29 States The Indian Kitchen

We really enjoyed our meal here on a recent visit to York. We arrived at 10.30pm and the restaurant was empty, we asked if they were still serving and they said they were. I was a bit worried that we would be rushed through our meal but the staff were keen for us to have an enjoyable experience. They were very friendly and polite. The food was great, excellent quality and the curries were delicious with depth and flavour of spice and seasoning. We will definitely return here when we visit York again.

Visiting from Canada and family fried took me to this place. Amazing location and delicious food, Chef the owner Mehra himself stop by for a chat.

What a dark horse this restaurant is! Walked in on a Friday evening without booking in December and was accommodated without hesitation even though the restaurant was busy with Christmas parties by the looks of it. Great atmosphere inside and the service was swift and efficient. The food was absolutely stunning! The flavours in all the food was quite simply Devine. The head chef coming out to speak to us and take time to talk about his food and awards he has won was a really nice touch. We would all recommend eating here and will certainly return again soon 😁 Thanks for a great meal and experience!

Visited here on 25th Jan 2026. The food was delicious and portion sizes were large. The naan bread was soft and tasty and exactly right (for me anyway). The service was prompt and friendly. Although York has lots of places to choose from and we were spoilt for choice we were definitely not disappointed at all with this lovely restaurant. Very clean throughout. With a view of Clifford's Tower it's a little gem not to be missed.

Lovely restaurant, food was absolutely amazing, the staff were great and reasonably priced. Highly recommended

I had a wonderful dinner at this Indian restaurant located just near Clifford Castle — a perfect spot with a charming atmosphere. The menu offered a wide variety of protein-rich and low-calorie options, which I really appreciated. The cheesecake was a surprising highlight — light, cool, and delicious. The staff were exceptionally friendly and polite, making the whole experience even more enjoyable.

One of best Indian food in York! *Staff is very friendly! *Lots of seating spaces in comfortable settings. *Lovely music *Perfect view of the castle *Food is amazing! With Indian food, some thoughts and important considerations. Food has got to be fresh or the meat is gonna smell. Then the spices also got to be fresh and used well just like Indian dishes. What gives? This restaurant just about got it all right! Everything was so well marinated, fresh and very well cooked! Especially the lamb…… we could actually taste several spices all at one go. Pretty amazing! The butter chicken and paneer was also a charm. If you are in York, just to the right hand side of Hilton Hotel, you will find 29 States. Take a moment to come by and hopefully, you will enjoy it as much as I did!

+5

Food was lovely, prices are good. £10-£15 for a main, sides extra. Service was great, really good waiter, very attentive. I would definitely visit again.

We picked this restaurant on a whim and because of how close it was to our hotel. It turned out to be a great decision! You can tell they have regulars that visit. The food was excellent and the service was great. We ordered the Veg Thali as our main course each because we are creatures of indecision and it was fantastic! Mind you, it’s quite a bit of food. If I lived here I’d easily come back on a regular basis.

Absolutely amazing curry here at 29 States. The Peshawari Naan was especially good!

By far the best indian in York and some of the best Indian food I've ever had. Mixed veggie starter platter was amazing, lamb and chicken main course, meat cooked to perfection and the garlic and coriander naan was exceptional. Welcoming and attentive staff, excellent service and reasonably priced for the quality of food. Will definitely return 🌟

Good quality food, knowledgeable chef, food had great authentic taste and quality and reasonably priced. Dessert was very nice too. Very glad I came here hard to choose from so many Indian restaurants.

You know you might be on to something good when the restaurant has three Indian family's in dining. Humble decor yes, but the best Indian food I have ever had, very good value too. Tourists, Don't go anywhere else till you have tried here.

Omg the food was delicious, tasty and authentic wow. The chef delivers food to the table too. Would definatly come back if I lived here.

Visited here on a Wednesday night. It was nice and quiet with only a few other customers there. We ordered some poppadoms, chicken tikka masala, matar paneer, rice and naan bread. All food arrived quickly and was delicious. The naan bread was lovely and fluffy and makes me want to learn to make my own at home rather than having shop bought! I would visit again when in York. Would recommend. Thank you for the lovely meal.

The best Indian food I had in last 4 months. The gentlemen serving the food were amazing. They knew what they were talking about, had funny small talks with them. My wife was even served complimentary cucumber raita :) She loved it. Highly recommended. AND THE VIEW OF THE CLIFFORD TOWER MADE THE EXPERIENCE EVEN BETTER.

This is a very popular restaurant. It's always busy; a good sign. It's family friendly too, if you're visiting York with your children.

