Best Restaurants in India

[RonaldG]

Hello members,

I have been browsing this forum for a week or so and finally decided to register today as I have a few queries of my own. I am from London and have always liked Indian food and saying that Indian restaurants are in every town center would be an understatement because I find lesser fish and chip shops these days as compared to Indian food outlets.

I am coming to India for a fortnight and would like to try some authentic food that we do not get here in the UK. I am going to cover only 4 destinations which are :

Delhi
Agra
Jaipur
Jaiselmer

I would be very grateful if some of the experienced members who have a taste for good Indian food could recommend some good restaurants. I am not too bothered about the price but I wont go over Rs5000-6000 per person for a meal which I am sure is more then enough for the best of the best (hopefully).

If the best food joints are not in those cities then I wont mind going a bit off the track just for food provided the quality of food justifies the effort and expenses.

I would highly appreciate if the Admins and moderators on this forum could also reply if they can spare a little time for me. This is those once in a life time trips so cannot afford to be illinformed.

Thanks
Ronald

 

[Admin]

Welcome to India Travel Forum

I understand what you mean when you say you cannot afford to be ill informed so I am going to try my best to provide some first hand information. Please note that I am not going to talk about hear say so pardon me if you later find out that oh such and such place serves better kebabs. My motive here is to let you know what I personally believe is the best of the best.

New Delhi :

Bukhara restaurant

If you have the money I would recommend the Bukhara restaurant that is at ITC Maurya at Dhaula Kuan. Bukhara is the best of the best when it somes to Kebabs and rich gravy dishes. You cannot miss their world famous "Dal Bukhara" with "Turrah naan". They also have all kinds of Kebabs and you can actually see your food being cooked from your table as there is a glass pane between the kitchen and the restaurant. Their Gulab jamun (they call it kale jamun) is out of this world, large in size and they have a bit of filling in the core.

Dum Pukht is another restaurant at the same hotel ITC Maurya but is more of a business kind of restaurant and food pretty good too.

Masala Art

This is another restaurant that you cannot miss. It is in a hotel right next to ITC Maurya near Dhaula kuan at Taj Palace. Food is excellent but to be very honest it does not beat the above two restaurants but I would put it in the best of the best category.


There are plenty of other posh places to eat at Delhi but the three mentioned above are what I would say are the best out of the lot. Delhi has some other decent restaurants that aren't inside a 5 star hotel and food quality is pretty good there too so I am going to list a few if you would like to try them out while you are here :

Qureshi's Kabab Corner(South Extension part 2)
Beliram (Lajpat Nagar)
Host (Connaught place)
In The Punjab(GK Part 1 N Block)

I believe thats enough for Delhi but if you want more just give me a shout as the list is endless and these are places I can personally vouch for.

Agra :
The only two restaurants I can recommend at Agra are :

Dasaprakasha
I have been to many vegetarian restaurants across India but this one beats them all. If you fancy some 100% veg Indian food this is the place you need to go to. I would recommend it any day. Prices are also very reasonable.

Pinch of Spice
Pinch of Spice is on Fatehabad road so make sure that's the one you go to because there are lots of copy cat places else where in the city. This is the best Indian restaurant at Agra if you dont want to go to a five star hotel. I haven't had Indian food at any five star hotels at Agra so cannot compare but this one would beat them all if you ask me.

Mama Franky
This is not a restaurant but a street food stall at the end of Sadar bazaar and they serve very goof kebabs. You will find lots of people there at all times when it is open because of the price and quality. These guys have lots of different dishes but I liked their seekh kebab the most. Not bad for the prices they charge. They do not have any seating arrangements just tall tables to stand and have your food.


Jaipur :

Peshawari restaurant
Peshawari restaurant is at the ITC Rajputana palace hotel which is near the railway station and is a five star property. This restaurant serves almost all the dishes that are served at Bukhara at ITC Maurya at Delhi including their world famous dal Bukhara. This restaurant serves top quality Indian dishes especially North west frontier dishes that include some rich gravy dishes besides a lot of tandoori dishes. You can also enjoy the local Kal beliya dance in the evenings which is organized every day by the pool unless things have changed recently. Dont miss ther dal bukhara and turrah naan There are plenty of gravy dishes that you can try depending upon your taste. Staff is very helpful in choosing the dishes that would suit your palate.


Other then the above mentioned restaurant I don't feel I can mention other places in Jaipur as the quality of food is no where near the ones Ive already mentioned. It would defeat the purpose of listing out good places. There are other five star properties as well in Jaipur which serve some decent food but nothing beats the Peshawari. If you have the money to spend then you could also go to Rajvilas. I went to Rajvilas once and food was good but the prices are stupid and I cannot justify spending that much money on food. My trip was paid for by the company I was working for so I wasn't paying and loved the food knowing I am not going to pay but if I had to pay I would never go d there. Your individual circumstances will obviously be different so decide accordingly.


