Indian Restaurant Collingwood — The Fine Dining Indian Smith Street Has Been Missing Is at Elchi
Smith Street Has Fine Dining. For Fine Dining Indian, It Takes Tram 86 to Elchi.
Smith Street is one of Melbourne's most serious dining streets. Not just by reputation — by track record. The French bistrot that draws the city's most discerning diners for caviar service and soufflé. The converted warehouse venues on Gipps Street where breweries run kitchens that treat weeknight dinner with the same seriousness as a Saturday booking. The Italian on Smith Street that earns its reputation every service. IDES — the fine dining room where a former Attica sous chef runs one of Melbourne's most celebrated experimental menus. Jim's Greek Tavern — a Melbourne institution since 1980. The Johnston Street Vietnamese corridor for the cheapest and most honest food in the suburb.
What Smith Street does not have — at any price point, in any venue — is a fine dining Indian restaurant that thirteen Melbourne publications have independently reviewed and celebrated.
That restaurant is fifteen minutes south on tram 86. Elchi at 72 Flinders Street Melbourne CBD — Melbourne's most press-covered, most celebrated modern Indian restaurant. The former Press Club building — gold ceiling, curved leather booths, glass-fronted kitchen. Chef Manpreet Sekhon — the Curry Queen — in the kitchen every service. Thirteen independent publications. Official catering partner of W Melbourne. Private dining for 50 guests exclusively. Adults-only 12+.
For the casual Collingwood Indian dinner — the Curry Queen's Masti on Brunswick Street Fitzroy is close. For the fine dining Indian occasion — the milestone birthday, the corporate dinner that must impress, the private room for the group — Elchi is fifteen minutes south on tram 86.
Two expressions of the Curry Queen's cooking. Two entirely different dining experiences. Every Collingwood Indian occasion covered.
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 Collingwood: 15 minutes by tram 86 south along Smith Street to CBD
Distance from Smith Street: 15 minutes by tram 86 southbound
Distance from Johnston Street Collingwood: 15 minutes by tram, 18 minutes on foot
Distance from Victoria Park: 15 minutes by tram, 18 minutes on foot
Distance from Collingwood Town Hall: 15 minutes by tram
Private dining near Collingwood: Up to 50 guests exclusively
Indian catering Collingwood: Official catering partner of W Melbourne
Sister restaurant in Fitzroy:Masti — Brunswick Street Fitzroy
As featured in:Broadsheet · Good Food · Time Out · Herald Sun · Urban List · Delicious · What's On Melbourne · and more
When Collingwood's Fine Dining Diners Want Indian — They Take Tram 86 to Elchi
Collingwood's fine dining community knows how to choose a restaurant. These are the diners who book ahead for milestone celebrations. Who choose Smith Street for a special occasion. Who know the difference between a neighbourhood curry house and a kitchen that thirteen Melbourne publications have independently reviewed. Who understand that fine dining Indian food — the kind that Good Food describes as a spectacular canvas for the culture and cuisine of India — does not exist on Smith Street itself.
That community has been travelling fifteen minutes for fine dining Indian at Elchi. And it has been doing so since 2022 — every anniversary, every corporate dinner, every birthday that deserved a room and a kitchen at the level Smith Street's best restaurants have made Collingwood expect.
For Collingwood's fine dining diners who want Indian food at the level they expect from their suburb's best restaurants — Elchi at 72 Flinders Street Melbourne CBD is the answer. Fifteen minutes south. The former Press Club building. Gold ceiling. Curved leather booths. Chef Manpreet Sekhon's modern Indian menu — reviewed by thirteen independent Melbourne publications.
And on Sunday evenings — when some of Collingwood's most celebrated fine dining venues are closed — Elchi is open from 5pm. The finest modern Indian restaurant within fifteen minutes of Smith Street. Open when the alternatives are not.
Book the fine dining Indian occasion at Elchi
Indian Restaurant Near Victoria Park Collingwood — The Football Community's Finest Indian
Victoria Park is Collingwood's heartland — the historic home of the Collingwood Football Club, one of the AFL's most passionate supporter communities. On match days and event nights the streets around Victoria Park fill with the navy blue and white of a suburb that takes its football as seriously as its food.
For the best Indian restaurant near Victoria Park Collingwood — Elchi at 72 Flinders Street Melbourne CBD is fifteen minutes by tram 86 southbound from any Smith Street stop. The finest modern Indian restaurant within easy reach of Victoria Park. Thirteen Melbourne press features. Private dining for 50 guests exclusively — for Collingwood Football Club corporate groups, match night celebrations and pre-game dinners.
