For anyone looking for Indian cuisine in Prague, some restaurants offer more than a meal. They offer a story.
Some flames, once lit, refuse to go out.
Indian Jewel has been burning in the heart of Prague for thirty years, and everything about it has been earned.
In 1996, Sanjeev Wadehra arrived from Delhi carrying something that cannot be taught in a kitchen: generations of family recipes, a palate sharpened over a lifetime, and his wife Mohini beside him, whose cooking would go on to help define Indian food in Prague.
He opened Jewel of India on Pařížská, in the beating heart of Prague’s Old Town, at a moment when the city was hungry for everything the world had to offer. It was a time when Prague was opening itself to new influences, new people and new flavours, and Indian cuisine found a place in that changing city.
Word spread the way it only does when something is genuinely extraordinary: person to person, table to table, year after year.
What started as one family’s restaurant would eventually become a three-decade story of Indian cooking, resilience and a connection between Delhi and Prague.
For three decades, Indian Jewel has helped make Indian cuisine in Prague part of the city’s ever-changing food story.
From Delhi to Prague’s Old Town
The story of Indian Jewel is, first and foremost, a family story.
Sanjeev and Mohini Wadehra came to Prague from Delhi with generations of family recipes and a deep knowledge of Indian cooking. Their first restaurant, Jewel of India, opened on Pařížská in 1996.
It was a time when Prague was changing rapidly. The city was becoming increasingly international, and people were discovering flavours and cuisines from far beyond the Czech Republic.
Indian cuisine found its own place in that changing landscape.
For the Wadehras, the restaurant was about bringing something familiar from home to a new city. The recipes came with them. So did the traditions behind them.
And, perhaps most importantly, so did the belief that good food has a way of bringing people together.
The reputation grew naturally. A guest would enjoy a meal, tell someone about it, and return with friends. Then those friends would bring someone else.
That is how a restaurant becomes part of a city’s food culture.
Then the river rose.
The Floods of 2002 Changed the Story
The summer floods of 2002 were the worst in living memory.
Pařížská was transformed, and Jewel of India was among the businesses that were lost.
For a restaurant built over years, losing its physical home could easily have meant the end. The work, the memories and the place where the story had begun were suddenly gone.
The Wadehras could have walked away.
They did not.
In 2009, they came back as Indian Jewel, opening in Prague’s Týn quarter.
The name was different, but the heart of the restaurant remained.
The family recipes were still there.
The traditions were still there.
The ambition was still there.
And the tandoor was still burning.
That return is one of the defining moments in the story of Indian Jewel. It is also what makes the restaurant’s thirty-year history more than a simple timeline of openings and addresses.
It is a story about starting again.
Indian Cuisine in Prague With North Indian and Mughlai Roots
Indian cuisine is not one single style of cooking. India’s regions have their own ingredients, techniques, traditions and flavours.
At Indian Jewel, the kitchen is rooted in the royal traditions of North Indian Mughlai cuisine.
That influence can be seen across the menu, particularly in the slow-cooked curries, tandoori dishes, fragrant rice and freshly baked breads.
Mohini’s slow-cooked curries remain at the heart of the restaurant’s story.
Butter Chicken is velvety with tomato and cream. Lamb Rogan Josh is deep with Kashmiri spice. Tikka Masala brings a smoky richness to the table.
Then there are the dishes prepared in the tandoor.
Seekh kebabs and tandoori meats are charred in the clay oven, giving them the distinctive smoky flavour and lightly crisp edges that make tandoori cooking so memorable.
Biryani brings another kind of experience. Fragrant rice is layered with saffron and whole spices, creating a dish where the aroma is almost as important as the flavour.
Fresh naan and paratha come straight from the tandoor, ready to accompany curries, grilled meats and other dishes on the table.
For people exploring Indian cuisine in Prague, these are the details that help explain what Indian Jewel is trying to preserve.
The food is connected to the traditions of North India and Mughlai cooking, rather than treating Indian cuisine as one broad category.
Behind the menu is a kitchen led by chefs trained in fine dining who specialize in the royal traditions of North Indian Mughlai cuisine.
A Taste of North India in the Heart of Prague
There is something particularly interesting about experiencing Indian cuisine in Prague.
The city is known around the world for its historic Prague architecture, Czech traditions and distinctive beer culture. But Prague’s food scene has also become increasingly international, giving visitors and residents the opportunity to explore cuisines from many different parts of the world. For a broader look at the city’s culinary scene, see our ultimate Prague food guide.
Indian Jewel has been part of that story for decades.
Its approach is connected to a particular culinary tradition, but the experience takes place in one of Europe’s most historic cities.
That meeting of cultures is part of what makes the restaurant’s history interesting.
A family arrives from Delhi.
A restaurant takes shape in Prague.
Then the floods take it away.
