Asheville Restaurants: Indian Cuisine

Asheville offers a wide variety of dining choices, especially for a city of its size.  Although I am often frustrated by what I perceive to be a lack of variety in retail, I find Asheville's restaurant range and diversity, on the other hand, pretty impressive.  From time to time, I will highlight Asheville restaurant offerings, by cuisine, in this blog.  Although it's limited to independent and locally-owned restaurants, I would suggest visiting the Asheville Independent Restaurant Association (AIR) website to gain insight on that segment of Asheville's restaurant population.  As indicated at this organization's website it "... is a 501(6)C non-profit organization dedicated to promoting awareness of our city’s wealth of locally-owned & operated restaurants."  Between the locally-owned restaurants and the regional and national chains, the restaurant industry is well-represented in our City.


I am a vegetarian and often find myself drawn to restaurants serving Indian food since these establishments usually have a good selection of vegetarian recipes.  In Asheville, two restaurants, Mela and India Garden, seem to be the most popular.  I frequent both and, although they differ in selection and setting, I enjoy each of them.

India Garden  is an Indian restaurant located at 156 South Tunnel Road, across from the Asheville Mall.  According to the website, India Garden is a a small chain with three locations - Asheville, NC, Blacksburg, VA, and Lexington, KY.  The Asheville location offers both menu selections and a popular buffet.  India Garden has a somewhat formal atmosphere, white table cloths and waiters wearing ties, but the clientele is generally quite casually dressed.  A plus for this restaurant is its shopping center location, which affords abundant, free parking and very easy access.

The other restaurant, Mela, is also a favorite of mine.  This restaurant is trendy and urban; it is located downtown at 70 North Lexington Avenue.  The restaurant offers both menu selections and a popular buffet, as well as a bar.  The location is a mixed bag; being downtown parking is a factor but, on the other hand, the location avails itself to other downtown experiences, such as pedestrian shopping and sight-seeing, in conjunction with your meal.

I recommend both restaurants.  Each has its own unique atmosphere and culinary style - check them out and see which suits you.  Maybe, like me, you'll find yourself frequenting both to provide variety in your dining experience.  What's clear is that your craving for good Indian Cuisine can be satisfied when Living in Asheville, North Carolina.