As most travellers would know, namaste is a manner of respectfully honouring a person or group used in the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain traditions, at any time of the day. At the restaurant Namaste Byron, on the western side of Jonson Street near the Marvell Street intersection, you feel that the intention is to honour the customer, whether by offering something simple like the choice of beautiful open-air outside dining, with the option of sitting inside and seeing the chefs at work, or in more subtle ways.
‘At our restaurant we offer a number of very rare, but interesting, healthy and delicious items that you cannot find anywhere else,’ says chef Manish, who has over 21 years of culinary expertise. He’s worked for practically every hotel chain worldwide: Hilton, Intercontinental, TAJ, ITC, Raddison, Holiday Inn, etc. across Thai, Chinese, Italian, French, Mexican and Mediterranean cuisines, as well as, of course Indian.
‘Our tagline is ‘redefining Indian taste’, and we take pride in being able to justify that – dishes like our Chicken Tikka Lababdar, Chilli Milli Cauliflower (a proper Asian delicacy) and the delectable Portuguese seafood Xacutti are something special.
‘Our approach to even the regular Indian dishes is that we try to come as close as possible to the authenticity of Indian cuisine, although our taste is very different to other Indian restaurants. Most people don’t know that Indian food has a balance of texture, aroma, colour and (most importantly) spices, which don’t just create a unique flavour, but have also been scientifically-proven to take care of your immune system.’
There is also an option to eat with ‘no seed oil’, and meals are offered to suit customers with every diet like vegan, seafood or vegetarian.
And finally, of course, customers love the generous portion sizes, with customer reviews noting that they are bigger than other restaurants, despite the lower price. ‘We like people to be able to eat themselves, and then feed their family and friends by taking it home as well,’ says Manish.
With the combination indoor/outdoor space, they can accommodate big bookings, family functions, etc. and also offer catering, for example if you have a birthday, marriage, small get together, or corporate event coming up.
Namaste Byron:
Open: Wednesday to Monday, 4:30pm to 9pm.
Closed Tuesday.
Lunch: Friday to Sunday, 12 noon to 2:30pm.
namastebyron.com.au,
84 Jonson St, Byron Bay,
(02) 6680 5986.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
