The name comes from toddy, the palm drink of India’s coast, and the bar is part of the pitch: its own site suggests smashed samosa and chicken tikka “with cocktails to match the mood”, and names the “Old Delhi Style tandoori chicken” and an Indian-inspired shepherd’s pie among the chef’s recommendations.
On the menu: tandoori chicken is marinated in yoghurt and spices and cooked in a clay tandoor, which runs far hotter than a home oven and gives the charred edges. Toddy’s takeaway page, which carries its prices, was last edited in December 2023, according to the site’s own page data, so we have left its prices out; ring 03 8595 4209, the number its site gives for takeaway orders.
Start with: the Old Delhi style tandoori chicken.
Curry Leaf Cafe — 101 Brighton Rd, Elwood VIC 3184
Over in Elwood, Curry Leaf Cafe runs its own ordering site, and its specials include two takeaway deals. The Takeaway Pack is $20.00 for a small curry, small basmati rice and a plain naan, with butter chicken, beef aloo, lamb rogan josh, dal makhani, dal tadka or veg korma to choose from; the Curry Lovers for 2 deal is $55.00. A la carte, the Kashmiri rogan josh and the Chennai curry leaf are $22.90 each, and butter chicken is $26.90.
On the menu: rogan josh is the Kashmiri lamb curry, red from mild Kashmiri chilli rather than heat. The Chennai curry leaf shares the cafe’s name: the menu describes tender pieces tempered with mustard seeds and fresh curry leaves in a coconut curry, a South Indian way of cooking.
Start with: the Takeaway Pack, $20.00.
Bombay by Night — 355 North Road, Caulfield South VIC 3162
A Caulfield South restaurant whose website links straight to its online ordering page. The Takeaway Deal for 2 is $51.90 for two samosas, a chicken makanwalla, a rogan josh, saffron rice, a naan and raita. On its own, the chicken makanwalla (its name for butter chicken, made with breast meat) is $21.90, lamb or beef vindaloo is $21.90, a samosa is $5.00 and garlic naan is $5.00.
On the menu: vindaloo is the Goan curry built on vinegar and chilli, and the menu flags it as “A hot curry from goa”; makanwalla comes from makhan, the Hindi word for butter. A samosa is a pastry parcel, here filled with potatoes and peas.
Start with: the Takeaway Deal for 2, $51.90.
Also searched for
Dhaba 517, at 517 Glen Huntly Road, is a fourth Indian kitchen in Elsternwick. Its own website sells its menu online, with butter chicken at $22.90, dal makhani at $19.90, lamb rogan josh at $23.90 and garlic naan at $4.50, and the menu it publishes as a PDF gives (03) 9528 1944 for the restaurant. It is not in our picks because its own pages disagree on when it trades: the PDF menu says 12:00pm to 11:00pm every day, while its Foodhub ordering page lists 12:15pm to 9:45pm with Tuesday closed. Ring before you go.
Bala Da Dhaba is listed at 63 Glen Eira Road, Ripponlea, in OpenStreetMap and in The Urban List’s directory. The website address in its Urban List entry did not load on 1 October 2026 and we could not find a menu it publishes, so we could not check its dishes or prices, and it is not in our picks.
Quick answers
Where can I get Indian takeaway in Elsternwick?
Three Glen Huntly Road kitchens do takeaway. Qmin (297 Glen Huntly Rd) takes pick-up orders on its own website, Indian Essence Elsternwick (586 Glen Huntly Rd) takes takeaway and delivery orders through its online ordering page, and Toddy (480A Glen Huntly Road) gives 03 8595 4209 for takeaway orders.
Which Indian restaurants are on Glen Huntly Road in Elsternwick?
Qmin Indian Eatery and Drinks at 297, Toddy at 480A and Indian Essence Elsternwick at 586 are our picks. Dhaba 517 at 517 sells its menu online from its own website but gives different trading hours on different pages, so ring it first. Qmin and Toddy are listed in the Elsternwick Village traders’ directory.
Is Indian Essence Elsternwick open on Mondays?
No. Its own website lists Monday as closed. It opens 5:00pm to 10:30pm Tuesday to Saturday, and 12:00pm to 10:30pm on Sunday.
How much is butter chicken near Elsternwick?
On 1 October 2026: $20.90 at Qmin, $23.30 on Indian Essence’s online ordering page ($19.95 on the takeaway menu printed on its website), $26.90 at Curry Leaf Cafe in Elwood, and $21.90 for the chicken makanwalla at Bombay by Night in Caulfield South.
What is the cheapest Indian takeaway meal near Elsternwick?
Curry Leaf Cafe’s Takeaway Pack is $20.00 for a small curry, small basmati rice and a plain naan. At Qmin, phone orders picked up between 4:30 and 6:30pm get 15 per cent off orders over $25.
How we checked
On 1 October 2026 we read each restaurant’s own website and online ordering page, and copied every item and price exactly as printed. Qmin’s prices come from the takeaway menu on its own site; Indian Essence’s from its online ordering page, with the lower figures on its website’s printed takeaway menu noted beside them; Curry Leaf Cafe’s from its own ordering site; Bombay by Night’s from the ordering page its website links to; Dhaba 517’s from the online shop on its own website, with its hours from the PDF menu on that site and from its Foodhub ordering page. Toddy’s takeaway page was last edited in December 2023, so we used only its current description and none of its prices. We confirmed each address at a second, independent source: the Australian Good Food Guide, the Elsternwick Village traders’ directory or Localsearch, and Restaurant Guru for Dhaba 517. Population, birthplace and religion figures are from the ABS 2021 Census QuickStats for Elsternwick. Online prices can differ from counter prices and deals change, so check when you order. 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
- Qmin Indian Eatery and Drinks: qminindianrestaurant.com.au; also at Elsternwick Village and AGFG
- Indian Essence Elsternwick: indianessenceelsternwick.com.au, its takeaway mains menu and its ordering page; address also at Localsearch
- Toddy: toddyrestaurant.com and its takeaway page; also at Elsternwick Village and AGFG
- Curry Leaf Cafe: curryleafcafe.com.au; address also at AGFG
- Bombay by Night: bombaybynight.com.au and its ordering page; address also at AGFG
- Dhaba 517: dhaba517.com, its PDF menu and its ordering page; address also at Restaurant Guru
- Bala Da Dhaba listing: The Urban List and OpenStreetMap
- Elsternwick birthplace and religion: ABS 2021 Census QuickStats