Years later, the family returns.
And they continue cooking the food that brought them there in the first place.
The result is not simply an Indian restaurant in Prague. It is a small piece of the story of how Prague itself has become a more international food city.
Indian Food in Prague for Different Diners
A restaurant serving Indian food will often find itself welcoming people with very different tastes and dietary preferences.
At Indian Jewel, vegetarian, vegan, Halal and Jain dishes are available to order.
That gives groups more flexibility when choosing what to eat, while keeping the focus on the traditions of Indian cooking.
Indian food also lends itself naturally to sharing.
A table can be filled with different curries, tandoori dishes, rice, naan and other plates, allowing diners to try several flavours during the same meal.
That makes the experience feel less like simply ordering one dish and more like sitting down to a proper shared meal.
For visitors discovering Indian cuisine in Prague for the first time, it can also be a chance to explore flavours and dishes they may not have encountered before.
A Prague Restaurant for Groups and Celebrations
Today, Indian Jewel is located at Rybná 9 in Prague 1 and has space for more than 200 guests across its dining areas.
That gives the restaurant enough room for a wide range of occasions.
An intimate dinner.
A business lunch.
A corporate event.
A private celebration.
A large group visiting Prague.
Indian Jewel has the scale to host them all.
Yet the restaurant’s story remains rooted in the family that started it.
Sanjeev’s son, Nilaansh Wadehra, now manages Indian Jewel and carries his family’s vision into its next chapter.
There is something fitting about that continuation.
The first generation brought their recipes and traditions from Delhi to Prague. The second generation is now helping carry that story forward in the same city.
The restaurant has grown in size, but the family connection remains at its centre.
Indian Jewel After 30 Years
Thirty years is a long time in the restaurant business.
Restaurants open. Restaurants close. Trends change. Diners change. Cities change.
Indian Jewel has experienced some of those changes firsthand.
Its original home on Pařížská was lost in the floods of 2002. The restaurant returned in 2009 under a new name and in a new location.
Today, its story includes thousands of diners, more than 5,000 Google reviews according to the restaurant’s supplied information, and a TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice 2025 recognition.
The restaurant has also welcomed some remarkable guests over the years, including former Czech President Václav Klaus, actor Sir Anthony Hopkins, and H.E. Hamid Ansari, who served as Vice-President of India from 2007 to 2017.
But the restaurant was never built around famous names.
They came for the same reason everyone else does.
The food.
A restaurant can receive awards. It can welcome important guests. It can collect thousands of reviews.
But none of those things can replace what happens in the kitchen.
For Indian Jewel, the food remains at the centre of the story.
The Next Chapter of Indian Cuisine in Prague
Prague today is very different from the city Sanjeev and Mohini Wadehra arrived in back in 1996.
The restaurant scene has grown. Visitors have more choices. International cuisine is now an established part of life in the city.
Indian Jewel has grown alongside Prague.
It has moved from its original home on Pařížská to Rybná. It has expanded its dining spaces. And responsibility has gradually moved into the hands of the next generation.
But some things have remained.
The family recipes.
The North Indian cooking traditions.
The Mughlai influence.
The tandoor.
And the belief that food can bring people together.
That continuity is perhaps the most remarkable part of the story.
Indian Jewel did not simply survive for thirty years. It survived the loss of its original home and found a way to begin again.
Where to Find Indian Jewel in Prague
📍 Rybná 9, Praha 1
🍽️ North Indian, Mughlai
🕐 Daily: 11:00–22:30
🌐 www.indianjewel.cz
📅 Reservations recommended
Indian Jewel is located at Rybná 9, Praha 1, in Prague’s historic Old Town.
Its central location makes it a convenient stop for visitors spending time in the historic centre and looking for Indian food in Prague.
After exploring the Old Town, visitors can sit down to a meal rooted in North Indian and Mughlai traditions.
For anyone searching for an Indian restaurant in Prague, the location also makes Indian Jewel an easy addition to a day spent exploring the city centre.
Looking for more places to eat? Explore our guide to Restaurants in Prague.
A Story That Started With a Flame
Some things in Prague are built once and quietly fade.
Indian Jewel was built twice.
It lost everything to a rising river and came back with greater fire than before.
Thirty years after Sanjeev and Mohini Wadehra arrived from Delhi, their story has become part of Prague’s restaurant landscape. Their son, Nilaansh, now carries the family vision into its next chapter.
The city has changed.
The restaurant has changed.
The family has moved into a new generation.
But the foundation remains the same: family recipes, traditional cooking and food made to be shared.
There are restaurants remembered for a particular dish.
There are restaurants remembered for a particular evening.
And then there are restaurants that become part of a city’s story.
Indian Jewel has had thirty years to become the latter.
The flame in the tandoor never went out.
And thirty years on, it still burns as brightly as ever.
