1

Hi Namastisa;

By coincidence I mentioned the Indian community in London in the other topic called "Oriental". Please view it. It is because I was not sure about the Chinese/Japanese areas but know there are some Indian areas in London.

Southall is an authentic Indian (but also Pakistani and Somalian) area. The majority of the people in Southall are Sikhs from the Punjab in India. Southall is in the borough of Ealing. It is in West London, not too far from Heathrow airport I think.

In Harrow, (northwest London) you also find many Indians - go to places like Kingsbury. I like a place called Harrow-on-the-hill however it doesnt really look Indian, its just that 20-25% of the people there are Gujarati or something, but the shops are the general ones.
Kingsbury has a couple of Indian shops, but its nothing like Southall.

I know of a place called Eastham ....went there once....there are many Pakistanis/Indians/Sri Lankans there...southeast london or east or something like that

2

It's East Ham, not Eastham (if you're looking for it on a map). It's east London, with a station of that name on the District Line (green on the Underground map). You've probably heard of West Ham (football team); well, this is East Ham.

Southall has a station, but not on the Underground (tube). It's out to the west, beyond Ealing, and yes, not far from Heathrow airport.

3

The best place which would match a "little India" would be Brick Lane in East London. East London's population is heavily Asian with many Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi. The area has long been a concentration for immigrants, from slave times Africans were brought into port and eventually settled in the area. Around the end of WWII (when most of east London was destroyed by bombings) the area became the central point for these nationalities and it remains this way today - though other communities have now sprung up all over London. It was in the 60s I think that the real influx and settlement of immigrants from the Asian Subcontinent began in East London.

4

Actually here's a list (from wikipedia) of places listed as concentrations of Indian communities;

* Handsworth, Birmingham
* Hyson Green, Nottingham
* Leicester
* Rusholme, Manchester
* Slough (Slough-di Arabia), Berkshire

* Brick Lane (Banglatown), London
* East Ham, London
* Harrow, London
* Hounslow (Hounsladesh), London
* Kingsbury, London
* Southall, London
* Tooting, London
* Wembley, London

5

Just as an aside, there are Indian restaurants all over - you don't need to visit a "little India" for that - the proprietors may well live in such an area but they take their business to where the customers are!

6

Yeah, Brick Lane is probably your best bet - although it's quite touristy and the food reflects that. One of my personal favourites is Tayyabs, which does awesome Pakistani food and you can eat till you're stuffed and still not spend more than 20quid - that's on Fieldgate St in Whitechapel but just a short walk from Brick lane.
Aladin on Brick Lane is pretty good, and Preem, which is just near Truman Brewery used to be a good bet but the last time I went there wasn't great. Don't know if it's changed hands or just an off night...

7

Thanks a million for helping me out! isabelle

8

But Brick Lane's population mostly come from Sylhet in Bangladesh
The Indian community (I think) are in other parts of London....like West London, not East London
at least the large concentrations, such as Southall