Well, one Friday evening I decided that I would go and check out a couple of Restaurants that I have regularly travlled past on the tram - Red Pepper and Green Pepper. Well, it seems as if Green Pepper is no more leaving us with only Red Pepper (which is a bit of a shame since I liked the fact that there was a Red Pepper and a Green Pepper next to each other, but I digress). Anyway, since Green Pepper is no more I had to satisfy myself with Red Pepper, which isn't a bad thing mind you, it's just that I no longer had that choice (and for all I know I could have spent two hours standing out the front trying to work out which one to go inside). Okay, this isn't your standard Indian restaurant, in that it is actually more Indian that what you tend to get when you walk into your typical curry joint. Sure they do curry, but the food was much more traditionally Indian. What caught my attention (as it always does) was the goat curry, but I was also interested in the onion salad. Turns out the onion salad is basically a single onion that has been converted into one long strip. Still, it's onion and I quite like onion. Not a bad place I have to say, not cheap, but still it was nice. read more

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There is not a lot I need to say about Red Pepper: It is casual, tasty, and affordable Indian food on the East End of Bourke St. It's not terribly atmospheric, but the laid-back order-at-the-counter vibe suited me just fine. And can recommend the vegetarian Thali. I'm a big fan trying various smaller sized dishes and this one comes with paneer, seasonal vegetables, daal, plus rice, raita, and a plain naan (we upgraded to garlic nan for an extra dollar.) For $14, it's a great price for a filling meal in the CBD. read more

Red Pepper Indian Restaurant - Mixed vegetarian plate with garlic nan. - Indian Near Me - Melbourne, VIC

Food wise: it was ok. Service: 0. We were planning to go to green pepper but it is completely closed down and red pepper is right next door and apparently the sister restaurant. The service here is terrible. We were early so didn't need to wait for a table but it took about 10mins after we sat down to flag a staff to order. Once ordered, food takes about 20-30mins. Some dishes I had to ask 3 times before it arrived. Forget about water. Especially if you're thirsty. It took about 30mins for that to come out. They really need more staff at this place due to the lack of attention. If you're not particularly starving and can wait then the food is ok. Nothing to write home about to be honest. read more

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We ended up here for lunch at the end of an Indian food walking tour. I'd been before, but many years ago, prior to the refit, so it felt like a whole new restaurant. I recalled not being massively impressed on previous visits, and this time as part of a group we definitely experienced more attention from staff than perhaps you'd get otherwise making it hard to judge, but I did think there has been a lot of overall improvement. We got served up a thali with small serve of about five or six curries. The sauce/gravy for all were quite nice - and potent - more kick than you might expect from some Indian places, even for dishes like the Butter Chicken. The only letdown to the meal was the quality of the meat - one of my culinary bugbears. I was excited to try goat for the first time only to find gristle and bone with nary a scrap of edible meat on there. Lamb was a little fatty too, but otherwise the other dishes were much better. Lassis were great. Overall you can do better than Red Pepper for Indian in town, but you can also do much worse. read more

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I visited Melbourne a few years back for a couple of days and this place always stuck in my mind because it was all over the place, disastrously busy but great food and cheap price, it felt like a home selling Indian food to the public. So naturally being back I wanted to venture out and try it, I dragged my girlfriend along to experience it again. The interior has completely changed, it seems they've been doing good and had a great renovation, exposed brick walls and new tables and chairs and the wallpaper from so long ago has gone replaced by ambient lighting and clean walls. It's actually really nice inside to sit and relax. I've read a few reviews saying the service isn't all to great and I can see it could be like that but on this occasion it wasn't too bad, it also depends on the waitresses some can be helpful and others extremely unhelpful. Having missed British Indian food I jumped at the chance at some Chicken Tikka Masala, followed by some lamb rogan and butter chicken. We also tried a variation to a roti made of cornflour. The service was prompt and food was ready quickly, again this could have been a lucky night judging from some of the other reviews. The masala was decent but not what I was expecting, similarly the rogan josh lacked the punch of some other Indian restaurants I've tried in Australia. They're very conservative on spices and it was a different take on the rogan josh, perhaps I'm used to the Bangladesh and Indian mixture we get in London but this one seemed pretty pale in comparison. Still a great place to start on the culinary journey in Melbourne. It's great for a couple of people but don't order large, there's already plenty in the small size dishes. What really makes it a nice experience are the little nuances as already pointed out by some reviewers, the lassi in a jug and the drinks too. The new decoration although a pleasure to sit in and relax, didn't feel as authentic as the bustle and craziness I remember. Edit: they have a new strange policy to not give out takeaways! This means finishing all the food off or expect to be left with nothing to take back. read more

