Correction (1 October 2026): an earlier version of this page listed eight “Indian” venues in Malvern with generated names, street addresses under postcode 3097 (Malvern’s is 3144), dishes such as mushroom pasta and sourdough, prices and seat counts, and said we had tested them. None of that was checked, and we could not stand behind any of it. The page has been rewritten from scratch: every place with a heading below was checked against its own current website or menu, and a second independent source, on 1 October 2026.
Malvern’s Indian food story is a short one on paper and a long-running one on Glenferrie Road. The suburb’s own strip gives you Moti Mahal, an Indian restaurant with its full menu online that says it has been serving Indian cuisine since 1983. Around it, in the neighbouring suburbs, sit a tandoor house in Malvern East, a dosa kitchen on High Street in Armadale and a biryani-and-curry kitchen on High Street in Glen Iris, each of which publishes its prices.
Community context: at the 2021 Census, 194 of Malvern’s 9,929 residents (2.0 per cent) were born in India, against 4.0 per cent across Victoria. So this guide is upfront about it: one pick is in Malvern, and three are next door.
The precinct: the Glenferrie Road Malvern traders’ directory lists Moti Mahal at 71 Glenferrie Road and Shahi India, an Indian grocer, at 41 Glenferrie Road.
Two quick notes before you order. North Indian cooking leans on wheat breads and the tandoor, the clay oven behind naan and tandoori chicken; South Indian cooking is built on rice and lentils, which is where dosa, idly and vada come from. And menus move, so give the venue’s own page a squiz before you head out.
The quick picks
| If you’re after | Head to | Start with | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| A sit-down Indian dinner in Malvern itself | Moti Mahal | Papdee chaat | $14.00 |
| Tandoor smoke at takeaway prices | Tandoori Cottage | Half tandoori chicken (takeaway menu) | $14.90 |
| South Indian dosa, idly and vada | Baahubali Indian Restaurant | Medu vada | $12.99 |
| A cheap biryani to take home | Fathima’s Indian Kitchen | Chicken biryani | $16.00 |
Moti Mahal — 71 Glenferrie Rd, Malvern VIC 3144
The Malvern pick, listed in the Glenferrie Road traders’ directory. Its own site describes it as serving Indian cuisine since 1983, and its menu runs from a street-food section to tandoor dishes and a long curry list: butter chicken is $25.00, laal maas $29.00, and the bakri santrawali, goat cooked with Himalayan-style spices and Australian native pepper, is also $29.00. For takeaway, the site says it delivers up to 6 km by road from Glenferrie Road, with free delivery within 2 km on orders over $50, or you can pick up.
On the menu: laal maas is a Rajasthani lamb curry named for its red colour; Moti Mahal’s version uses Mathania chilli, a dried red chilli from that state. Garlic naan is $6.00 to go with it.
Start with: papdee chaat, $14.00: crisp wafers under yoghurt, tamarind, onion and tomato, the sweet-sour-salty street snack that wakes up a meal. Panipuri, hollow puris you fill with spiced water and eat in one bite, is $12.00.
Tandoori Cottage — 403 Waverley Rd, Malvern East VIC 3145
A Waverley Road restaurant that publishes two menus, one for the dining room and a cheaper one for takeaway; the prices here are from the takeaway menu, and its “Order Online” button rings the restaurant rather than opening a cart. Murg makhani, which the menu glosses as butter chicken, is $20.90; chicken biryani is $17.90; garlic naan is $4.50; and the Kerala prawn curry, cooked with coconut and tempered with mustard and curry leaves, is $23.90. Its own contact page lists it as closed on Mondays.
On the menu: tandoori chicken is marinated in yoghurt and spices and roasted in the tandoor, where the heat chars the outside before the inside dries out. A whole bird is $28.00.
Start with: half tandoori chicken, $14.90 on the takeaway menu.
Baahubali Indian Restaurant — 6/1097 High St, Armadale VIC 3143
The High Street kitchen to know if a dosa is the point of the night. Its own online menu has sections called Dosa Specials and Idly & Vada: a plain dosa is $14.99, the Mysore masala dosa $18.99, and ghee podi idly $12.99. If rice is more your speed, the mutton dum biryani is $25.99. Its own site lists it as closed on Mondays and open Tuesday to Sunday from 5pm, for pickup or delivery.
On the menu: a Mysore masala dosa is a crisp fermented rice-and-lentil crepe spread with a red chilli chutney before the spiced potato goes in; ghee podi idly are steamed rice cakes tossed in ghee and podi, a dry ground spice and lentil mix.
