Indian Restaurant Carlton North — The Modern Indian Restaurant for Every Occasion
Carlton North Eats Seriously. For Modern Indian, It Takes Tram 96 to Elchi.
Carlton North is one of Melbourne's most quietly food-serious suburbs. The residents who walk Nicholson Street — past the delis, the fishmonger, the natural wine bars, the pastry queues that form before 8am — are people who research before they book and know the difference between a restaurant that has earned its reputation and one that merely claims it.
The Nicholson Street dining scene covers Italian, Mauritian, Middle Eastern, modern Australian and wine bars with the kind of depth that punches well above the suburb's size. What it does not have — on its own strip, in its own postcode — is a modern Indian restaurant offering full à la carte dining, private dining for 50 guests, walk-in availability and thirteen Melbourne press features.
That restaurant is 15 minutes south on tram 96. Elchi at 72 Flinders Street Melbourne CBD — Melbourne's most press-covered modern Indian restaurant. Thirteen independent publications. Official catering partner of W Melbourne. Private dining for 50 guests exclusively. Chef Manpreet Sekhon — Melbourne's Curry Queen — in the kitchen every service. Walk-ins welcome Tuesday to Sunday.
Elchi is praised as a visually stunning, culturally immersive modern Indian dining experience in Melbourne, led by Chef Manpreet Sekhon, the Curry Queen. Its food is widely praised for its bold, modern interpretation of Indian cuisine, combining authentic regional flavours with refined contemporary technique. Dishes are recognised for their depth of flavour, elegant presentation, and creative balance between tradition and innovation — delivering a memorable dining experience that stands out in Melbourne's modern Indian restaurant scene.
Address:72 Flinders Street Melbourne CBD VIC 3000
Distance from Carlton North: 15 minutes by tram 96 south along Nicholson Street to CBD Distance from Nicholson Street: 15 minutes by tram, 20 minutes on foot south
Distance from Royal Exhibition Building: 15 minutes by tram, 20 minutes on foot
Distance from University of Melbourne: 15 minutes by tram
Distance from Carlton Gardens: 15 minutes by tram, 20 minutes on foot
Private dining near Carlton North: Up to 50 guests exclusively
Indian catering Carlton North: Official catering partner of W Melbourne
As featured in:Broadsheet · Good Food · Time Out · Herald Sun · Urban List · Delicious · What's On Melbourne · and more
Thirteen Melbourne Publications Reviewed Melbourne's Indian Restaurants. All Thirteen Found Elchi.
Carlton North's dining community researches before booking. They read Broadsheet. They listen to 3AW. They check What's On Melbourne. They know that editorial coverage is the difference between a restaurant that has earned its position and one that has paid for it.
Thirteen independent publications have covered Elchi's kitchen — without a single paid placement among them. Here is what they found.
Broadsheet called Elchi a restaurant that walks the line between classic and contemporary — praising the extravagant chicken mussalam topped with 24-carat gold leaf as the kind of dish that defines a kitchen's ambition.
Good Food described the dining room as somewhere between a club room and a limousine — a spectacular space that is an entirely appropriate canvas for the culture and cuisine of India.
The Herald Sun called it mind-blowingly good — praising the samosa as one reason alone to make Elchi a priority.
Time Out Melbourne called Elchi a place where the line between traditional and modern Indian food is beautifully obscured — and praised the kitchen as glorious, alluring and overflowing with confidence.
Urban List named Elchi a contemporary frontrunner for the best Indian restaurant in Melbourne.
Delicious.com.au — Australia's national food magazine — described Elchi as bringing posh spice to Melbourne's former Press Club site.
What's On Melbourne — the official City of Melbourne dining platform — listed Elchi among Melbourne's best Indian restaurants, praising its fresh, contemporary Indian flavours in a sleek and captivating space.