Red Pepper Indian Restaurant - Generous dinner! - Indian Near Me - Melbourne, VIC

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It doesn't taste like the Indian food in the states. The butter chicken isn't as tart or sweet--instead, there's a strong fenugreek aroma. It was still good though (sauce was creamy, chicken was moist thigh). The paneer pyaz simla mirch masala had a flavor closer to the American Indian butter * and was very good. Waited a bit in a mostly empty restaurant to sit down, which made me think service would be a little questionable. Beyond that, I thought the service was fine. read more

This is my favourite Indian restaurant in all of Melbourne. They have recently updated their entire interior to a modern clean look! And they now have table service haha Every curry sadly no longer comes with a pair of naans or rice or both included in the price and they are now $2.5 per naan which is still very reasonable in Melbourne. The dish turns out to be $1 more for what you would have gotten back in 2014. If I was to mention any dish in particular... Those individuals who are busting for a traditional parantha they have them for lunch (Aloo, Gobhi, Onion or Mooli paranthas) For those who don't know they are a flatbread which are filled with potatoes or other vegetables ps cooked with ghee. They are incredibly filling! My personal favourites are the chicken saag and goat curry wrih a pair of plain naans though the garlic naans work wonderfully though. What people might not know is that next door they have another restaurant called green pepper which is slightly more expensive but provides a fine dinning experience which is well worth they extra dollar per dish. The meals are more refined, the setting is calming and the food is more refined. I love both! I just go to whichever depending on if I want take away, big group or an intimate evening. read more

Four stars is really for the food alone! If I was judging food and service separately, service would be 2! But really one of the best curries I've had in a long time and the tastiest naan!! Can't go wrong for a quick and yummy meal in the CBD. read more

Red Pepper Indian Restaurant - Butter chicken and plain naan. - Indian Near Me - Melbourne, VIC

My 3 friends and I came here during a late night out in town because we wanted to find some place to eat and it seemed pretty cheap to just settle for McDonald's. First Glance: Red Pepper, right next door to... Green Pepper. Please tell me they are just 2 separate rooms of the same restaurant otherwise someone is seriously a massive troll. Customer Service: Understaffed, but the one guy who was working was doing his best keeping up with the amount of people there at 1 AM. Everything was pretty much closed so you have all the nocturnal people crawling all over this restaurant for a place to eat (my friends and I included). He sat us at a messy table and took some time to get to us. I felt bad because he was trying his best, but Red Pepper seriously needs to invest in more servers. Food: They had really good combo-meals. We ordered 2 mains of Butter Chicken which came with 4 naans (2 each, but you can choose to either have 1 naan and 1 rice or just rice with your Butter Chicken). We ordered sides of rice as well to split it. The Butter Chicken came in tiny little metal pots which honestly probably by itself would not be very filling but it did do the trick in combination with the naan and rice. Overall I would say that the food has a really good value and there's a decent amount of variety on the menu too. --- This place isn't extremely good. The food is alright and our waiter was kind (but I still feel really sorry for him), but there was nothing AMAZING about it. Judging objectively, this place would only get 3 stars from me. But open until late into the night? Solved my tummy rumbles? I have no problem giving another star. read more

Rock solid four stars. Location's good, food's very good, service and price both fine. I felt like vegetarian. I chose the signature Punjab dish with leafy greens. I added some plain rice as well. I've congratulated myself heartily for making such a fine dish selection. The dish was wonderful. Great depth of flavour and just the right size. I had entertainment on tap here too. I sat eating it looking out at bustling Bourke St with the passing parade of people, trams and cars. You'd seriously have to be unhinged to eat in a food court if you can eat at a great place like this. I wandered back to work feeling satisfied and with that lovely soft warm lipped feeling you get after eating good Indian. Bravo. read more

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The butter chicken is delicious at Red Peps, thoroughly recommend tapping some of that. The service is somewhat lacking here, and wait times on the food can get distressing, especially when you're starving and expect some curry in a hurry. Having said that, the tandoori chicken is worth the 25 minute wait, although a point deducted for being a tad on the salty side. Oh and a warning for the uninitiated, the jug of plain lassi is a surprisingly salty-sour affair. read more