Start with: medu vada, $12.99: a savoury doughnut of black gram batter, crisp outside and soft inside, made for dunking in sambar and chutney.
Fathima’s Indian Kitchen — 57 High St, Glen Iris VIC 3146
The Glen Iris branch of a small group, with pickup and delivery: its own site names Malvern among its delivery suburbs and says plainly “No Alcohol, No BYO”. Its butter chicken, chicken biryani and garlic naan all come in under the Moti Mahal and Tandoori Cottage prices (Moti Mahal’s murg biryani is $24.00). Goat biryani is $18.00, the “Almir chicken or special butter chicken” is $18.50, a samosa pair is $6.00, and garlic naan is $3.50. Its site gives its hours as Wednesday to Monday, 5pm to 10pm, closed Tuesday.
On the menu: a biryani layers par-cooked rice over spiced meat, then cooks the two together so the rice takes on the masala; the fried onions on top are the finishing touch.
Start with: chicken biryani, $16.00.
Also in and around Malvern
Shahi India, at 41 Glenferrie Road, is an Indian grocer rather than a restaurant: its own online shop lists frozen naans, frozen samosas, paneer and spices, which is handy if you would rather cook. The Grand Punjab is listed at 203 Glenferrie Road on a third-party ordering platform and in an online directory, but we could not find a website of its own, so we could not confirm a current menu or prices. Kantipur, at 109 Hawthorn Road in Caulfield North, describes itself as Indian and Nepalese and takes orders through its own online ordering page; the dish names on that page did not load for us, so it carries no prices here.
Quick answers
Where can I get Indian takeaway in Malvern?
Moti Mahal at 71 Glenferrie Road takes orders online: its own site says it delivers up to 6 km by road, with free delivery within 2 km on orders over $50, or you can pick up. Fathima’s Indian Kitchen in Glen Iris also lists Malvern among its delivery suburbs.
Is there an Indian restaurant on Glenferrie Road, Malvern?
Yes. Moti Mahal is at 71 Glenferrie Road, and the Glenferrie Road traders’ directory also lists Shahi India, an Indian grocer, at number 41. The Grand Punjab is listed at 203 Glenferrie Road on a third-party platform, but we could not find its own website to check a current menu.
How much is butter chicken near Malvern?
From each venue’s own menu on 1 October 2026: $25.00 at Moti Mahal, $20.90 for murg makhani (butter chicken) on Tandoori Cottage’s takeaway menu, and $18.50 for the “Almir chicken or special butter chicken” at Fathima’s Indian Kitchen in Glen Iris.
Where can I get a dosa near Malvern?
Baahubali Indian Restaurant at 6/1097 High Street, Armadale, has a dosa section on its own menu: plain dosa $14.99 and Mysore masala dosa $18.99, with idly and vada alongside.
Is this guide about Malvern in Victoria?
Yes. It covers Malvern in Melbourne, Victoria (postcode 3144), and its neighbours. Malvern in Pennsylvania and Malvern in Worcestershire, England, are different places, and none of the venues here are there.
How we checked
On 1 October 2026 we read each venue’s own website or online menu and copied every item and price exactly as printed. Moti Mahal’s prices come from its own menu page; Tandoori Cottage’s from the takeaway menu on its own site; Baahubali’s from the category lists its own ordering page loads; Fathima’s from its own Glen Iris ordering pages, which load their prices in the browser, so we read them through a page renderer. We confirmed each address at a second, independent source: the Australian Good Food Guide, and for Moti Mahal the Glenferrie Road Malvern traders' directory too. The Census figures are from the ABS 2021 QuickStats for Malvern (Vic.). We left out places whose own website we could not open, or whose menu we could not read, because without it we could not check a current dish or price. Online prices can differ from counter prices, deals come and go, and hours change. The photos are illustrative, from Unsplash: they show the kind of dish, not the venue’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
- Moti Mahal: own site and menu; address also at AGFG and the Glenferrie Road Malvern traders’ directory
- Tandoori Cottage: takeaway menu and contact page; address also at AGFG
- Baahubali Indian Restaurant: own site and its online menu; address also at AGFG
- Fathima’s Indian Kitchen, Glen Iris: own site and its online menu; address also at AGFG
- Shahi India: own site and the Glenferrie Road Malvern traders’ directory
- Kantipur: own ordering page; address also at AGFG
- Malvern population and country of birth: ABS 2021 Census QuickStats
