Serves meat, vegan options available. Has an extensive vegetarian menu with vegan items labeled. Punjabi specialties. This place was formerly 2 separate restaurants with the upstairs being vegetarian only but had to change the set up as there wasn't enough demand for veg food in Belfast. Main meals start at around £6. Open Mon-Sat 12:00pm-4:00pm, Mon-Sun 5:00pm-10:00pm.
Categories: Vegan-friendly, Lacto, Indian, Beer/Wine, Take-out, Non-veg
15 Reviews
First Review by matiman
Contributions +8
Disgusting restaurant and rude staff. - Edit
Very rude staff!!! My friend and I was visiting Belfast from Dublin for Christmas shopping yesterday. We went there for dinner around 18:30 and there still were only a few customers and many empty tables left. At first I told the waitress lady we needed a table for two and she was about to lead us to be seated and then this guy came up told us to leave in a very rude and aggressive way. It's okay if they have no table available but he should excuse us politely. We are never been treated in such a rude way at any restaurant before. It spoilt my whole impression of Belfast.
Contributions +95
Lots of choices and good food - Edit
There is a whole vegan menu. We tasted a few different stuff and everything was good.
Contributions +210
Original vegetarian restaurant - Edit
I think this place holds the honor of being Belfast's 1st totally veg eatery, due to the owners high caste hinduism. Unfortunately they opened waaaay before it was cool and were forced to add meat to the menu.
What you get is a halfway house between UK Indian restaurant food and what people from the Indian subcontinent and environs actually eat. Its milder, more subtle and flavorful.
Lunch is a veg thali and at £3.50 I cannot think of a cheaper offering in all Belfast, outside of a yoga mat sandwich from scrubway.
The menu has a huge variety of curries involving beans, pulses and paneer as well as breads. Vegan clearly demarkated and they ask if butter is OK as ghee is generally rubbed on naans but they can omit for you.
Pros: Authentic food, Huge veg menu
Cons: Small and can be hard to get table at peak
Indian with good veggie selection - Edit
Most Indian restaurants (and indeed other ethnic restaurants) generally offer a sauce with a choice of meats or "mixed vegetables" (usually what is added to the meat to make the normal curries) rather than potato or cheese meat alternatives. Here, paneer and aloo dishes abound. The selection really is great.
The execution, i.e. the dishes themselves, is OK but not amazing. They have gone out of their way to offer dishes from a lot of different regions and the menu is very pleasing. Yet what I order really just felt like a generic curry, differentiated just by how spicy the sauce was.
I was recommended another place, Spice in Templepatrick by an Indian native for really out of this world paneer dishes and I must say I prefer there to Archana.
Archana however is a lot cheaper. The decor is rather worn and dated I must add.
Pros: Great selection, Pretty spicy, Great price
Cons: Food is OK but a bit generic, Worn look and feel
Contributions +20
Excellent food and service - Edit
I had difficulty choosing what to eat here as the vegan menu is so extensive! All vegan options were clearly marked on the menu. My starter and main were both absolutely delicious, and I was impressed that our server remembered that I had ordered vegan and when he brought over the poppadoms and pickles he remembered to flag up that one of the four dips wasn't vegan without me even asking. Excellent experience, would definitely go back.
Pros: Delicious food, Server understood veganism, Good sized portions
Cons: Downstairs felt a little cramped
Contributions +16
Great food with separate veggie and vegan menus - Edit
We had a really lovely meal here and very attentive staff who knew their vegan dietary requirements well. Although meat is also served, they have extensive and interesting vegetarian and vegan menus with plenty of choice. The food was very tasty and large portions. Not 'cheap' but certainly not expensive and excellent value for money. We went a second time as it was so tasty and vegan places to eat in Belfast, although not rare, are not hugely common either. Would recommend highly!
Pros: Good vegan choice, Friendly staff, Very tasty, interesting food
Contributions +5035
Good vegan food, friendly welcome - Edit
Belfast is pretty sparse for vegan options aside from the chain type Zizzi / Pizza Express restaurants and we wanted to try somewhere independent while we were there. Thinking we couldn't go wrong with an Indian and seeing that the vegetarian section of their menu was mostly vegan we took a short taxi ride from our hotel to give it try.
The food was good, everything vegan was clearly marked and the waiter / owner was happy to confirm which were suitable and was knowledgeable about vegan food. Even the naan bread was vegan! There were some unusual dishes I'd not seen before, I ended up a with a spinach and sweetcorn curry which I wasn't sure about when I ordered it, but really enjoyed it when it came. Well worth a visit if you're staying in Belfast.
Well located and a nice mood lit environment.
Pros: Extensive vegan options, clearly marked, Inexpensive, Vegan naan bread
Cons: Meat, Dairy
Contributions +1854
Perfection & Veggie & Vegan Heaven! - Edit
Archana is a beautiful two storey restaurant decorated in warm, rich colours. Ambience is invitingly comfortable and staff superb. I wanted to try Archana for two reasons. I heard from friends the Indian food served in Archana is fabulous plus they offer a huge selection of Vegetarian and Vegan dishes. I was not disappointed.
We ordered wine from their menu which they didn't have in stock. So a Waiter actually left Archana and went down the street to their sister restaurant Kitch to pick up the bottle of wine we wanted! Now this really is top class service! Plus as soon as I heard Archana and Kitch are owned by the same family I knew I was going to be happy. I absolutely love Kitch and think it's currently the best restaurant in Belfast.
