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City Guide > Indian Subcontinent > India > Delhi | |
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Restaurants Traditionally, all the best restaurants in Delhi were to be found in the five-star international hotels. When smart Delhiwallahs wished to impress, they would head for one of these places where, in return for five-star prices, they would be guaranteed good food in swish surroundings with obsequious service. To an extent, this is still the case, although beyond the confines of the big hotels, the prosperity of Delhi’s enormous middle class has ensured that a huge number of excellent restaurants have sprung up where one can be assured of delicious food at a fraction of the price that is charged in the big hotel dining rooms. The question of alcohol is a thorny one in Delhi, where it remains notoriously difficult to secure a drink licence; many restaurants are consequently unlicensed. Alcohol in Delhi is expensive, wine particularly so. Many licensed restaurants do not offer wine, confining themselves to beer, cocktails and spirits. Indian wine does exist and is worth trying, if only for its novelty value. There is an Indian ‘champagne’ sold under the name ‘Marquise de Pompadour’, which, at around Rs750 a bottle, is a reasonable way to put some sparkle into an evening. Indian beer, however, is excellent and invariably ice cold. There are also a large number of restaurants in Delhi that are wholly vegetarian. Indeed, the city is a culinary paradise for the non-meat-eater, as even the categorisation of eating houses - ‘veg’ and ‘non-veg’ - suggests a presumption in favour of vegetarianism. ‘Non-veg’ restaurants will all offer a wide variety of ‘veg’ dishes. We have selected fifteen restaurants, which we have divided into five categories: Gastronomic, Business, Trendy, Budget and Personal Recommendations. All the restaurants included have air-conditioned dining rooms. For each establishment we have indicated the approximate cost of a meal for two with wine or beer (where sold), including taxes, by reference to the following scale: $ up to Rs1,000 $$ Rs1,000 to Rs3,000 $$$ Rs3,000 to Rs8,000 $$$$ over Rs8,000 Gastronomic Baan Thai Baan Thai offers splendid Thai food (some of the best in Delhi) served in stylish surroundings. The ingredients are crisp and fresh and the sauces light yet pungent. Vegetarian and non-vegetarian platters offer diners the traditional favourites, including spring rolls, mushroom cake, papaya salad, tofu, crisp vegetables, fish cakes, satay and prawn sticks. The Oberoi, Dr Zakir Hussain Marg Tel: (011) 2436 3030. Website: www.oberoidel.com Price: $$$. Masala Art The principal joy of Masala Art is the ‘Instant Sketches’ menu, the soi disant ‘interactive’ Indian eating experience. Diners sit at a bar, behind which the chefs cook. There are three set menus to choose from (seafood, vegetarian and non-vegetarian), each comprising 10 small dishes. Diner and chef can discuss the courses as these appear. The dining room is modern and unfussy, the food fabulous. The Taj Palace Hotel, 1 Sardar Patel Marg, Diplomatic Enclave Tel: (011) 2611 0202. Website: www.tajhotels.com Price: $$$. Sakura Sakura is in the spankingly modern Hotel Metropolitan Nikko, a stone’s throw from Connaught Place. It is a Japanese restaurant, airy, spacious and minimal, which serves top-notch Japanese food, supposedly the best in Delhi. The sushi is fabulous and highly recommended: it is swimmingly fresh, tender and succulent. The service is suitably obeisant. A sushi lunch at Sakura is the perfect antidote to a hot morning’s shopping in Connaught Place. Hotel Metropolitan Nikko, Bangla Sahib Road Tel: (011) 2334 2000. Website: www.nikkohotels.com Price: $$$. Business Bukhara Restaurant Bukhara is widely touted as the best place for Mughal and North-West Frontier specialities in Delhi. The food is delicious and everything its reputation suggests - one particularly recommended dish is the kastoori kebab, while the delicious dhal makes a splendid accompaniment to any meal. Diners sit on benches, at elegant low tables. The restaurant is crowded but the service remains attentive. Maurya Sheraton Hotel & Towers, Diplomatic Enclave Tel: (011) 2611 2233. Website: www.welcomgroup.com Price: $$$. The Rooftop A rooftop restaurant open to the skies in Haus Khaz Village, this establishment commands a magnificent view over the remains of Shah Feroz’s tomb and madrasa. At night, the ruins are floodlit and make a memorable backdrop to dinner. The food (Mughal specialities, including particularly good paneer dishes) is more than acceptable. Dinner only. 12 Haus Khaz Village Tel: (011) 2685 3857. Price: $$. The Spice Route The Spice Route is in