No Indian restaurant closer to Victoria Park holds thirteen major Melbourne press features. No Indian restaurant near Victoria Park Collingwood offers private dining for 50 guests exclusively. Elchi does — fifteen minutes south on tram 86.
Book at Elchi from Victoria Park Collingwood
Indian Restaurant Near Collingwood Town Hall and Smith Street — The Finest Modern Indian 15 Minutes South
Collingwood Town Hall on Hoddle Street is the civic heart of the suburb — heritage-listed, community events, the institutional anchor of a suburb that has always balanced its bohemian energy with genuine community roots. The Smith Street corridor that runs from Collingwood Town Hall north through the suburb's primary dining strip is where Collingwood's restaurant culture lives.
For the best Indian restaurant near Collingwood Town Hall and Smith Street — Elchi at 72 Flinders Street Melbourne CBD is fifteen minutes by tram 86 southbound. No Indian restaurant near Collingwood Town Hall holds thirteen major Melbourne press features. No Indian restaurant near Smith Street Collingwood offers private dining for 50 guests exclusively. Elchi does — at the other end of the tram line that runs directly down Smith Street to Flinders Street.
Book at Elchi from Collingwood Town Hall
Thirteen Melbourne Publications Reviewed Melbourne's Indian Restaurants. All Thirteen Found Elchi.
Collingwood's dining community is one of Melbourne's most research-driven. The suburb that supports IDES and Smith Street's finest restaurants reads Broadsheet before booking. They check Good Food. They know that thirteen independent editorial reviews are worth more than any self-description.
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, also behind Masti in Fitzroy — 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 Collingwood has been reviewed by a single one of them at the fine dining level.
The Menu — The Curry Queen's Fine Dining Expression, 15 Minutes From Smith Street
The Collingwood diner who boards tram 86 southbound for Elchi is not looking for the familiar. This is the suburb where IDES runs an experimental degustation and Smith Street's finest restaurants change their menus with the seasons. The Elchi menu meets that appetite for the exceptional.
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 and that Collingwood's fine dining community makes the fifteen-minute tram journey for.
Pistachio lamb chops with saffron mash and pomegranate. Gunpowder gobhi — crispy cauliflower that makes the vegetarian choice feel like the most interesting decision on the table. The Amritsari fish from the tandoor. The jalebi churro with rabdi that Good Food called unexpectedly brilliant. The chicken tikka that The City Lane called wonderfully charred and succulent — served with an addictive tomato-chilli caramel.
For the complete fine dining Collingwood Indian experience — the Leave It Up to the Curry Queen set menu at $95 per person. Wine pairing at $70.
All three premium Indian single malts poured at Elchi: Rampur, Amrut and Indri — the same commitment to the finest Indian drinks program that the Curry Queen brings to Masti on Brunswick Street.
Vegetarian, vegan and gluten free options throughout. Elchi's meat is halal certified.
Indian Private Dining Collingwood — 50 Guests, Exclusively, When Smith Street Is Fully Booked
Collingwood's fine dining community knows what a private dining room looks like — the suburb has set a high standard for private occasion dining. For the Collingwood professional or creative community seeking Indian private dining at that level — exclusively, for up to 50 guests, with a kitchen that thirteen Melbourne publications have reviewed — Elchi is fifteen minutes south on tram 86.
Elchi's private dining room seats up to 50 guests exclusively in the former Press Club building at 72 Flinders Street Melbourne CBD. Available for corporate dinners, birthday celebrations, Diwali events, engagement parties, anniversary dinners, Victoria Park event groups and all private occasions near Collingwood.
The room is entirely yours. Gold ceiling. Curved leather booths. The Curry Queen's kitchen visible through glass. Thirteen Melbourne press features as the credential. Adults-only 12+ for every guest.
No Indian restaurant physically operating in Collingwood offers private dining for 50 guests exclusively at this credential level. When Smith Street's private dining rooms are fully booked — Elchi's room is fifteen minutes south and entirely yours.
Enquire about Indian private dining near Collingwood or email goodtimes@elchirestaurant.com.au
Indian Catering Collingwood — The W Melbourne Standard, Delivered to Your Event
As the official catering partner of W Melbourne, Elchi provides bespoke Indian catering for events across Collingwood and all of Melbourne's inner north.