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Ok, this is a popular place guaging by the fact it was packed when I went there. It could be because they're fast, or right next to several drinking establishments, or just right near good public transport... or a combination of all of the above. But the butter chicken made me bleed. I kid you not. I don't know if my friend ordering really pissed them off, or was just being mean (I really doubt it), or the half bottle of red I'd just consumed across the road at Society had turned me into a hyper-sensitive nerve ending... but the food was basiclaly inediable. It was insanely hot. You might love that kind of crazy, but for some of us who have spent near 15 years slowly desensatising oursleves so we can eat beef vindaloo, and not go homocidal, to have a butter-friggin-chicken that made my nose bleed, every hair holding pore on my scalp sweat, and my face feel like it was on fire from my 5th verterbra right over the top and down to my gutts, man... you've got to be friggin kidding me. That's just mean. Now I know why for years and years of drinking and eating and going to meetings and catching public transport right near this place, I've always had the sense to say "nahh, don't go there." Damn that red wine, I would have listened to myself otherwise and enjoyed the rest of my night. As it was, I was literally in pain top to bottom, swollen in ways I've only ever heard wemon talk about. Insane. If you lie that kind of thing, or just think I can't handle real food, go for it! (you're insane). If you have any doubts, AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE. Was very tasty for the couple of seconds before the burning set in btw. And the nan was just amazingly good, the est I've ever had. Service? Well, it matches the cheap and cheerful pricing: which is fair enough. Just be prepared to BURN. read more

Really quite good food. Order less than you think you'll want - it will probably be more than enough. You'll have to order at the counter, and they'll bring the food out to you. This place always seems to be busy, and is a good place to grab an inexpensive lunch or dinner. And if you're deciding between the Red and the Green Pepper (right next door), definitely go with Red. read more

I know, I know...there's another Indian place just a couple doors down, but trust me, this is the better of the two! Indian food, to me, is pretty straightforward. I like rich flavours, the option to make it super spicy, and overloads of garlic, especially on the naan. Most of all, I like it to be pretty cheap, whilst maintaining this high level of spicy richness. Red pepper does it! It's easy, you order up front, sit down with your number and your cheap bottle of wine (they have a decent selection that does the trick) and your food will come out. It's less fussy than many places, and for not too much money you will be fat and happy! read more

I went in with high expectations after reading the reviews but I left feeling underwhelmed by the experience. The food is reasonably cheap, but that's probably the best thing the restaurant had going for it. The food was far less flavourful than I would like, and the sauce on one of the dishes was quite liquid making it hard to enjoy with naan. (I will concede that the naan was decent.) Although the food is cheap, I think there's much better Indian food to be found at similar prices. read more

Decent place, but the menu is limited. You will mainly get curries, no menu for starters. But would suggest the samosas, gelafi kebab & chicken or paneer kadhai. read more

Red Pepper Indian Restaurant - Gelafi Kebab - Indian Near Me - Melbourne, VIC

An Indian restaurant- we have not been to one for AGES so was looking forward to this place after the wife told me that the Indian Cricket team came here during the World Cup. How can natives go to their own style restaurant & have a bad experience if they return again? Well I guess that theory doesn't work for everyone. Not a very enjoyable experience at all. The service was virtually non existent which was a bad start. The food did come out fairly quickly once our order was placed. We ordered the garlic naan bread, roti bread, butter chicken & a lamb dish. The only decent food was the naan bread. The rest was lacking flavour with very limited meat in the dish. Wouldn't return to this place at all. read more

The restaurant got its last 2 star just for the food! I would not say that this is a high quality restaurant. The area looks a bit dirtier than any other restaurant I have been to, specially the back where the toilets are situated just with the kitchen area. But talking about the kitchen the food is excellent even though the presentation was not good. We ordered 3 kinds of naans - cheese, garlic and potato. And on the side we had chicken vindaloo, potato and cauliflower fried dish and kebabs. All of which were really good. I mean the prices of the food matched the quantity and quality. However, the service was really bad. The waitresses there were serving and looking as if they want to commit suicide, they had blank expression on there faces and at one point when we were ordering she made a face that seems she did not want to work there. So overall I give this restaurant 3 star. Took off 3 star for being not clean enough and untidy and another for the poor service. read more