The Imperial hotel and serves top-quality Thai and South Asian food, in a restaurant decorated with antique, gaudily painted wooden pillars and panels. Even if the food were not excellent (crisp, spicy and fresh), it would be worth eating here for the setting alone. The tangy oriental salads and the piquant vegetable stews are particularly recommended. The Imperial, Janpath Tel: (011) 2334 1234. Website: www.theimperialindia.com Price: $$$. Trendy The Lodi Garden Restaurant Located in a leafy bower at the southern end of the Lodhi Gardens, The Lodi Garden Restaurant invites its patrons to ‘indulge in a truly unique Mediterranean experience’. Certainly the menu represents an expansive tour of the northern and eastern Mediterranean littoral, taking in Lebanese, Turkish, Greek, Italian and French dishes. The meze are highly recommended; so too the ‘minted Doria’, a refreshing blend of cucumber and fresh mint. Lodhi Road Tel: (011) 2465 5054. Price: $$. Moet's A well-known and popular restaurant in Defence Colony Market, Moet's serves Indian and Chinese food in separate but adjacent restaurants. The food is good and the smart, youngish clientele generates a buzz. It has two new annexes: one, Grooves @Moets, which serves European-style brasserie food and the other, Sizzlers, which, as the name suggests, offers kebabs. 27 and 50 Defence Colony Market Tel: (011) 2462 6690. Website: www.moets.com Price: $$. Naivedyam Situated in the trendy Haus Khaz Village, Naivedyam is a South Indian restaurant. The food, which is wholly vegetarian, is fresh, delicious and varied. The restaurant is dark and cool; the black, panelled walls are decorated with gilded Hindu deities in an ‘antique chic’ style. In common with most South Indian establishments, Naivedyam is unlicensed but has a good selection of interesting-looking ‘thirst quenchers’ on its drinks menu. 1, Haus Khaz Village Tel: (011) 2696 0426. Website: http://fhraindia.com/restaurant/delhi/naivedyam Price: $. Budget Café Turtle Café Turtle is located above The Full Circle bookshop in Khan Market. It is a good place for one to read over a cup of coffee or to take a light snack lunch - a pasta bake or quiche. The cafe serves cakes and scones too and is popular with expatriates of all ages. Unlicensed. The Full Circle Bookshop, 5b Khan Market Tel: (011) 2465 5641. Website: www.atfullcircle.com Price: $. Karim's Established in 1913, Karim’s is something of a Delhi institution. It serves Mughal food in rudimentary but clean surroundings off a courtyard that is close behind Jama Masjid in Old Delhi. The tandoori chicken here is highly recommended. The bird, surprisingly, arrives whole and spread-eagled but is mouth-wateringly good. Unlicensed. 16 Jama Masjid Tel: (011) 2326 9880/4981. Website: www.karimhoteldelhi.com Price: $. Sagar Sagar is located in Defence Colony Market and serves southern Indian vegetarian food. The dhosas, idlis and uphapams, light yet filling, make a delicious alternative to the omnipresent Mughal food. The restaurant is very popular, the service swift and polite and the bill pleasingly low. Sagar is now a chain with 10 other restaurants across Delhi, although this one is the original. Unlicensed. 18, Defence Colony Market Tel: (011) 2462 1451. Price: $. Personal Recommendations The Curzon Room The Curzon Room serves an excellent buffet at lunch and dinner; it offers a mouth-watering variety of vegetarian and non-vegetarian northern Indian dishes. The dining room is high ceilinged, cool and gracious, with more than a whiff of the Raj about it. On the walls there are some deeply nostalgic photographs of British India, of maharajahs and commissioners, elephants, trains and palaces, high ceremonial and tiger shoots. Oberoi Maidens Hotel, 7, Sham Nath Marg Tel: (011) 2397 5464. Website: www.maidenshotel.com Price: $$. The Imperial A perfect start to the day is breakfast in the garden of The Imperial hotel. From a table on the terrace, guests look over the lush lawns and borders of the hotel’s celebrated gardens and can admire the tall palm trees along the drive. The buffet provides everything one could possibly desire at breakfast time, from cornflakes to idlis, via bacon and eggs. Imperial Hotel, 1, Janpath Tel: (011) 2334 1234. Website: www.theimperialindia.com Price: $$. Lazeez Affaire In the heart of the Diplomatic Enclave, Lazeez Affaire is an elegant, upmarket restaurant, which attracts a smart, well-heeled clientele. The menu is imaginative and the food carefully cooked - the kakori kebab, the murg hyderabadi and the stuffed tomato are particularly recommended. Diners may either sit on the floor in traditional Indian style, or at tables. 6/48 Shopping Centre, Malcha Marg, Chanakypuri Tel: (011) 2687 8155. Price: $$$. |