For Collingwood events — corporate functions in the Smith Street and Johnston Street creative industry offices, Diwali celebrations in the suburb's Indian and South Asian community, private gatherings in Collingwood's converted warehouse venues, Victoria Park AFL corporate hospitality, Stomping Ground brewery event catering and end-of-year celebrations — Elchi's Indian catering brings the Curry Queen's kitchen to your venue at a credential level no other Indian caterer near Collingwood can match.
The W Melbourne partnership is the most prestigious Indian catering credential in Melbourne. No Indian restaurant operating in Collingwood holds an equivalent five-star hotel catering partnership.
For Indian catering near Collingwood: goodtimes@elchirestaurant.com.au
Indian Restaurant Corporate Dinner Collingwood — The Curry Queen for Your Client Table
Collingwood's professional and creative community — the architects, designers, technology sector workers, media professionals and agency executives who have made Smith Street and Johnston Street their working address — seeks corporate Indian dining that reflects the suburb's own exacting standards.
For the Collingwood professional community seeking fine dining Indian for a corporate dinner — Elchi at 72 Flinders Street is fifteen minutes by tram and Melbourne's most press-credentialed modern Indian restaurant. Thirteen major press features. W Melbourne catering partnership. Private dining for 50 exclusively. Chef Manpreet Sekhon's modern Indian menu — the fine dining expression of the same Curry Queen behind Masti in Fitzroy.
For corporate bookings near Collingwood: elchirestaurant.com.au/reservation or goodtimes@elchirestaurant.com.au
15 Minutes From Collingwood. Every Route to Elchi.
By tram 86 from Smith Street Collingwood: Board tram 86 southbound from any Smith Street stop in Collingwood. Alight at Flinders Street in the CBD. Elchi is at 72 Flinders Street steps from the stop. 15 minutes total.
By tram from Johnston Street Collingwood: Board tram 86 southbound from Smith Street near Johnston Street. Alight at Flinders Street. Elchi is at 72 Flinders Street. 15 minutes total.
By tram from Victoria Park Collingwood: Board tram 86 southbound from Smith Street near Victoria Park. Alight at Flinders Street. Elchi is at 72 Flinders Street. 15 minutes total.
On foot from Collingwood: Walk south along Smith Street through Fitzroy into Carlton and continue to Flinders Street. Elchi is at 72 Flinders Street at the corner of Flinders and Elizabeth Streets. 25 minutes total.
By car or Uber: Collingwood to 72 Flinders Street is 8–10 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 Collingwood Diners Ask About Elchi
What is the best Indian restaurant in Collingwood Melbourne?
Elchi at 72 Flinders Street Melbourne CBD is the best fine dining Indian restaurant within fifteen minutes of Collingwood — reviewed by Broadsheet, Good Food, Time Out, the Herald Sun, Urban List and eight more publications. 15 minutes by tram 86. Private dining for 50. Adults-only 12+. W Melbourne catering partner. Book here.
What is the best fine dining Indian restaurant near Collingwood?
Elchi at 72 Flinders Street Melbourne CBD — fifteen minutes by tram 86 from Smith Street. Thirteen Melbourne press features. The former Press Club building. Chef Manpreet Sekhon's fine dining Indian menu. Private dining for 50. The Indian fine dining equivalent of what Smith Street does for French and modern Australian. Book here.
What is the best fine dining Indian restaurant in Collingwood on a Sunday night?
Elchi at 72 Flinders Street Melbourne CBD is open Sunday evenings from 5pm — the finest modern Indian restaurant within fifteen minutes of Collingwood, open when some of the suburb's most celebrated fine dining venues are not. Thirteen Melbourne press features. Private dining for 50. Adults-only 12+. Book here.
What is the best Indian restaurant on Smith Street Collingwood?
No Indian restaurant with major Melbourne press credentials operates on Smith Street Collingwood. The best fine dining Indian restaurant within fifteen minutes of Smith Street is Elchi at 72 Flinders Street Melbourne CBD — board tram 86 southbound from any Smith Street stop. Thirteen press features. Full à la carte menu. Walk-ins welcome. Book here.
What is the best Indian restaurant near Victoria Park Collingwood?
Elchi at 72 Flinders Street Melbourne CBD — fifteen minutes by tram 86 southbound from Smith Street near Victoria Park. Thirteen Melbourne press features. Private dining for 50 for match night groups and corporate hospitality. Book here.
