Looking for the Best Indian Restaurant in Toowoomba?

Every restaurant says it is the best. Here are five things you can check for yourself, and where we honestly land on each one.

Ice n Spice Indian Restaurant & Bar has been voted number one for Indian dining in Toowoomba by local diners, and also holds the top spot locally for Indian takeaway and for gluten free. It has been open on Margaret Street since 2012 under the same owners. If you want to decide for yourself rather than take our word for it, the five checks below are the ones that actually separate a good Indian kitchen from an average one.

Five things that tell you an Indian kitchen is any good

1. Is there a real tandoor, and is it on?

A clay tandoor runs at temperatures a normal oven cannot reach, and it is what makes tandoori meat and naan taste the way they should. Some restaurants have one and barely use it. Some do not have one at all and finish “tandoori” chicken in a conventional oven with food colouring doing the work.

Test: order a plain naan. If it comes out blistered, slightly charred in patches and floppy rather than uniformly golden and stiff, the tandoor is real and it is hot.

2. Do the curries taste different from each other?

This is the big one. A weak kitchen makes one base gravy in the morning and turns it into eight dishes with different additions. You can taste it. Rogan josh, korma and vindaloo all arrive with the same underlying flavour and only the heat changes.

A proper kitchen builds the gravies separately. A rogan josh should taste of Kashmiri chilli and warm spice. A dhansak should taste of lentils. A Goan fish curry should taste sour from tamarind. If they all taste like the same sauce, you have your answer.

3. How deep is the vegetarian menu?

Indian cooking has one of the great vegetarian traditions on earth. A restaurant that offers three vegetable dishes as an afterthought is telling you it does not really know the cuisine. Look for dal in more than one form, paneer cooked more than one way, and something with the word kofta in it.

4. Is there anything regional on the menu?

Most Australian Indian menus are a fixed list of about twenty dishes that appear everywhere. Nothing wrong with those dishes, but a kitchen with a real point of view will carry a few things from wherever the chef is from. That is a sign a person is cooking, not a template.

5. Who owns it, and how long have they been there?

Restaurants are hard. A family-run Indian restaurant that has held the same site for over a decade in a city the size of Toowoomba has done that by feeding the same people repeatedly and keeping them happy.

Where Ice n Spice lands on each

Tandoor: yes, and it runs through every service. It cooks the Royal Entrees and every bread on the list.

Separate gravies: yes. That is why the Goan fish curry is sour, the dhansak is lentil-heavy and the korma is not just a mild version of everything else.

Vegetarian depth: thirteen vegetarian mains, including yellow dal tadka and dal makhani as two distinct lentil dishes, four different paneer preparations and malai kofta.

Regional dishes: Laal Maas from Rajasthan, where our chef is from. Also Goan fish curry, lamb dhansak, rogan josh and Bombay beef.

Ownership: Jasvinder and Preet opened the restaurant in 2012 and still run it.

What we are not the best at

Worth saying plainly, because a page that claims to win on everything is not much use to you.

We are not the cheapest Indian food in Toowoomba. Cooking to order with separate gravies costs more than running one base sauce, and that shows in the bill.

We do not do a buffet. If what you want is unlimited plates for a fixed price, we are the wrong restaurant and we would rather tell you now.

We are not open late. The kitchen closes at 9pm. If you are after a midnight curry, that is not us.

The three dishes we would put our name on

Lamb cutlets from the tandoor. Marinated overnight, cooked in minutes.
Malai kofta. Vegetable and paneer dumplings in a cashew cream gravy. The dish that changes minds.
Laal Maas. The Rajasthani mutton curry. Order it hot or do not order it at all.

Have a look at the full menu and make up your own mind. If you want the fastest read on a kitchen, come at lunch and order the thali. Two dishes, rice and bread between $20 and $25 tells you most of what you need to know.

Visit Us
Address	177A–179 Margaret Street, Toowoomba City QLD 4350
Phone	07 4659 7777
Email	info@restaurantstoowoomba.com.au
Lunch	11:30am to 2pm, seven days
Dinner	4:30pm to 9pm, seven days

Common questions

Which is the best Indian restaurant in Toowoomba?

Local diners have voted Ice n Spice number one for Indian dining in Toowoomba. It is also voted first for Indian takeaway and gluten free. It has been family run on Margaret Street since 2012.

What should I order on a first visit?

Lamb cutlets from the tandoor, a garlic naan, one lamb or chicken curry, and either dal makhani or malai kofta for the table. That combination shows the range of the kitchen.

Is Ice n Spice expensive?

Mains sit in the mid range for Toowoomba. Biryani runs $22 to $27, breads $5 to $8.50 and the lunch thali $20 to $25. It costs more than a base-sauce kitchen because dishes are cooked to order.

Do you have a buffet?

No. Everything is cooked to order. For large groups we set up a shared banquet-style order instead, which works out similarly for feeding a crowd.

Is the food authentic?

The chef is from Rajasthan and trained in India. The menu carries regional dishes such as Laal Maas, Goan fish curry and lamb dhansak alongside the familiar favourites.

Can I get mild food if I don't like chilli?

Yes. Most curries come mild, medium or hot, and korma, butter chicken and paneer butter masala are mild by design. Tell the staff and they will steer you.

Do you take bookings?

Yes, by phone on 07 4659 7777 or online. Friday and Saturday dinner books out, so call ahead for those.

Where exactly are you?

177A-179 Margaret Street, Toowoomba City, in the CBD. Lunch 11:30am to 2pm and dinner 4:30pm to 9pm, seven days.

More from Ice n Spice

Other Services