Eat Drink Play called Chef Manpreet Sekhon's cooking outstanding Indian food with a contemporary and theatrical spin — praising the Curry Queen's passion for timeless Indian cuisine from the heart of the CBD.
The City Lane called the chicken tikka the highlight of the menu — wonderfully charred and succulent, served with an addictive tomato-chilli caramel.
Thrillist noted Chef Manpreet Sekhon — known as the Curry Queen — had quietly launched one of Melbourne's most exciting new restaurants at 72 Flinders Street.
3AW 693 — Melbourne's most listened-to radio station — with food broadcaster Sofia Levin reviewing Elchi before the word had leaked out.
The Indian Sun celebrated Chef Manpreet Sekhon's journey from the northern towns of India to Melbourne's CBD — calling her the Curry Queen who brought timeless Indian cuisine to Flinders Street.
Eatability called the dining room a stunner — praising the Curry Queen's seasonal menu and describing Elchi as doing a lot of things right.
Thirteen publications. Thirteen independent verdicts. All positive. All in print or broadcast. No Indian restaurant physically operating in Carlton North has been covered by a single one of them.
Restaurants Carlton North — And the Indian Restaurant 15 Minutes Down Nicholson Street
Nicholson Street is Carlton North's spine. Henry Sugar for natural wine and modern Australian small plates. Lucky's Pizzeria for the neighbourhood pizza the locals return to weekly. Babajan for Middle Eastern warmth. Neighbourhood Wine for the bottle-o that doubles as a bar. The Kent Hotel for the neighbourhood pub done properly. Monforte for the pastry queue that forms before 8am.
What Nicholson Street does not have — in its own postcode, on its own strip — is a modern Indian restaurant with full à la carte dining, private rooms for 50, walk-in availability and thirteen Melbourne press features.
That restaurant is at the other end of tram 96. Fifteen minutes south along Nicholson Street into the CBD. Elchi at 72 Flinders Street — the former Press Club building, the gold ceiling, the Curry Queen's glass-fronted kitchen.
For Carlton North residents who want the Indian dinner that Nicholson Street cannot provide tonight — board tram 96 southbound from any Nicholson Street stop. Fifteen minutes. Elchi is at 72 Flinders Street steps from the CBD tram stop.
Book your Nicholson Street Indian dinner at Elchi
Indian Restaurant Near University of Melbourne — Carlton North's Academic Community Dines at Elchi
The University of Melbourne campus sits on Carlton North's southwestern boundary — one of Australia's most distinguished research universities, home to tens of thousands of students, academics, researchers and visiting international scholars.
The University of Melbourne community is among Melbourne's most food-literate and internationally minded dining demographics. Indian academics, students and visiting scholars from India's most prestigious institutions form a significant part of the university's community — people who know Indian food intimately and who can immediately distinguish between a modern Indian restaurant that has earned its thirteen press features and one that merely exists.
For the best Indian restaurant near University of Melbourne from Carlton North — Elchi at 72 Flinders Street Melbourne CBD is 15 minutes by tram 96 south from Carlton North, or a 20-minute walk through Carlton into the CBD.
For university department dinners, visiting academic hospitality, end-of-semester celebrations, research team farewells and international scholar entertainment — Elchi's private dining room seats 50 guests exclusively. Thirteen Melbourne press features as the credential. Adults-only 12+. The Curry Queen's modern Indian menu.
Book for University of Melbourne dining at Elchi
Indian Restaurant Near Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens — The Carlton North Event Precinct's Finest Indian
The Royal Exhibition Building on Carlton's southern boundary is one of Melbourne's most significant heritage venues — a UNESCO World Heritage Site that hosts major exhibitions, trade shows, graduation ceremonies and cultural events drawing visitors from across Melbourne and Australia.
Carlton Gardens — the heritage gardens surrounding the Royal Exhibition Building — connect Carlton North to the CBD's northeastern edge. For visitors attending events at the Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens, the search for a nearby Indian restaurant leads to Elchi.