What a brilliant man Jazz is. He's The owner, The chef, He even serves you and takes time to speak with you. I'm Indian and I can confidently say that the curries are 100% authentic. The lamb curry was one of the best I've had. Please be patient with the service and you will not regret it! My forever go to Indian when in York!

Genuinely good food with good portions, ive gone 3 times and it’s consistently been great wiped my plate clean each time, the prices are reasonable.

Visited 04/11/25, absolutely fabulous meal, chef Saksham was superb as was all the service, we chose starter punjabi chicken tikka, which was ample for both of us, and 2 mains kadhai chicken and kashmir lamb rogan josh with pulao rice and garlic naan bread, everything was superb and would highly recommend when visiting York.

Best Indian food in York! The staff are lovely, the food is amazing and the portion sizes are very generous!

The taste was authentic and well catered to our custom requirements. Thank you so much for memory down the lane with Dal Makhani..!!!

Awesome restaurant. Excellent selection and food. Attentive, knowledgeable and helpful staff. We have eaten in many Indian Restaurants around the world including India, Australia, and New Zealand, 29 States is a definite favourite for us. Highly recommended!

Excellent food including some of the freshest and nicest Naan breads had for ages... Great curries and nice atmosphere. Very good service. Great value

Good food and good service! We were visiting the Clifford’s Tower and happened to find this place nearby. We probably overwhelmed the team since we were a group of 6 and a small child. Coincidentally there were 2 other big groups on a Monday evening (the tables were almost full as if a weekend). However the chef and his team managed the service well and we didn’t have to wait too long for the food, without any compromise on the taste! Kudos to the team!

Fantastic Indian restaurant, had chicken madras, grilled prawn curry, rice, naans and a couple of beers. It was about £50 but well worth it. Food was cooked fresh and tasty. Nearly visited the next night but that will have to wait now. Located near the Clifford Hill Tower. Dog friendly as well. Staff were friendly and atentative. Give it a go people.

It’s a great Indian restaurant that serve nicely prepared dishes from starters and main curry dishes with very soft and freshly baked naan bread! The saffron basmati rice is a must try as it’s fluffy and light. Highly recommended and would visit again. Very good table service with social distancing measures!

Food is amazing here, Chicken lahori was wonderful with naan. No need to look any further if you are looking to have good Indian food In York. Could have been wonderful if it was a little more cleaner.

Stumbled on this gem when we came out of York Dungeon. Excellent food and nice decor. Service was abit slow we had to prompt the waiter to take our drinks order. However the food was delicious and the early bird deal very good value at £16.95 for a starter and a main course although rice,chipatis and naan bread were extra. Would definitely go back.

The places smells divine when you enter and the food doesn't fail to deliver . General bad night where even the chef had to serve food and service was slow. That said the food was exceptional. It may be one of the best tasting Indian main courses I have ever had.

+3

Really nice staff Nice ambiance Shame no onion with the poppadoms Sauces really small pots not enough to go with the poppadoms if ordering more than 1 Onion bahji dry King ghoa was amazing Mix platter decent too Meat sizzler with tikka masala sauce highly recommend Mrs had tikka masala asked for mild came far to hot ruined her main. Man bread was very good would be better not cut into 4 like a pizza All In all 7 out of 10 Only needs little improvement to make this easily a 9/10 Great place tho totally honest review

Busy ! Started - 2 x pops / trays Main - chicken Madsa & rice Bottle of cobra Wait a minute How much £28.90 👀👀

Decided on this place as it was no 1 on trip advisor. No wait for a table although it was was quite busy. Biggest disappointment was the food. We were sure that one of the dips for the poppadoms was tomato sauce. Nans were good but we both had our usual preferred Indian dishes for mains and felt that we'd both had better

Visited this place place in Sep 25. Atmosphere is good. I'm an Indian so I would say food is ok but not great. Starter is a joke. Hardly 3 pieces of chicken. Gravy is ok but naan is not a naan.

My partner and I had a meal there today, we had poppadoms, starters, and a main each. At first I asked for water for the table but the glasses did not seem very clean, I had to ask for a new glass because mine had lipstick prints on it, unfortunately they don't have cobra on draft but the kingfisher they had was very nice. The poppadoms and pickle tray was nice, except a chunk of the poppadoms was missing and one part had a strand of hair cooked into the poppadom. We then had starters and they were very nice, the meat samosa was okay, the paneer roll was very tasty and the presentation was beautiful. The main was also nice - we had Chicken Balti and Kadai Chicken with rice, garlic naan and chips. The chips weren't the best and there were some chewy bits in both the chicken dishes, it seems like they use pieces of chicken thighs because there was a piece of chicken bone found in the Chicken Balti, although the taste of the sauce was lovely and the rice was very good. The service and environment was okay, and overall it is a bit expensive for what it is.

