Delhi

Restaurants in Delhi

New Delhi is a haven for food lovers. Pizza parlors and fast food restaurants rub shoulders with Paratha joints and sandwich corners in New Delhi. New Delhi is also a good place to sample the regional cuisine of India. You can find a vast variety of food, at varying price ranges—from a high dining experience at one of the five star hotels or expensive restaurants to on-the-go meals and home delivery. There are tons of options for Indian food–from the local inexpensive “dhabas” (cheap roadside eateries) to neighbourhood “family restaurants”. All of these serve local cuisine for cheap–although it’s not always very high quality.

Western cuisine, referred to as Continental, is widely available in Delhi, as is Chinese food (though it is heavily influenced by local tastes). Since the 1990s, the city has seen an increase in the number of Thai, Italian and Greek eateries. Lebanese and other Middle Eastern restaurants—many of which double as lounges for the young, upwardly mobile crowd—are also increasingly popular.

You’ll find many restaurants in the Connaught Place, Defence Colony, and Khan Market neighbourhoods. Food courts and eating outlets are also found in virtually all of the upscale shopping complexes spread across Delhi.

Timing and Additional Information

• Making reservations to eat a meal is not necessary in most of the places in New Delhi – except when you are eating at restaurants in five-star hotels.
• Lunch is usually eaten between 1-3 pm and dinner is usually eaten around 8 pm and sometimes as late as 11 pm. Most restaurants are open from about 12 noon to 3.30 pm and then reopen for dinner around 7.00 pm
• Most restaurants (except those serving fast food) accept most major credit cards.
• Food in some Indian restaurants maybe too spicy or oily for some non-Indian palates; you can feel comfortable asking the waiter to tone it down a bit if necessary.

Recommended Resources

Some books and websites to get updated info and reviews on New Delhi’s eating places:

• Times Food Guide (available at most newsagents)
• Delhi Burrp – http://delhi.burrp.com/
• Times Out Delhi – http://www.timeoutdelhi.net/

Notable Restaurants

Here some highly-recommended restaurants and eateries. Most of the places listed below are very popular. To get to any of these places, you will only need to tell your driver the area and the restaurant name.

Indian

• Dakshin (Saket) serves Delhi’s best South Indian food (dakshin means “south”). Food is served Thali-style, with no silverware. [Phone: 42661122]
• Chutney (Bangla Sahib Road) is a contemporary Indian restaurant with over 200 varieties of chutneys made of seasonal fruits, vegetables, herbs etc. they have regional cuisine festivals from time to time [Phone: 42500200] http://www.hotelmetdelhi.com
• Dumpukht (SP Marg) is a great specialty restaurant dedicated to the slow cooking food tradition where food is cooked in sealed utensils called ‘deghs’. [Phone: 26112233] http://www.itcwelcomgroup.in
• Haveli (Mansingh Road) is an upmarket and stylish traditional Indian restaurant at the Taj Mahal restaurant. Dishes like Raan-E-Haveli, Bhatti Ka Murg, the Maharaja and Maharani Thalis are highly recommended. [Phone: 23026162] http://www.tajhotels.com
• Punjabi By Nature (Vasant Vihar) is one of Delhi’s best-regarded Punjabi restaurants, with two floors for diners and a pub. Try tandoori trout, flown in from Himachal Pradesh, or masala quail or lobsters brought in fresh from Mumbai. The ‘gol gappa’ shot, a tiny puri or fried puffed bread filled with vodka, is the house specialty. [Phone: 5151-6665 through -6669]
• Veda (Connaught Place) restaurant serves a tasting menu for vegetarians and non-vegetarians. The platters are priced at Rs 975 and Rs 1175 respectively. [Phone: 51513940, 41513535]

Other

• Threesixty (Dr. Zakir Hussain Marg) has dazzling interiors and an extensive menu: from sushi and yakitori to wood-fired pizza and butter chicken. [Phone:24363030]
• Smoke House Grill (Greater Kailash II) has a contemporary European menu where almost every dish is cold-smoked. Don’t miss the smoked tomato-lemongrass soup. [Phone: 41435530]
• The Kylin Experience (Vasant Vihar) is Delhi’s first oriental bar and lounge with an open air terrace seating overlooking the greens. They have lots of interesting menu entries like sushi and teppanyaki with great music and wine collection. [Phone: 9911159546] http://www.kylinexperience.com
• Orient Express (Diplomatic Enclave) is the city’s most stylish and expensive restaurant that has won the best European restaurant award for five years in succession. [Phone: 26110202] http://www.tajhotels.com
• Travertino (Dr. Zakir Hussian Marg) Launched in association with Hotel Hassler in Rome, Travertino provides a fine dining experience with classical Italian cuisine. It also serves an extensive Italian wine selection from the Enoteca wine cellar. [Phone:24363030] http://www.oberoihotels.com
• Enoki (Nelson Mandela Road) is a country-style Japanese restaurant where you can relish on genuine Yakitori recipes. Good varieties of Sake, Japanese rice wines are also available at Enoki. [Phone: 26771234] http://www.thegrandnewdelhi.com