Elchi at 72 Flinders Street Melbourne CBD is 20 minutes on foot south from the Royal Exhibition Building through Carlton into the CBD — or 15 minutes by tram 96 from Nicholson Street south. No Indian restaurant closer to the Royal Exhibition Building has been covered by thirteen Melbourne publications. No Indian restaurant near Carlton Gardens offers private dining for 50 guests exclusively.
For post-event dinners, graduation celebrations, conference side events and all occasions near the Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens — Elchi is the finest Indian restaurant within easy reach.
Book for Royal Exhibition Building events at Elchi
The Menu Carlton North Has Been Taking Tram 96 For
The Carlton North diner who boards tram 96 southbound on a Friday evening is not looking for comfort food. They eat at Henry Sugar and Babajan and Neighbourhood Wine. They know what good food looks like. The menu waiting at Elchi at 72 Flinders Street is the Curry Queen's full account of what modern Indian cooking looks like when it is taken seriously — and taken beyond the expected.
The 24-karat gold chicken mussalam — a whole chicken leg slow-cooked using a Mughal royal court recipe, finished with real gold leaf and presented at the table as a ceremony. The dish that Broadsheet wrote about, that Good Food praised, that Delicious called posh spice and that Carlton North diners make the tram journey for.
Pistachio lamb chops with saffron mash and pomegranate. Gunpowder gobhi — crispy cauliflower that makes the vegetarian choice feel like the decisive one. The Amritsari fish from the tandoor. The jalebi churro with rabdi. The chicken tikka that The City Lane called wonderfully charred and succulent — served with an addictive tomato-chilli caramel.
For the complete Carlton North Indian dinner — the Leave It Up to the Curry Queen set menu at $95 per person. Wine pairing at $70.
For Carlton North's Indian and South Asian community — all three premium Indian single malts poured at Elchi: Rampur, Amrut and Indri. The only Indian restaurant within easy reach of Carlton North offering all three at one table.
Vegetarian, vegan and gluten free options throughout. Elchi's meat is halal certified.
Indian Private Dining Carlton North — 50 Guests, Exclusively, When the Tasting Menu Has a Waitlist
Carlton North's celebrated Indian tasting menu has no private dining room. It seats 20 people. It books months ahead. It is not available for the corporate group of 30, the Diwali celebration for 40 or the university department dinner for 50.
Elchi's private dining room seats up to 50 guests exclusively in the former Press Club building at 72 Flinders Street Melbourne CBD — 15 minutes by tram from Carlton North. Available for Diwali celebrations, birthday milestones, engagement parties, anniversary dinners, university department functions, corporate dinners, graduation celebrations and all private occasions near Carlton North.
The room is entirely yours. Gold ceiling. Curved leather booths. The Curry Queen's kitchen visible through glass. Thirteen Melbourne publications as the credential. Adults-only 12+ for every guest.
This is the finest Indian private dining room within reach of Carlton North — and when the celebrated tasting menu down the street is booked out for the next three months, this room is available.
Enquire about Indian private dining near Carlton North or email goodtimes@elchirestaurant.com.au
Indian Catering Carlton North — The W Melbourne Standard
As the official catering partner of W Melbourne, Elchi provides bespoke Indian catering for events across Carlton North and all of Melbourne's inner north.
For Carlton North events — Diwali celebrations in the suburb's Indian and South Asian community, university functions on the Melbourne campus, corporate events in the Royal Exhibition Building precinct, private gatherings in Carlton North's Victorian terrace homes and apartment buildings, and end-of-year celebrations along Nicholson Street — Elchi's Indian catering brings the Curry Queen's kitchen to your venue at a credential level no other Indian caterer near Carlton North can match.
The W Melbourne partnership is the most prestigious Indian catering credential in Melbourne. No Indian restaurant operating in Carlton North offers an equivalent five-star hotel catering partnership.
