Favorite Restaurants in New Delhi

Outside of the Hyatt’s La Piazza (a favorite of Sonia Gandhi’s), with its scrumptious and very ample Sunday brunch with seductively delicious martinis, Diva was, in our opinion, the best Italian restaurant in Delhi.  Fortuitously, the Italian Cultural Center, located in the diplomatic enclave, has a café run by Diva.  We don’t remember how much membership in the Italian Cultural Center cost, but probably it was less than $50; well worth it.

Also at the Hyatt, China Kitchen is wonderful.  Picture dark wood, excellent meals, and an open kitchen.  You can’t go wrong with the Beijing duck.  (We recommend buying membership in the Hyatt’s club.  The cost is about $100 per year, and entitles you to generous discounts at their restaurants, which we frequented – personally and officially.)

Claridges Hotel, a lovely boutique property about two minutes’ drive from Lodhi Garden, boasts three exceptional restaurants.  Delhi Dhaba, decorated to evoke a road-side restaurant (dhaba), it offers some of the best North Indian cuisine in the capital.  We loved going to Jade for their Sunday dim sum brunch.  Sevilla is their hip, Mediterranean restaurant, which I think is open only for dinner. 

The Imperial Hotel’s Spice Route is unforgettably decorated, described accurately as “poetry in design.”  We never had a bad meal there, but the reason to go to Spice Route is for the murals, and to be somewhere special and exclusive.

19 Oriental Avenue, the Shangri-La Hotel’s exquisite pan-Asian restaurant. 

Shalom is a dimly-lit, relaxing den of middle-eastern delight.  This is where you can kick back to the hip, soothing lounge music, while smoking hookah, drinking caipirinhas and savoring their outstanding mezza platter.           

Khan Market, a stone’s throw from Lodhi Gardens, doesn’t look like much, but is one of the main expat shopping centers.  Rents there rival those of the Champs-Elysees.  Here, you will find a hodge-podge of vendors, again a metaphor for India’s diversity.  There’s a Body Shop boutique, several Western book stores, coffee shops and restaurants.  Side Wok (they also have an outlet in Malcha Marg, very close to the Embassy) has really good pan-Asian food.  The crispy spinach and the honey chili chicken are especially tasty.  Mrs. Kaur’s Crepes and More, and Chokola are casual brunch favorites.  Amici’s offers really good Italian fare also in a casual setting.  Some say it has the best Tiramisu.  Before you decide, try the Tiramisu at the Oberoi’s upscale (could it be any other way at an Oberoi?) Travertino.

Basil and Thyme is a great lunch spot close to the diplomatic enclave, serving Western specialties at moderate prices.

Moti Mahal offers reliably good Indian food.  They have a location in Malcha Marg, in the diplomatic enclave.

The Taj Palace Hotel’s Orient Express is elegant, fine European dining at its best.  True to the name, tables are comfortably set in an actual train car.  Just be careful with some of the menu items, however enticingly presented.  Our last romantic evening in Delhi saw us at the Orient Express for Valentine’s Day dinner.  Lured to the foie gras like sailors to the Sirens, it took weeks for Ted’s shipwrecked gastrointestinal system to recover.  (We suspect it was the foie gras, because that was the only part of the meal we didn’t share, and I was saved from Ted’s unfortunate fate.  But, as we learned during our time in India, it’s virtually impossible to know for certain what caused a particular bout of Delhi belly, as it takes from a few hours to a few days to show symptoms, and each person’s system is different.)

 

The reason to go to Lodhi Garden Restaurant is to dine al fresco in Delhi’s equivalent to Central Park.  The food quality is good, though not exceptionally so.  Prices are moderate.  There’s an indoor, air conditioned dining space, for a casual, average neighborhood dining experience.

Mini Mughal is a hole-in-the-wall with some of the best butter chicken around.  Dining space is cramped; thankfully, they deliver. They’re located about 2 minutes’ drive from Lodhi Garden.

           

Delhi’s first Aman property, located close to Lodhi Garden, opened just after we left, so, alas, we didn’t have a chance to properly check it out.  We’ve heard great things about the Tapas Lounge.