I don't know much about Jaisalmer so cannot comment. Hopefully some other members can help you with that.

 

[Man of India]

Don't forget Host in CP, who serve the best lamb chops and chicken biriyani.

 

[Shaila]

When going towards Ambala in Murthal there is a new branch of the popular restaurant Haveli (not the usually Haveli restaurants but the branch from the one in Jalandhar), and the food there is mind blowing. You must try their traditional thali, everything in the thali tastes like home cooked food with all the flavours and a traditional taste of Punjab. They also have food which is served outside the restaurant which consists of snacks/snacks like gol guppa, jalebi, bhalla papdi etc, which is also worth trying.

 

[Prits]

The title seems like you are asking about the whole of India, which is why I opened the thread as I have a suggestion!
Dilli Haat is a one place where you can get a taste of India. You will find food stalls from all the states in India which serve state based specialty foods and it defiantly worth going there to try all the different types of food from across India.

 

[Adam]

I haven't been to Delhi but this Dilli Haat place seems quite good, do they serve proper meals or snacks?

 

[Dhruv]

Like mentioned there is a stall or you can call it a little hut representing each state, and there they will have food ranging from snacks to proper meals and desserts.

 

[prashanth]

Hello Members!

I'm Just joined this forum. Welcome to Hyderabad for most of wonders in india. This city has second best tourist city in the world.

 

[Alexandoy]

This is a good thread about the restaurants in particular. As I had posted in another thread, I had sampled chicken briyani in Singapore and aside from the chicken curry that is part of the Philippine's traditional dishes, I am alien to Indian food particularly with spicy food. If this is not being rude, may I ask if there are foreign eateries in India like McDonald's or Burger King? It is not really about the taste but I have acid reflux and spicy food would kill me.

 

[turtledove]

This is a good thread about the restaurants in particular. As I had posted in another thread, I had sampled chicken briyani in Singapore and aside from the chicken curry that is part of the Philippine's traditional dishes, I am alien to Indian food particularly with spicy food. If this is not being rude, may I ask if there are foreign eateries in India like McDonald's or Burger King? It is not really about the taste but I have acid reflux and spicy food would kill me.

There are plenty of McDonald's outlets in India, and you can get a huge variety of things. But, bear in mind, the food in the McDonald's India outlets is tailored to Indian taste buds, so many of them will taste spicy. You may want to ask the people at the counter what isn't spicy, because something that sounds very normal could be incredibly spicy. There are also Burger King outlets in India, however since I think the first one only opened last year they're not as abundant as McDonald's.

 

[Alexandoy]

Gee, that's a good warning to me, @turtledove. So that means I need to be extra conscious of the food in the menu before ordering. That's our recourse when we are abroad and the local food did not suit our taste buds, we try to find an international food outlet like McDonalds. In Bangkok, we take our dinner in McDonald's. But I guess there are other Indian delicacies that are not spicy, am I right on this?

 

[turtledove]

Gee, that's a good warning to me, @turtledove. So that means I need to be extra conscious of the food in the menu before ordering. That's our recourse when we are abroad and the local food did not suit our taste buds, we try to find an international food outlet like McDonalds. In Bangkok, we take our dinner in McDonald's. But I guess there are other Indian delicacies that are not spicy, am I right on this?

Yes, definitely be a little more conscious of what you're ordering. There are some Indian delicacies which aren't spicy, but it's always best to ask the waiter anyway when ordering. In India, even authentic mild may be relatively spicy for those who aren't Indian, so you should definitely make it very clear that you want it with a lot less spice.
The 'main' things in each Indian meal aren't spicy: so chapattis, dosas and idlis themselves aren't particularly spicy. But, the side dishes that come with them are generally what have the kick. If you're finding it a little spicy, try asking for some yogurt to tone it down a little. Almost any Indian restaurant will be able to give you plain yogurt if you ask for it, and it really can help cool any spicier delicacies down.

 

[Alexandoy]

Thanks very much for the advice, @turtledove, surely my stomach will be acting up with those hot spices. But mind you, we have chicken curry here as part of our traditional food. It is not very common but not a rare dish since many restaurants have that in their menu. But curry here is not that hot and I can endure it. When I was in Singapore, we had been to Little India on a tour. That's where I saw the dishes in the Indian restaurant that smelled of spices. Fortunately or unfortunately, the tour was just to look and not to sample the dishes.

 

[Rezonate]

Indian cuisine is among my favorites and i don't think you'll have a shortage of places to choose from in where to eat when you get there. I would ask the locals where they like to eat and go from there.

 

[Rezonate]

Spicy dishes are common in India so you're going to have to keep this in mind also. When selecting a place to eat make sure they have a variety of foods to choose from and not just spicy foods on their menu. However I think you can tell the chef to either minimize on the spices if someone is not fond of spicy foods.