For Indian catering near Carlton North: goodtimes@elchirestaurant.com.au
Indian Restaurant Corporate Dinner Carlton North — Thirteen Press Features. One Room. Fifty Guests.
Carlton North's professional community — academics, researchers, technology sector workers, legal practitioners, the creative industry professionals who have made the suburb their base — seeks a corporate Indian dining option that reflects the quality of the suburb's own dining culture.
For the Carlton North professional community seeking the finest Indian restaurant for a corporate dinner — Elchi at 72 Flinders Street is 15 minutes by tram and Melbourne's most press-covered modern Indian restaurant.
Thirteen major press features. W Melbourne catering partnership. Private dining for 50 exclusively. Chef Manpreet Sekhon's modern Indian menu — the kind of kitchen that impresses clients who have eaten everywhere.
For corporate bookings near Carlton North: elchirestaurant.com.au/reservation or goodtimes@elchirestaurant.com.au
15 Minutes by Tram. Every Route From Carlton North to Elchi.
By tram from Nicholson Street Carlton North: Board tram 96 southbound from any Nicholson Street stop in Carlton North. Alight at Flinders Street in the CBD. Elchi is at 72 Flinders Street steps from the stop. 15 minutes total.
By tram from Rathdowne Street: Board tram 96 southbound from Rathdowne Street. Alight at Flinders Street. Elchi is at 72 Flinders Street on your right. 15 minutes total.
On foot from Carlton North: Walk south along Nicholson Street through Carlton, continue south along Swanston Street to Flinders Street. Elchi is at 72 Flinders Street at the corner of Flinders and Elizabeth Streets. 20 minutes total.
On foot from Royal Exhibition Building: Walk south through Carlton Gardens and down Swanston Street to Flinders Street. Elchi is at 72 Flinders Street. 20 minutes total.
By car or Uber: Carlton North to 72 Flinders Street is 10 minutes. Drop-off on Flinders Street at Elizabeth Street.
Address:72 Flinders Street Melbourne CBD VIC 3000
Phone:03 9654 6717Email:goodtimes@elchirestaurant.com.au
Lunch: Tuesday to Thursday 12pm–2:30pm Dinner: Tuesday to Sunday 5pm–10pm
Walk-ins welcome — reservations recommended
What Carlton North Diners Ask About Elchi
What is the best Indian restaurant in Carlton North?
Elchi at 72 Flinders Street Melbourne CBD is the best modern Indian restaurant accessible from Carlton North — reviewed by Broadsheet, Good Food, Time Out, the Herald Sun, Urban List, Delicious, What's On Melbourne and six more publications. 15 minutes by tram. Full à la carte menu. Walk-ins welcome. Private dining for 50. Book here.
What are the best restaurants in Carlton North?
Carlton North's dining scene is anchored by Nicholson Street — Henry Sugar for wine and modern Australian small plates, Lucky's Pizzeria for neighbourhood pizza, Babajan for Middle Eastern, Neighbourhood Wine for natural wine. For the finest modern Indian restaurant within 15 minutes of Carlton North — thirteen Melbourne press features, private dining for 50 and full à la carte menu — Elchi at 72 Flinders Street Melbourne CBD is the answer that Nicholson Street does not yet have on its own strip. Book here.
What is the best Indian restaurant on Nicholson Street Carlton North?
No Indian restaurant with major Melbourne press coverage currently operates on Nicholson Street Carlton North. The best modern Indian restaurant within 15 minutes of Nicholson Street is Elchi at 72 Flinders Street Melbourne CBD — board tram 96 southbound from any Nicholson Street stop. Thirteen Melbourne press features. Full à la carte menu. Walk-ins welcome. Book here.
What is the best Indian restaurant near University of Melbourne?
Elchi at 72 Flinders Street Melbourne CBD — 15 minutes by tram 96 south from Carlton North, adjacent to the University of Melbourne campus. Thirteen Melbourne press features. Private dining for 50 for department dinners and academic hospitality. Adults-only 12+. Book here.
