Why does India Not Have Michelin Star Restaurants?

Picture this: a meal bursting with colour, layered with spice, crafted with centuries of regional heritage and somehow still not deemed “Michelin-worthy”.

India, home to one of the most complex and beloved cuisines in the world, does not have a single Michelin-starred restaurant. Not one.

Meanwhile, restaurants such as Trésind Studio in Dubai, Le Pré Catelan in Paris, Taian in Osaka, and The Pottinger Hotel in Hong Kong each proudly hold three Michelin stars. It’s an accolade that needs no introduction in the culinary world.

But when you realise that Trésind Studio, an Indian restaurant, achieved this status outside India, it throws up an uncomfortable question: why can Indian food win global acclaim everywhere, except on Indian soil?

The truth isn’t about quality. It’s about visibility, infrastructure, and the lingering weight of culinary colonialism.

To understand the full picture, we must first explore how Michelin works and why it hasn’t come to India.

What is the Michelin Guide?

The Michelin Guide began not in a kitchen, but in a garage.

In 1900, the French tyre company Michelin released a travel guide to boost car journeys and therefore tyre sales.

It listed petrol stations, hotels, and places to eat along the way. A century later, the red guidebook has become the gold standard in fine dining.

Today, a Michelin star is more than a recommendation, it’s a stamp of excellence that can make or break a restaurant.

Earning a star is no easy feat. Michelin inspectors are anonymous, rigorously trained, and deadly serious about food.

They dine alone, pay for their meals, and assess everything from technique to ingredient quality.

Ambience doesn’t matter. What matters is what lands on the plate and how unforgettable it is.

A restaurant can earn:

• One star – high-quality cooking, worth a stop
• Two – excellent cooking, worth a detour
• Three – exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey

For chefs, these stars can change lives. For cities, they can transform culinary tourism.

So why has India, one of the world’s most flavour-rich countries, not been included?

The Guide has Never Come to India

The reason is far simpler than many think: the Michelin Guide has never officially launched in India.

Sahil Arora, Executive Chef at The Leela Ambience Convention Hotel Delhi, said:

“India’s culinary landscape is incredibly rich, shaped by centuries of tradition, regional diversity, and constant innovation.

“The absence of Michelin stars in the country is not a reflection of our food quality but simply because the Michelin Guide hasn’t officially launched in India.”

This decision has more to do with logistics than legitimacy. Michelin’s expansion depends on partnerships with tourism boards, market readiness, and long-term commercial viability.

Chef Manoj Pandey from The Piano Man added: “It began as a French tyre company’s guide to suggest good places to stop for food during road trips.

“It eventually became famous, but for the guide to apply to a location, there needs to be a dedicated city edition. That hasn’t happened yet for any Indian city.”

In other words, it’s not that India’s cuisine isn’t world-class, it’s that the Michelin Guide hasn’t come to the party.

The Cultural Bias Against Indian Dining

Some argue there’s more to it than strategy. There may be a cultural blind spot in how Indian food is perceived internationally.

Celebrity Chef Harpal Singh Sokhi said: “Earlier, India was still developing, and the economy wasn’t open.

“But as we began welcoming the world, people started experiencing real Indian food. Indian cuisine is so vast that I, as a chef, find it impossible to master every part of it.

“If I can’t fully learn it in a lifetime, how can the West ever truly experience it? Not even in ten lifetimes.”

This sentiment is echoed by Chef Ishijyot Surri, Executive Chef and Founder of Mulk, Miniyaturk and SJI Gourmet.

“He believes that while Indian food is respected, it’s often only celebrated when it conforms to Western fine dining formats.

“Indian food is respected but only when plated according to European dining styles.”

“The way food is eaten in India is still largely ignored.

“The idea that Indian food must be ‘refined’ to be Michelin-worthy is problematic. Our gravies, spice blends, and techniques are nuanced, but because they don’t follow European norms like wine pairings or formal course structures, they’re wrongly seen as rustic.”

The result is a culinary double standard: Indian chefs are recognised when cooking abroad, but their work in India is overlooked.

Michelin’s Limited Scope

Another factor is how Indian dining culture operates.

Many of India’s most iconic dishes are street foods or regional specialities served in casual settings, settings that Michelin historically hasn’t evaluated.

While the guide insists it awards stars based on food alone, its focus has traditionally aligned with the aesthetics of Western fine dining.

Even when Indian chefs elevate local dishes into world-class menus, using precision, technique, and artistry, they often do so outside of India.

Take Trésind Studio in Dubai, for instance. In May 2025, it became the first Indian restaurant to receive three Michelin stars.

The chef behind that success? Himanshu Saini, an Indian.

So, it’s not the cuisine. It’s the geography.

A Star doesn’t define a Dish

Despite all this, Indian chefs remain confident that their cuisine belongs on the global fine dining stage, with or without Michelin’s nod.

Chef Sahil said: “Indian chefs are crafting world-class dining experiences that hold their own on the global stage, without the Michelin spotlight.”

He highlighted India’s strong showing in other international rankings, like the World’s 50 Best Restaurants, where several Indian establishments have been recognised for innovation and excellence.

Chef Harpal went one step further:

“It’s their loss.”

He argues that the absence of the Michelin Guide in India says more about the guide than it does about Indian food.

“If the world’s most historic culinary evaluation system overlooks one of the most influential food cultures on the planet, perhaps it’s time to re-evaluate who gets to set the standards in the first place.

The lack of Michelin stars in India isn’t a critique of the country’s cuisine, it’s an oversight shaped by history, logistics, and, arguably, a lingering cultural bias.

Yet the passion, depth, and global influence of Indian food speak for themselves.

From street-side pani puri to avant-garde tasting menus, India continues to serve dishes that inspire devotion and awe.

In the end, Michelin stars may glitter, but they aren’t the only markers of excellence.

Indian cuisine doesn’t need validation, it needs visibility. And if the Michelin Guide ever decides to open its eyes to India, it might just realise what food lovers have known all along: the journey to world-class dining doesn’t start in Paris, Tokyo, or New York.

Sometimes, it begins on a roadside in Amritsar, a thali in Chennai, or a kitchen in Lucknow. Michelin just needs to catch up.