BAD BAD BAD customer service. Rude hostess!! Will never visit again This Friday (02/02/18) I went here around 9pm with my husband. And when we asked for a table first of all without any smile and greetings straight away this one of the staff Manpreet Kaur asked us to sit on a table near to the counter. We requested her that if we could get a table on the other side near to stairs. She denied bluntly and walked away. But when we went out and checked that there were at least three table available on the other side we went back. And when she saw us again she kept us waiting for good 10 mins and after that she came and when I said that I saw tables are available on the other side, in a very rude manner instead of saying that all the tables on the other side are reserved already SHE SAID "YOU COME AND SEE". Is this the way you treat your customers?? And theres still more to the story Around 9:45 we visited again and checked the table on the other side, there was only one table occupied out of those three where she placed reserve sign previously and there were " NO RESERVATION" sign placed on the rest of the tables any more. That clearly states that she lied to us before, she, herself placed the RESERVED Sign deliberately. This time I went alone inside the restaurant my husband was standing outside near to the glass so that she cant place reserve sign again when she saw me again she went on the other side to place the sign again but she saw my husband and could not do it. We caught her liyng. And Its not about the table. If we are are visiting a restaurant we are paying and having food. You don't feed us for free. If restaurant is full I understand that we have to sit at a available place. But if still tables are available and time was already nearly 10 your restaurant is closing in another 1 hr or two and you are behaving so rude. That leaves a very bad impact on the customer. read more

Positives: - Some of the food dishes are amazingly authentic and best indian food in Melbourne Negatives: - The service. Very unorganised and chaotic although they seem to have improved recently. - They will get your order right but will take forever What to order: Goat curry Dal makhani Paranthas (on sundays) read more

Pathetic customer service! We waited for over an hour during our lunch break for our food. I am ok with that, however we requested a small discount for taking so long and the girl serving us named Kiran refused and laughed it off. I have asked for the manager and she lied to me saying there is no manager or supervisor. She didnt care about our satisfaction at all. I wont be coming again. Very disappointed! read more

Such good food. We had the butter chicken, chicken tikka masala, steamed rice and garlic naan. Service was good and very friendly. Will definitely be coming back. read more

Red/Green Pepper is that great place when you're after a quick cheap meal with a bunch of friends but don't necessarily want to settle on the quality of food. read more

Cheap & cheerful. Like a bit of spice but curry was quite spicy. Great crispy and spongey naan. Wish there was an option for a meal deal for dinner where you can try more than one curry without ordering too much food. read more

Actually i was surprised to get an above OK Indian food for my first visit in Australia. I loved the Jug-Lassi concept. With almost 3 bucks u get almost 5 to 6 glasses of fresh lassi. I particularly liked the concept of rice + naan along with entrees. From my knowledge this is the first restaurant ever that i have seen with this option. Usually restaurants don't substitute rice with naan, at all ! Ambiance was OK, staff were very pleasant and supportive. read more

Great food and a great price to match, visited mid November and enjoyed the experience. The service staff were very busy and a little slow as a result but overall it was great. read more

Best Indian in Melbourne, absolutely sensational food.

The flavours are great and the garlic naan is really yum, super fresh! But the curries (prawn and veg kofta) were a bit too spicy, too much chilli powder took over the great flavours. read more

Red Pepper is one of the few very affordable restaurants in the CBD and it is delicious enough that those 11 dollars you spend are not wasted. I can only vouch for the butter chicken and samosas which are a fantastically delicious fiesta in your mouth I have tasted the chicken tikka masala which was a little eh but this place is good food and a great price. read more

I genuinely cannot say much about this restaurant as it would just be complaining, so I will just say that it was tasty and affordably priced , I am not a fan but my friend seems to be , So I am guessing I will get dragged back here again fordinner sometime. read more

This is the best place in melbourne to eat indian dishes.Staff is super friendly and food is great. Will comeback for sure

The Red Pepper is adjacent to the Green Pepper which is a little more upmarket, I believe they are owned by members of the same family and share some facilities. The Red Pepper is a cafe, pay and order up front and food will be served at the table. The food is excellent, even the vegetarian dishes, and the service is usually quite quick. The place is often fairly full with a good proportion of Indian clientele, and must be OK because I keep going back. Prices are excellent, generally around $20 per person for a pretty decent meal. Definitely recommended. read more

The best Indian in the city. I love this place, the staff are friendly and the food is always delicious. Whenever I am meeting someone for dinner in the city I always recommend this place. read more