Archana Restaurant

Tasty menu and nice beer– everything needed in an Indian. Décor is a little drab but food is good.

The best Indian restaurant in Belfast. easy to find location in the heart of the city, cute, cosy place, absolutely amazing food, great selection on the menu –plenty of vegetarian and vegan options as well– the staff is soo friendly, I just love it. They also do takeaway, the exact same quality, huge portions and great prices! Would recommend to anyone.

Archana is a beautiful two storey restaurant decorated in warm, rich colours. Ambience is invitingly comfortable and staff superb. I wanted to try Archana for two reasons. I heard from friends the Indian food served in Archana is fabulous plus they offer a huge selection of Vegetarian and Vegan dishes. I was not disappointed.
We ordered wine from their menu which they didn’t have in stock. So a Waiter actually left Archana and went down the street to their sister restaurant Kitch to pick up the bottle of wine we wanted! Now this really is top class service! Plus as soon as I heard Archana and Kitch are owned by the same family I knew I was going to be happy. I absolutely love Kitch and think it’s currently the best restaurant in Belfast.
We started on complimentary poppadoms and dips which tasted fabulous. I had a main of Saag Alu (mildly spiced potatoes and spinach) with mushroom pilau rice. It was delicious. The best, freshest, most flavoursome Saag Alu I have ever tasted. Portions were generous too. Top marks to Archana and compliments to the Chef as the food was second to none.
I honestly struggled to pick a dish as there are so many vegetarian options and was delighted to see such a huge range of dishes including chickpeas, chillis, aubergines, mixed vegetables and potatoes. It’s also brilliant to see extensive vegan options so clearly marked on a menu.
I thoroughly enjoyed my evening in Archana, which has now firmly topped the list of my personal favourite restaurants in Belfast. Great wine, food, Vegetarian options, portion sizes, prices, service and staff. I simply can’t wait to return. In my opinion this restaurant is perfection and an absolute Veggie Heaven!

Archana serve amazing vegetarian and vegan options with loads of vegan dishes marked clearly on the menu. I went for my usual Vegetable Madras that I try in all Indian restaurants and the flavour was one of, if not the best, I’ve ever tried. The only thing is, there could have been more fresh seasonal veg in the dish. Service was excellent as our waiter went to their sister restaurant Kitch to get the wine we wanted. I also like the relaxed atmosphere as we did not feel rushed out.

Love this indian resturant, best naans in town. Great service and great food.

The ambiance is nice here. It’s small, quaint, cute. The menu had an extensive selection and I didn’t find it all that pricey.
The food here is authentic and home made, and that’s obvious when sampling the food.
The service was just slowwwww. l only noticed this because it took a while to get our main entrees and because my chicken Punjabi was spicy, I slurped down jugs of water pretty quickly. Saag was also delish.
Overall, I had a memorable experience and I’d come back.

We were on a short holiday to Belfast from The Netherlands and asked the girl from the reception of our hotel for a good Indian restaurant and she adviced to go to Archana. I am a vegetarian and what lucky for me there was plenty of choice. The starter was vegetable manchurian (I took the brochure with me and hope that I can order it somewhere else) and that was wonderful! The main course was nice but not as nice as the starter. To our suprise the owner of the restaurant came to us and asked me if I was a vegetarian (he is also one) and told me that I made the wrong choice with the main course. Although I already ate almost half of my food he insisted on giving me the other dish because it was beter in combination withn the starter I liked so much. So he gave me a whole new plate the the most delicious Punjabi Masala! And I did not even have to pay extra! All he said was that he wants all his customers to be happy and satisfied with what they eat and choose. So if you ever visit Belfast go to Archana on Dublin Road 53 and you will have a lovely diner. And even if your not a vegetarian I would still advice you to choose both mentioned plates!
Best regards, Evelien Kluiters

Place is small but staff were friendly with quick service. The food is authentic Indian and tasty. Overall good experience.

One of the pricier little Indian joints in the city this place has long passed me by, until about three months back when I thought I’d give it a go.
I’ve loved Indian food for a while and since trying my hand at a few dishes myself I’ve learned the ins and outs of what works and what doesn’t (for example, the balance of spices has to be perfect, I’m used to just throwing rough handfuls of ingredients in but in this case, too much coriander or cumin can spoil a base for a sauce)
The last thing I tried was a north Indian lightly heated curry, made with lamb fillet (a much under used little cut) and topped up with lots of double cream.
I found something similar on the menu here, can’t quite recall the name but the description was roughly that. It was delicious. Moist lamb (rump possibly) drowned in a lactose sea with lots of cardamom and a touch of iodine saffron.
Tasty, but prices are a bit on the high side.

I adore Indian food, if there’s ever a discussion of where to go for food Indian is top of the list for me. Archana definitely doesn’t disappoint! The menu is pretty big as you’d expect from an Indian and the food is served quickly and nice and hot. I always go for Chicken Jalfreze and Archana make a great one! The Onion Bhaji are really good and I love their saag aloo! The Restaurant is really nice, not overly contemporary but not old fashioned wither and the staff are as attentive as always. I’d definitely recommend this place for a great curry, especially if you’ve been across the road in Auntie Annie’s for a long spell!

Offer me a meal in any Indian restaurant, you will have a happy Emma. What is it about Indian food? The flavours, colours, textures and smell — I just can’t say no. We had a quick bite in here before heading to the cinema down the street — and I’d never been before so it was a bit of an unexpected treat. Although later on, sitting in the cinema with a totally overstuffed belly was probably not the best idea — but what can you do? The food in Archana is good — really tasty and served up fairly quickly too — quick enough that you’re not waiting forever, but not so quick that you are suspicious that it’s been sitting around pre-​prepared for several hours. I had the Onion Bhaji and the Bhuna, really lovely and good sized portions too. It’s a small place, but worth a visit.

The Archana is a great restaurant, and I can’t understand the complaints about food being served authentically! Great menu, reasonable price, handy to cinema and bars. The staff are friendly, if a little informal. Try any of their balti dishes served in the cast iron pot. Dieters — they do a great tandoori chicken — ask for it off the bone if you like the pieces.

I have been to eat in Archana Balti House many times, and the reason is that it is simply the best prepared and tasting Indian food in Belfast.
My food was beautiful and I was well and truly satisfied. The staff and owner were very polite and kind too and made sure that I was happy with my meal.
Also I was very impressed with the menu as it had a list of vegan dishes, which are extremely hard to find. I would definatley reccommend this place to anyone who wants to dine in a fine cusine Balti House

Archana is a good but slitly costly i must say
i love biriyani and mixed veg starter here.
but only thing is that curry’s r served in an balti or a bowl and no plates given untill requested

The food in Archana is the worst i have tasted in Belfast! Everythings full of grease & the people serving are quite rude at times! I would recommend any other place but here! If you are looking for somewhere to eat at night you could try here but be warned the food is disgusting!

Great place, easy to stumble to from Stiff Kitten and Auntie Annies. I usually get a cheesy chip and a cheese burger and it hits the spot. Although, im not that fussy at 1am and i’m full of beer and whiskey.