We visit the popular neighbourhood Indian restaurant described as ‘the best in Bristol’ by the regulars

Bristol’s best Indian restaurant. That’s what one happy regular posted on TripAdvisor after his meal at Paprika in Whitchurch.

This long-running restaurant on Gilda Parade certainly has many admirers and its score of 4.5 out of 5 on TripAdvisor makes it one of the city’s most popular Indian restaurants.

On a freezing January evening, Paprika was packed when we visited. There was certainly no sign of people sticking to post-Christmas diets or budgets.

We had to walk through a queue of people waiting for takeaways, many of them local builders and scaffolders still in their work clothing. Presumably they had stopped off for a few pints in The Yeoman pub opposite after work and dived straight into Paprika for a takeaway supper.

Most were paying in cash, peeling off £20 notes from thick wads. It's nice to see a restaurant that still accepts cash as well as cards.

With its blue LED strip lights, white linen tablecloths and smartly dressed staff, Paprika is a cut above many curry houses and although it’s mostly locals who eat there, people also travel from the other side of the city and also from villages on the outskirts.

It looks quite posh inside and the menu is thick, each page encased in plastic covers, like it would be in a swanky hotel restaurant.

Prices are kinder on the wallet than posh restaurants, though. A pint of Kingfisher is £4.95 and a pint of Thatchers Gold is £4.60. Those are pretty much average pub prices now.

The menu features all the classic curry house staples as well as chef’s specialties. These include new dishes like Murghi Masalla (‘an eccentric mixture of on the bone spring chicken, minced lamb and egg in a medium dry thick sauce’) and Clay Pot Lamb (‘a traditional Bangladeshi dish consisting of wonderful glazed onions, garlic, coriander and tomatoes served in a clay pot').

Like the drinks, food prices are reasonable. You could start with a £4 samosa and move on to £10 chicken rogan with boiled rice (£3.25), washed down with half a pint of Kingfisher (£2.70) and still get change out of £20.

A starter of shammi kebab (£5.95) comprised two juicy minced lamb patties with plenty of herbs, garlic and ginger in the mix. They were coated with lacy strands of egg and fried.

Prawn puri (£6.50) was as good a version as I’ve had, with lots of prawns in a thick, spicy tomato-based sauce and some unadvertised paratha bread.

Both main courses impressed. The chicken bhuna (£10) and chicken tikka chilli garlic (£11.50) both had plenty of chunky chicken pieces and thick sauces with delicate spicing. 

The bhuna sauce had a decent amount of onions and there was plenty of chilli heat from the chicken tikka chilli garlic sauce - both mopped up with buttery pilau rice (£3.75) and a light and puffy peshwari naan bread (£3.75).

Paprika is something of a local institution for people living in Whitchurch, Hengrove and Stockwood and I can see why. 

The food is of a high quality and the prices are reasonable. What more do you want from your neighbourhood curry house?

Paprika, 16-18 Gilda Parade, Whitchurch, Bristol, BS14 9HY.