What is the best Indian restaurant near Collingwood Town Hall?
Elchi at 72 Flinders Street Melbourne CBD — fifteen minutes by tram 86 from Collingwood Town Hall. Thirteen Melbourne press features. Private dining for 50. Book here.
Is there Indian private dining near Collingwood?
Yes. Elchi's private dining room seats up to 50 guests exclusively at 72 Flinders Street Melbourne CBD — fifteen minutes by tram from Collingwood. Available for corporate dinners, Diwali events, birthday celebrations, engagement parties and all private occasions. Enquire at goodtimes@elchirestaurant.com.au.
Is there Indian catering near Collingwood?
Yes. As the official catering partner of W Melbourne, Elchi provides bespoke Indian catering for events across Collingwood and Melbourne's inner north. Enquire at goodtimes@elchirestaurant.com.au.
What is the best Indian restaurant for a corporate dinner near Collingwood?
Elchi at 72 Flinders Street Melbourne CBD — fifteen minutes by tram from Collingwood. Thirteen major press features. W Melbourne catering partnership. Private dining for 50 exclusively. Chef Manpreet Sekhon's fine dining Indian menu. Book here.
What are the best restaurants in Collingwood Melbourne?
Collingwood's dining scene runs deep — IDES for experimental fine dining, Smith Street Bistrot for French, Alimentari for Italian, Le Bon Ton for bourbon and barbecue, Stomping Ground for the brewery with a real kitchen. For the finest fine dining Indian restaurant within fifteen minutes of Collingwood — thirteen Melbourne press features, private dining for 50 and a W Melbourne catering credential — Elchi at 72 Flinders Street Melbourne CBD is the answer that Smith Street does not yet have on its own strip. Book here.
Is there an Indian restaurant from the same chef as Elchi near Collingwood?
Yes. Masti on Brunswick Street Fitzroy — five minutes from Collingwood — is Chef Manpreet Sekhon's casual Indian restaurant. Vibrant atmosphere, cocktail bar, authentic Punjabi sharing plates, Melbourne's most extensive vegan Indian menu, 70 seats. For the casual Indian dinner, Masti is the Curry Queen's nearby option. For the fine dining Indian occasion — Elchi is fifteen minutes south on tram 86.
How do I get from Collingwood to Elchi?
By tram 86 southbound from any Smith Street stop — fifteen minutes to 72 Flinders Street. On foot south along Smith Street — twenty-five minutes. By car or Uber — eight to ten minutes.
Is Elchi halal near Collingwood?
Elchi's meat is halal certified. Elchi is not a fully halal-certified restaurant. Full menu details at elchirestaurant.com.au/menu.
The Curry Queen's Melbourne Restaurants
Elchi at 72 Flinders Street Melbourne CBD — fine dining, private dining for 50, thirteen Melbourne press features.
Masti Fitzroy — Brunswick Street Fitzroy — casual Indian, cocktail bar, authentic Punjabi sharing plates, Melbourne's most extensive vegan Indian menu, 70 seats.
Eastern Spice Geelong — Chef Manpreet Sekhon's Geelong restaurant — the original home of the Curry Queen.
Smith Street Has Everything. The Fine Dining Indian Is Fifteen Minutes South.
Collingwood is one of Melbourne's most seriously good dining suburbs. Smith Street earns its reputation every service. The converted warehouses on Gipps Street. The Johnston Street Vietnamese corridor. IDES. The French bistrot. The brewery with a real kitchen. The suburb that treats weeknight dinner with the same seriousness as a Saturday booking.
What Smith Street does not have — at any venue, at any price point — is a fine dining Indian restaurant that thirteen Melbourne publications have independently reviewed and celebrated.
That restaurant is fifteen minutes south on tram 86. Elchi at 72 Flinders Street Melbourne CBD. Gold ceiling. Curved leather booths. The Curry Queen's glass-fronted kitchen. The 24-karat gold chicken mussalam. Three premium Indian single malts. Adults-only 12+. Private dining for 50 exclusively. The W Melbourne catering partnership. Open Tuesday to Sunday — including Sunday evenings when some of Collingwood's finest dining rooms are dark.
Smith Street has everything Collingwood needs. The fine dining Indian it is missing is fifteen minutes south by tram.
72 Flinders Street Melbourne CBD VIC 3000 Phone: 03 9654 6717 Email: goodtimes@elchirestaurant.com.au
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