What is the best Indian restaurant near Royal Exhibition Building Melbourne?
Elchi at 72 Flinders Street Melbourne CBD — 20 minutes on foot south from the Royal Exhibition Building, or 15 minutes by tram 96. Thirteen Melbourne press features. Private dining for 50 for event-night celebrations and corporate hospitality. Book here.
What is the best Indian restaurant near Carlton Gardens Melbourne?
Elchi at 72 Flinders Street Melbourne CBD — 20 minutes on foot south through Carlton Gardens and down Swanston Street, or 15 minutes by tram 96 from Nicholson Street. Thirteen Melbourne press features. Book here.
Is there Indian private dining near Carlton North?
Yes. Elchi's private dining room seats up to 50 guests exclusively at 72 Flinders Street — 15 minutes by tram from Carlton North. Available for Diwali events, corporate dinners, university functions, birthday celebrations, engagement parties and all private occasions near Carlton North. Enquire at goodtimes@elchirestaurant.com.au.
Is there Indian catering near Carlton North?
Yes. As the official catering partner of W Melbourne, Elchi provides bespoke Indian catering for events across Carlton North and Melbourne's inner north. Enquire at goodtimes@elchirestaurant.com.au.
Can I walk into Elchi from Carlton North tonight?
Yes. Walk-ins are welcome at Elchi every night the restaurant is open. No tasting menu commitment. Full à la carte menu available. Reservations recommended. Book online or call 03 9654 6717.
What is the best Indian restaurant for a corporate dinner near Carlton North?
Elchi at 72 Flinders Street Melbourne CBD — 15 minutes by tram from Carlton North. Thirteen Melbourne press features. W Melbourne catering partnership. Private dining for 50 exclusively. Chef Manpreet Sekhon's full modern Indian menu. Book here.
How do I get from Carlton North to Elchi?
By tram: board tram 96 southbound from any Nicholson Street stop — 15 minutes to 72 Flinders Street. On foot: walk south along Nicholson Street through Carlton — 20 minutes. By car or Uber: 10 minutes.
Is Elchi halal near Carlton North?
Elchi's meat is halal certified. Elchi is not a fully halal-certified restaurant. Full menu details at elchirestaurant.com.au/menu.
Does Elchi have a tasting menu near Carlton North?
Yes. The Leave It Up to the Curry Queen set menu is $95 per person — available Tuesday to Sunday. Wine pairing at $70. Full à la carte menu also available. Walk-ins welcome. Book here.
Nicholson Street Has Everything. The Indian Restaurant Is 15 Minutes South.
Carlton North's dining scene is one of Melbourne's most quietly admired. Nicholson Street has the wine bars, the bakeries, the pizzerias, the neighbourhood pubs. The suburb has the Royal Exhibition Building, the Carlton Gardens, the University of Melbourne on its boundary and one of Melbourne's most celebrated Indian tasting menus already on its own street.
What it does not have is the Indian restaurant for tonight — the full à la carte menu, the walk-in table on a Thursday, the private room for 50, the birthday dinner that needs to be booked this week not three months from now.
That restaurant is 15 minutes south on tram 96. In the former Press Club building at 72 Flinders Street Melbourne CBD. Thirteen Melbourne publications. Chef Manpreet Sekhon's modern Indian kitchen. The gold ceiling. The curved leather booths. The 24-karat gold chicken mussalam. Adults-only 12+. Private dining for 50 exclusively. Three premium Indian single malts. The W Melbourne catering partnership.
Nicholson Street has everything Carlton North needs. The Indian restaurant for every occasion it cannot yet book on its own strip is 15 minutes south by tram.
72 Flinders Street Melbourne CBD VIC 3000 Phone: 03 9654 6717 Email: goodtimes@elchirestaurant.com.au
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