What I can only describe as the worst service of my entire life. Booked this restaurant based on others reviews for a birthday meal on a weekend away. 1. Shown to a dirty table, that I had to ask to be cleaned.... 30 minutes after being seated- this was the first time a member of staff approached our table. 2. Took 30 minutes to order a drink, then another 20 minutes to have a food order taken. 3. On two separate occasions a waiter came with another tables food.... one time waiter was "cleaning" plates and food from either the plate or his tea towel dropped onto me?! 4. Mains finally arrived an hour and a half after being seated. 5. Sat with empty glasses between poppadoms and mains for over 20 minutes.... then had to ask two members of staff to take 2nd drinks order. Food itself was decent though, hence the 2nd star. Would I return NO, would I recommend NO. Kind of ruined by birthday as really did not have a good experience, we couldn't wait to leave.

It was not a very nice experience for us. Dated and Dirty with no atmosphere. The poor fish in the fish tank sums this place up. 🤢🤮 We are well travelled and have experienced a LOT of Indian restaurants, as you will see from my other reviews. We visit York regularly and wanted to try something new, so we went here on Saturday night as it gets good reviews. We really wish we had gone to one of the others that we know and love on York rather than risking this place. The food was OK but nothing special. The pickle tray shouldn't be something you can get wrong, but it was bland, watery and tasteless. The rice was overcooked and clumped together. Our main concern was the cleansliness of the restaurant. I have always been of the opinion that if front of house is dirty, what do the areas the public don't see look like? The chairs were dirty with food left on the poorly fitted covers. Under the 'set' tables there was food and rubbish. The floor was sticky and dirty. The toilets were filthy with the sink backed up. The chef came out to take the order from us. This is a nice feature as long as the chef is well presented not wearing a filthy smock, and I'm not talking splashes from cooking. The fridge where the drinks are stored is filthy. The beer was flat. The attempt at Christmas decorations was abysmal. I could go on but I won't. My advice would be that there are some fabulous Indian restaurants in York. This isn't one of them, save your money and go elsewhere. We are too polite in this country. I wish we had got up and walked out. We will NOT be back.

+6

I went to this restaurant with my family, and the experience was disappointing. The restaurant was silent, with only one Indian staff member on duty, who was rude, unprofessional, and inattentive. He never acknowledged anything. Even Robots can be more welcoming than him. The food was excellent, but the poor service overshadowed everything. If you want to unhurt your dignity then Please think twice before visiting here.

I do not like writing negative reviews, so have considered this very carefully. The food is overpriced and lacking in both quality and flavour. I was charged £8.50 for three scallops that were burnt and were approximately the size of a 20 pence piece. When the manager/chef was spoken to all he could say was that in English restaurants it would be even more. At no point did any staff member offer any apology, despite knowing that all three party members were dissatisfied with their food and overall experience. So, based on this experience, I cannot make any recommendations for this restaurant. I hope you find this useful.

Golgappa - was OK kind Mix platter - was more like a kids menu Papdi Chat - they did not have the papdi and made it out of the semolina balls of gol grappa. When I objected the owner did not accept and instead told me that this is not India and they gave modified the recipe !! Overall a pathetic experience

Avoid. It really isnt very good. We are visiting York and thought we'd try out this Indian restaurant based on the positive reviews and I wished we avoided. We wanted some starters to take away, which didn't seem to be a problem. But the portions are tiny, the cost was high, and the service was poor. I said I have student discount, as per the sign outside. The waiter huffed and puffed and said there's 20% discount if we pay cash. So I pay cash. But guess what? I discover after paying they didn't apply the 20% discount and they *added* a service charge. Lol for takeout? The place is a scam. So we are short changed by around £9. Pretty bad. One potato starter is literally one baked potato sliced in half. That'll be £5. Three onion bhajiyas? That'll be £5. The rest was no better. As per images you can see the kebab and chicken. Portions are tiny. On the plate, you can see half of the starters. It really is a joke. And the red chutney? Is just tomato ketchup and vinegar or something something made up. We've been in Indian restaurants across England, and this is by far one of the worst. Oh and while I was waiting for the takeaway at the bar, I noticed he reused a half drank beer, tipped it into a fresh glass, then just topped it up. Yuck. I hope trading standards visit soon. But either way, you should avoid.

Very bad experience today! The owner of the Restaurant was so rude and disrespectful!!! Not at all professional- very disappointed- didn't even stay for food. I sincerely hope you reflect from this review and improve your professionalism!