Empress Kitchen - Indian Cuisine — Restaurant in Albert-Eden

I wasn’t looking for transcendence. Just a curry. Something comforting, warm, vaguely orange - edible, ideally - after a string of forgettable meals that left more impression on my wallet than my memory. Auckland can be like that. Charming in theory, stingy on flavour.

Then, as these stories go, I stumbled upon a small, unassuming place on Sandringham Road called Emperor’s Kitchen.

No neon signs. No oversized menu promising “authenticity” in a million fonts. Just a storefront you could walk past a hundred times without knowing something quietly spectacular was happening inside.

I ordered the chicken korma, mostly out of habit, and what arrived wasn’t flashy - just a plate of food that knew exactly what it was doing. The sauce was lush without being heavy. The chicken collapsed on the fork. It had confidence. I had finally hit the jackpot. But the food, as good as it was, wasn’t what pulled me back.

It was Ashok.

The man at the counter who looked up, smiled, and remembered my name - after one visit. Not because I tipped extravagantly (I didn’t). Not because I’m famous (I’m not). But because something about the way this place runs feels radically human. As if hospitality is still a word that means something.

I’ve been back since. Not often enough to be a proper regular. I drop in here and there - a couple of weeks between visits, sometimes more - and yet the warmth never dims. He greets me like a returning guest at a boutique hotel.

Sometimes, they even slide a few papadums into the bag. No ceremony. No charge. Just kindness.

So if you’re tired of chasing flavour and coming up short, try this place. No pretence. No theatre. Just good food, great people, and the quiet reassurance that someone...

It’s hard to miss with Indian food in Auckland and yet some rise above. Empress is one of those. Terrific flavours and as mentioned by more than one reviewer, the garlic naan is special. Each dish ( we’re vegetarian) was the best we’d had in Auckland. Our son only eats Tandoori chicken and has eaten it all over the world. He awarded theirs a top 3 spot . We have a rating scale. Empress is our new champion. And we dine at a lot of Indian restaurants. We ate at Empress 4 times in our 14 day trip. We tried two others but they could not dethrone Empress for all round...

We came here before the rugby and had a great time. Service was nice and fast. Food was very good with great flavour and variety of flavours in the curries. The garlic naan in particular was excellent. The Aloo Gobi Masala was probably our favourite and a good recommendation. Our waitress was fantastic, incredibly friendly and attentive without being over bearing. She had a wicked personality too. The restaurant itself was very clean and tidy. An enjoyable place to sit down for a meal. We will definitely return here when in...