Restaurants

Restaurants : 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: $$$.
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: $$.

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: $$$. 


    

      

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