Are There Michelin Star Restaurants in India?

Updated 7 October 2026 · Star counts and prices checked October 2026

Illustration of a refined Indian thali in brass bowls with a dosa, spices and chai, and a gold star waiting to the side.

No. There are no Michelin star restaurants in India, because the MICHELIN Guide has never inspected restaurants there. That should change: in September 2026 India’s tourism ministry said a deal to bring the guide to India was in its final stages, with six months of inspections to follow.

So the honest answer to “how many Michelin star restaurants are in India?” is zero, for now. It says nothing about the cooking. Michelin only awards stars in the countries and cities it publishes a guide for, and it has never published one for India. Below we explain why, what the planned deal involves, and where to find Michelin-starred Indian cooking today: 23 restaurants in 7 countries, with their prices.

Why India has no Michelin stars

A Michelin star can only go to a restaurant that Michelin’s inspectors visit, and they only work in places with a guide. Each new guide is a business decision, and in recent years most have launched in partnership with a national or regional tourism body that helps fund the inspections. The newest guides show the pattern: New Zealand’s first selection was revealed in June 2026, and South Australia’s first stars are due on 14 October 2026 under a deal with the state government.

India’s size is part of the challenge. In other large countries Michelin’s first guides started with one or two cities, as in the United States with New York and in mainland China with Shanghai, and an Indian guide would probably begin the same way. Michelin hasn’t said which cities it would cover.

When will India get the MICHELIN Guide?

In September 2026 Suman Billa, Director General of India’s Ministry of Tourism, told the New Indian Express Tourism Summit in Chennai that the ministry was in the final stages of an agreement with Michelin. Reports from the summit say the deal is expected to be signed by the end of 2026, after which Michelin would spend about six months inspecting restaurants across India. On that timetable, the first MICHELIN Guide India selection, and with it the first Indian stars, would come no earlier than the second half of 2027.

Nothing has been signed yet, and Michelin itself hasn’t announced an Indian guide. We’ll update this page, and add a page for every Indian city in the guide with its restaurants’ prices, as soon as the first selection is published.

India already has MICHELIN Keys

Michelin does already rate Indian hotels. Its MICHELIN Key, the hotel equivalent of a star, has covered India since 2025, and the 2026 selection, published in September, gives Keys to 47 Indian hotels, up from 36 the year before. Two hold the top three Keys: Taj Falaknuma Palace in Hyderabad and Taj Lake Palace in Udaipur. A Key rates the whole stay, not the restaurant, so none of these hotels’ restaurants has a Michelin star.

Michelin star Indian chefs and restaurants around the world

Indian cooking has held Michelin stars for a quarter of a century. In 2001 Tamarind and Zaika in London became the first Indian restaurants to win one, under chefs Atul Kochhar and Vineet Bhatia. Today 23 Indian restaurants hold stars: 1 three-star, 5 two-star and 17 one-star. London has the most, with 8, followed by Bangkok and Dubai.

The standout is Trèsind Studio in Dubai, chef Himanshu Saini’s tasting-menu restaurant and the only Indian restaurant in the world with three Michelin stars. In Bangkok, Garima Arora, the first Indian woman to win a Michelin star, holds two at Gaa. In London, the Sethi family’s Gymkhana holds two, and Aktar Islam’s Opheem in Birmingham is the UK’s other two-star Indian restaurant.

RestaurantCityStarsHead chefTasting menu, per person
Trèsind Studio ↗Dubai★★★Himanshu SainiAED 1,350
about $370
Gaa ↗Bangkok★★Garima Arora฿6,200
about $185
INDDEE ↗Bangkok★★Sachin Poojary฿4,200
about $125
Opheem ↗Birmingham★★Aktar Islam£195
about $260
Gymkhana ↗London★★Chet Sharma£155
about $205
Thevar ↗Singapore★★Mano ThevarS$298
about $235
Haoma ↗Bangkok★Deepanker Khosla฿4,990
about $150
Indienne ↗Chicago★Sujan SarkarUS$145
Jamavar ↗Doha★Surender MohanQAR 395
about $110
avatāra ↗Dubai★Omkar WalveAED 750
about $205
Jamavar ↗Dubai★Purushottam NaiduAED 450
about $125
Chaat ↗Hong Kong★Gaurav KuthariHK$888
about $115
New Punjab Club ↗Hong Kong★Palash MitraHK$700
about $90
typical spend
Musaafer ↗Houston★Mayank IstwalUS$195
Amaya ↗London★Sanchit Kapoor£75
about $100
Ambassadors Clubhouse ↗London★Shantibhushan Lal£100
about $130
Benares ↗London★Sameer Taneja£135
about $180
Jamavar ↗London★Surender Mohan£130
about $170
Quilon ↗London★Sriram Aylur£135
about $180
Trishna ↗London★Sajeev Nair£90
about $120
Veeraswamy ↗London★Uday Salunkhe£95
about $125
Semma ↗New York★Vijay KumarUS$39
à la carte main course
Rania ↗Washington DC★Peter BoborisUS$175

Every Michelin-starred restaurant serving Indian cuisine, from the current MICHELIN Guide editions (2026 or the latest before it). Names open each restaurant’s prices on The Starred Bill, cities our full price lists and arrows the MICHELIN Guide. Head chefs are as the MICHELIN Guide or the restaurant names them, else recent press. Prices are the main dinner tasting menu per person in local currency, before service and drinks, with US dollars at recent exchange rates. Last checked October 2026.

For the chefs behind them, from Himanshu Saini to Vikas Khanna, see Indian chefs with Michelin stars. For London in detail, with lunch prices, see Michelin-star Indian restaurants in London.

The nearest Michelin stars to India

Until India has its own guide, the closest starred dining is a short flight west or east. To the west, the MICHELIN Guide covers Dubai, home to Trèsind Studio, Abu Dhabi and Doha. To the east, Bangkok has three starred Indian restaurants, and Singapore and Hong Kong are two of Asia’s most-starred cities.

Frequently asked questions

How many Michelin star restaurants are there in India?

None. The MICHELIN Guide doesn’t cover India, so no Indian restaurant has been inspected or awarded a star. India’s tourism ministry said in September 2026 that a deal to bring the guide to India was in its final stages, with six months of inspections to follow once it is signed.

Does India have a MICHELIN Guide?

Not for restaurants. Michelin does rate Indian hotels with MICHELIN Keys: 47 hold Keys in the 2026 selection. A restaurant guide with stars is expected only after the government’s agreement with Michelin is signed and the inspections are done.

Which Indian restaurant has three Michelin stars?

Trèsind Studio in Dubai, led by chef Himanshu Saini, is the only Indian restaurant in the world with three Michelin stars.

Who was the first Indian chef to win a Michelin star?

Atul Kochhar at Tamarind and Vineet Bhatia at Zaika, both in London, won the first Michelin stars for Indian restaurants in 2001. Garima Arora became the first Indian woman to win a star, at Gaa in Bangkok.

Where is the nearest Michelin-starred restaurant to India?

The closest guides to India are in the Gulf (Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha) and South-East Asia (Bangkok, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur). Dubai and Bangkok both have starred Indian restaurants.