Little Papa’s, an Indian and Nepalese restaurant in Guangzhou, made me fall in love with Indian food. I love the richness of the curries paired with a nice flatbread.
I’ve been to this restaurant multiple times with multiple groups of friends, and I always love it. If I only go with one other friend, we often have leftovers, and the curry is just as good or possibly even better left over. One of the first times I went was with my Nepalese friend in my first year or two in Guangzhou. My most recent visit was last week with Jessica. One of the advantages of going with more friends is that you can order more dishes, but going with just one other friend is also great because you can just get a couple curries and some rice and/or bread.
So where is this magical Indian restaurant? It’s downtown, not too far from the American consulate. It’s also not too far from the river and a nice walk in 花城广场 (huacheng guangchang) or by the river.
The closest metro stations are 珠江新城 (Zhujiang xin cheng, Zhujiang New Town), line 3 and line 5, and 五羊邨 (wu yang cun), line 5.
Name of the restaurant: Little PaPa印度尼泊尔餐厅 (Yindu Niboer canting; Indian Nepalese Restaurant)
Address: 环(huán)市(shì)东(dōng)路(lù)326号(hào)2楼(lóu)（亚(yà)洲(zhōu)国(guó)际(jì)大(dà)酒(jiǔ)店(diàn)2楼(lóu)）
What are some of the delicious dishes at this restaurant?
First, I’m gonna share my favorites, but there are lots of good things to order here, and I’m sure there are delicious things to try that I don’t know about. My first go-to dish is the Butter Chicken. It’s advertised as not spicy, but there is still a tiny bit of a kick, so don’t be surprised if you have a Guangdong palette. I love the richness of the curry along with the nice flavor of the chicken.
The samosa is a wonderful starter dish. It’s a vegetable and chicken stuffing inside of a puffy pastry. It usually comes with three or four pieces, and it’s a nice start to the meal.
I also love a spinach curry, but I can’t remember the specific name of that dish. It may have been a type of masala. I also really like the lamb masala.
For the staple food, I prefer the naan. I usually get the plain naan, but the butter naan and garlic naan are also excellent. The rice is also great, but I just love some good naan.
At the end of the meal, they brought out a small cup of tea that was sweet and milky and sooooo good. I didn’t finish all of mine because I’m sure it was loaded with caffeine, but I drank most of it, and I enjoyed every sip.
I wish I knew more of the foods that we had ordered when I went with my Nepalese friend, but that was too long ago, and unfortunately, I didn’t take good notes at that time. Perhaps my choices are a bit geared toward my American tastes, but I have enjoyed almost everything I have eaten there!
I often talk about how much I love the food in Guangzhou. The local food is excellent, but I also love being able to try amazing food from all over the world. I didn’t eat a lot of international foods growing up, especially authentic international foods. Since Guangzhou has so many people from all over the world, it’s a bit easier to find more authentic foods from various countries. I love getting a taste of foods from these countries, and I hope some day I can go there and try the real ones also!