We started on complimentary poppadoms and dips which tasted fabulous. I had a main of Saag Alu (mildly spiced potatoes and spinach) with mushroom pilau rice. It was delicious. The best, freshest, most flavoursome Saag Alu I have ever tasted. Portions were generous too. Top marks to Archana and compliments to the Chef as the food was second to none.
I honestly struggled to pick a dish as there are so many vegetarian options and was delighted to see such a huge range of dishes including chickpeas, chillis, aubergines, mixed vegetables and potatoes. It's also brilliant to see extensive vegan options so clearly marked on a menu.
I thoroughly enjoyed my evening in Archana, which has now firmly topped the list of my personal favourite restaurants in Belfast. Great wine, food, Vegetarian options, portion sizes, prices, service and staff. I simply can't wait to return. In my opinion this restaurant is perfection and an absolute Veggie Heaven!
Pros: large range of vegan dishes , large range of vegetarian dishes, serves wine
Contributions +145
Good food, so-so service - Edit
We visited Archana many times over our year living in Belfast, and we always enjoyed the food and their familiarity with vegetarian cooking. We usually opted for the 25 pound takeaway set menu, because the service in the restaurant when we sat in was all over the place - sometimes very attentive and helpful, other times slow and disinterested. Things improved after our first few visits, so perhaps they reserve the best service for the "regulars" they recognize rather than new customers.
All of the dishes we tried were delicious (onion bhaji, tarka dal and aloo gobi were favorites), but they definitely tend towards more spice so those with sensitive stomachs may want to request tamer dishes. It also seems worthwhile to clarify when ordering that you would like your food prepared vegan. While vegan-friendly items are marked on the menu, there were a few times we had to send back vegan-marked roti because it was coated with butter before serving.
Pros: Clearly labelled menu, Wide veg*n selection, Easy takeaway
Cons: Sometimes need to clarify veg*n, Spotty service, Use of non-veg ingredients
Contributions +88
Fantastic Vegan Experience - Edit
This restaurant has it all for the vegan curry fan. It has a full menu of vegan dishes to choose from with over 20 dishes. I went for the Thali tray which had three curries chosen by the chef, rice, pakora and nan bread. The curries were delicious, full of flavour and hearty. The portions here are big and satisfying. I am a big curry fan and I think this is easily the best vegan curry I have ever had.
The owner was very friendly and chatted to us for a while - he said that they are seeing a big rise in popularity of their vegan dishes and I can see why.
The food is also very good value! I think I paid about £15 for a big tray of food and a large Cobra beer.
Pros: Excellent food, Great value prices, Good service
Contributions +25
Great Vegan Selection - Edit
I went to Archana recently, even though I don't like Indian food. It was excellent. I would highly recommend it. Not at all greasy like some Indians. They also do home delivery, so that will be my new monthly treat :) One thing I will mention is that it is a small place. When I walked in with my husband I didn't feel that welcome at first. I thought the staff were rude, but I think that is just there way. They soon warmed up and were helpful. Vegan options are labelled.
Contributions +32
Good Place To Eat - Edit
Has a decent vegetarian and began menu. Very friendly and helpful staff.
Pros: Delicious.
Cons: Serves Meat Also!
Contributions +21
Love coming here!! - Edit
I'm in Belfast quite frequently and Northern Ireland is really not an easy country to be a vegetarian in!! The first time I went to Archana it took me about 20 min to choose my food because I'm used to having one vegetarian option when I go out for food. In Archana there is a whole menu for vegetarians and most of that food is also suitable for vegans. I have been to Archana three times now and it has always been a very positive experience! The food is absolutely amazing, especially the Thali and the staff are really nice as well. It is also a perfect place to go to with friends that are not vegetarians because they do have meat options and it's something different anyway so it's not as difficult to convince your friends to go to a vegetarian restaurant with you :)! So all in all I can just really recommend Archana to everybody who would like some choice of vegetarian food in NI and who loves really good Indian food!!
Pros: friendly staff, really nice food, good value
Contributions +45
Loved this place - Edit
I cannot recommend this restaurant highly enough. I popped over to Belfast for a long weekend and was looking for some vegan eateries to keep me going. Since there are no fully vegan restaurants in Belfast, we came here after seeing it listed on Happy Cow. There are *lots* of vegan options, and it's so refreshing to see places listing the options as vegan on the menu instead of having to ask the waiters. They also sell Cobra beer and vegan naan bread yippee! The staff were very helpful and knew the ingredients in all of the dishes. I will definitely be returning to Archana the next time I'm in Belfast.
Pros: Menu states 'vegan', Price, Helpful staff
Contributions +13
not a good experience - Edit
This restaurant was recommended by a friend. However, I knew that trouble was ahead when I selected the veg thali and was promptly told that it was not available at the weekend. I then ordered a aubergine dish that looked interesting. When it arrived there was so much salt in it that I couldn't eat it, which was a pity because I was very hungry and the underlying spices seemed very nice. I complained to the waiter and he asked if I wanted another one, I said yes as long as there wasn't as much salt. When it arrived it too was very salty and so I left it. They charged me for the dish and I refused to pay, they argued that I had had two portions to which I replied that I couldn't eat either of them. So if you like lots of salt and rude waiters the choice is yours.
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