Restaurant in Cheltenham, United Kingdom
Michelin-recognised Indian dining, occasion-ready format.
A Michelin Plate Indian restaurant in a colonial-themed basement on Cheltenham's Promenade, Memsahib's Lounge combines a serious cocktail bar with sharing-format Indian dishes and a structured 'Experience' tasting menu. With consecutive Plate recognition in 2024 and 2025 and a 4.8 Google rating, it is the strongest case for Indian fine dining in Cheltenham at the £££ tier.
If you are planning a dinner that wants to feel like an occasion rather than a routine meal out, Memsahib's Lounge at 47–49 Promenade is the address to consider first. The basement setting beneath a smart Georgian terrace on Cheltenham's most elegant street sets a tone that rewards guests who want atmosphere alongside serious Indian cooking. It works particularly well for couples or small groups who appreciate a structured dining format, especially through the sharing-plates format or the 'Experience' tasting menu.
Walk down into Memsahib's Lounge and the visual language is immediately clear: colonial-era styling executed with enough commitment to feel deliberate rather than decorative. Charcoal portraits and sepia prints line the walls of the dining room, which carries a clubby, enclosed quality. The two-room layout divides the experience neatly: a bar area with cocktails, gin infusions, and vodka infusions for those who want to drink their way in, and an adjoining dining room where the atmosphere tightens into something more focused. The room has the feel of a private members' space without requiring membership, which is part of what makes it a reliable pick for birthdays, celebrations, or a deliberately atmospheric dinner date.
Memsahib's Lounge holds a Michelin Plate for both 2024 and 2025, which positions it as a kitchen producing food of consistent technical quality even if it has not yet crossed into starred territory. Within Cheltenham's Indian dining options, that credential matters. The Michelin Plate signals that inspectors found the cooking worthy of attention, and consecutive recognition confirms this is not a one-year result.
The menu is built around sharing Indian dishes, a format that suits groups of two to four well. For those coming once and wanting to see what the kitchen can do in full, the 'Experience' tasting menu is the clearest route in. It is also available in vegetarian and pescatarian versions, which is a practical consideration for mixed-diet groups. The sharing format means portions arrive progressively rather than all at once, which suits the overall pacing of the room.
For context on what a Michelin Plate credential means at this price point: at £££, Memsahib's Lounge is operating in a tier where quality is expected but delivery is not always guaranteed. The two consecutive Plates suggest the kitchen is meeting that expectation. If you are comparing this against Indian restaurants you have visited in Birmingham or London, the reference point is closer to Opheem in Birmingham (Michelin-starred Indian) in terms of ambition, though the format and price point here are distinct. At the progressive-tasting end of modern Indian dining internationally, venues like Trèsind Studio in Dubai set the ceiling; Memsahib's Lounge is not competing at that register, but for Cheltenham it is operating at a clear level above the everyday.
The combination of the 'Experience' menu, the two-room layout, and the Michelin recognition gives Memsahib's Lounge a profile that is difficult to replicate locally. The Indian-themed afternoon tea is an additional offering that opens up the venue to daytime visits, which is less common among Indian restaurants at this tier. The cocktail bar with gin and vodka infusions is a genuine draw in its own right, not just a waiting area, and arriving early to drink at the bar before moving through to dinner is a format the space supports well.
The Google rating of 4.8 from 252 reviews adds a further layer of confidence. At that volume of reviews, a 4.8 is not a small-sample anomaly — it reflects sustained satisfaction across a wide cross-section of diners.
For first-timers, the practical advice is to book the tasting menu, arrive early enough to spend time at the bar, and go with a group of two to four. The sharing-plates format loses some of its logic at a party of one, and larger groups may find the room's clubby intimacy a tighter fit.
See the comparison section below for how Memsahib's Lounge sits against Prithvi, Bhoomi Kitchen, and Cheltenham's French and modern British options.
If Memsahib's Lounge has put you in the mood to explore Indian fine dining further afield, Opheem in Birmingham is the nearest Michelin-starred Indian restaurant to Cheltenham and worth the drive for a comparison meal. For a broader sense of what the leading end of UK dining looks like across cuisines, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in London, Waterside Inn in Bray, L'Enclume in Cartmel, Moor Hall in Aughton, Gidleigh Park in Chagford, and Hand and Flowers in Marlow represent the benchmark across different styles and regions.
| Venue | Awards | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Memsahib's Lounge | There’s a certain style to this two-roomed basement in a smart Georgian terrace: the colonial-themed bar offers a good range of cocktails, as well as gin and vodka infusions, while the adjoining dining room has a clubby feel, with its charcoal portraits and sepia prints. The Indian dishes are for sharing, although the 'Experience' tasting menu is perhaps the best way to go, and there are also vegetarian and pescatarian versions. They even serve an Indian-themed afternoon tea.; Michelin Plate (2025); Michelin Plate (2024) | £££ | — |
| Le Champignon Sauvage | Michelin 1 Star | ££££ | — |
| Lumière | Michelin 1 Star | ££££ | — |
| Bhoomi Kitchen | ££ | — | |
| Prithvi | £££ | — | |
| Purslane | £££ | — |
What to weigh when choosing between Memsahib's Lounge and alternatives.
Book at least two to three weeks ahead, particularly for weekend evenings or if you want the 'Experience' tasting menu. The basement dining room has a fixed capacity across two rooms, and Michelin Plate recognition in both 2024 and 2025 has kept demand steady. Midweek slots are more flexible, but don't count on walking in at £££ pricing without a reservation.
For Indian dining specifically, Prithvi and Bhoomi Kitchen are the closest comparisons in Cheltenham. If you're open to non-Indian options at a similar price point, Lumière offers a more intimate fine-dining format, and Purslane is worth considering for modern British cooking. Le Champignon Sauvage sits at the top of the Cheltenham dining hierarchy for serious tasting-menu occasions.
Yes, if sharing-plate Indian dining is your format. The 'Experience' menu is the most structured way to cover the kitchen's range, and the availability of vegetarian and pescatarian versions makes it practical for mixed groups. At £££ pricing with a Michelin Plate behind it, the tasting menu delivers more coherence than ordering à la carte across multiple courses.
At £££, it sits in the upper tier of Cheltenham dining, but the Michelin Plate for 2024 and 2025 signals that the kitchen is producing food of consistent technical quality. For a special occasion in a room that has genuine atmosphere, the price holds up. If you want lower-cost Indian dining without the occasion framing, Prithvi or Bhoomi Kitchen are more casual alternatives.
The colonial-themed bar is a distinct space from the dining room and serves cocktails alongside gin and vodka infusions, so it functions as a standalone drinking option. Whether bar snacks or the full menu are available at the bar is not confirmed in available information, so check the venue's official channels at 47–49 Promenade, Cheltenham GL50 1PJ to confirm before arriving expecting a full meal there.
It's a basement restaurant on the Promenade in a Georgian terrace, with two rooms: a bar area and a clubby dining room with charcoal portraits and sepia prints. The food is Indian and designed for sharing, so arrive expecting a communal format rather than individually plated mains. The 'Experience' tasting menu is the recommended entry point, and the Indian-themed afternoon tea is worth noting if you're visiting outside dinner hours.
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