TripAdvisor top-rated city centre Indian serves 'outstanding' food

An Indian restaurant in the city centre of Bristol has been ranked as the highest reviewed restaurant according to Tripadvisor. Talwar Express, on St Augustines Parade, was ranked in the Bristol Restaurant Report as the highest-reviewed restaurant ahead of other Indian restaurants which made the top three.

The restaurant opened for takeaway only in December 2022, before opening for dine-ins the following month. Since then, the Indian street food specialists have garnered a reputation for quality food and great service.

Talwar is a word that has come to define the restaurant in the reviews. Meaning “sword”, the restaurant takes pride in the sharpness of the spices that they use, as well as the presentation of each meal, according to its website.

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Founded by Mohan Shanmugum, who started his career as a bartender, Talwar Express has grown its reputation and has gathered praise from reviewers online. The founder himself said on Instagram in April 2023: “The concept behind Talwar is to create an environment for families and friends to be together while eating good food.”

Talwar Express serves a range of specialty street dishes including Bread Pakora (an Indian sandwich with masala potato, coriander, tomatoes and mint chutney) and Chole Bhatura, with Indian deep-fried leavened bread, spiced chickpeas and red onion.

Talwar also specialises in thalis, where different curries and sauces are placed around the side of the plate with rice in the middle. Each curry and sauces are mixed with the rice one at a time and eaten in a specific order to provide “a good, wholesome and balanced meal”. It also serves curries, meat dishes and desserts.

On TripAdvisor, Talwar Express has obtained a perfect five-star rating by reviewers after 86 reviews. One reviewer said: “Just the absolute best meal we’ve had in a very long time, the service and value were amazing and the food was outstanding, not too hot with spice, just enough heat and just flavour and aromatics by the bucketload.”

A second reviewer said: “Our dinner was a wonderful experience. The food was delicious, and the service was both efficient and welcoming.” Another reviewer added: “Mohan takes special care of all guests.”

Many reviewers praised the service and the environment of the restaurant, as one said: “Hands down the freshest Indian in Bristol, service is very polite and warming, the food is spiced to perfection, everything is so delicately prepared and placed. I actually cannot fault anything.

“The staff are so polite and helpful, the owner was lovely and chatty and happy to explain away his methods of cooking! Very beautiful space and lovely music. If you want authentic, Indian roots, this is the one!”

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