A list of some of the best meals I ate in India this year

It was only when I was researching this piece that I realised that because I had travelled so much this year, some of my best meals were eaten abroad.

When I wasn’t travelling I was less enthusiastic about going out partly because it’s nice to be home and mostly because my wife’s cooking is so perfectly attuned to my preferences that I eat much better when I don’t go out.

 

Nevertheless here is a list of some of the best meals I ate in India this year. I have excluded street food, delivery food and meals cooked by such visiting superstars as Massimo Bottura.

 

   Perhaps a little unfairly, I have also excluded the great superstars of Indian food. You don’t need me to tell you yet again that Hussain Shahzad, Kavan Kuttapa, Ebenezer Johnson Alex Sanchez and Manu Chandra are superstars. Or that the Delhi trinity of Indian Accent/ Bukhara/ Dum Pukth is still wonderful. Or that Avartana is one of India’s best restaurants.

 

   I didn’t go to many of the restaurants I should have gone to this year— Masque, Naar, etc. — and so this is not an objective list. It’s just a collection of meals that I remember with affection, many of them at the hotels I stayed at.

 

MEGU

 

I have seen Shubham Thakur grow from his Wasabi days and his food has never been better. He collaborated with Gresham Fernandes on an American Express Centurion dinner a fortnight ago and the food was fabulous.

 

GRESHAM FERNANDES

 

The reason I mention Gresham personally and not just his wonderful Bandra Born in Mumbai is because Bandra Born showcases only one aspect of Gresham’s range. At his Megu collab he was blown away by Shubham’s food and redid his entire menu to reflect East Asian flavours. It was all the more delicious for its spontaneity. And of course for his versatility.

 

KWALITY

 

One day the people at the Kwality flagship in Delhi’s Connaught Place will forgive me for treating their restaurant, with its extensive menu, as a mere Channa Bhatura place.

 

   But to be honest, that one dish is the reason I go back again and again.

 

ACROSS

 

You may not know this place near the Naval Docks in Mumbai but it does very enjoyable riffs on Nepali and Himalayan food. If you do go, then order the Buff Tartar which conflates the principles of the French original with Newari touches.

 

FIRO

 

Ajit Bangera and Anil Chaddha opened the first Avartana in Chennai little knowing what a phenomenon it would become. Anil has gone on to head ITC hotels while Ajit has since retired from the company. When I heard Bangera was involved with a new standalone in Chennai I wondered if we would get Son of Avartana. In fact the food at Firo is very different though Bangera’s distinctive style always shows through in its excellence.

 

CAFE C

 

I calculated the other day that the Delhi restaurant I go to most often is this cafe in the lobby of the Chanakya mall. I go because of the excellence of the service and I always order the same thing: dim sum.

 

"Though not enough people are talking about it, the biggest change at the Oberoi group is how good the food has got."

SAHIL MEHTA

 

Sahil is the best French -style baker in Delhi but with no proper restaurant he would not have been eligible for this list. But then he opened the Paris Coffeehouse where we could enjoy his desserts and his savouries. Sadly he has since moved on but I will always remember what he served at the cafe. And hopefully there will be another restaurant soon

 

BLUE POPPY

 

Doma Wang has been a Kolkata institution for years but she has only recently found the national fame that is her due. Nobody else can fuse Chinese and Himalayan flavours like she can.

 

THE TABLE

 

I always thought this Mumbai restaurant sagged a bit after Chef Alex Sanchez struck out on his own but ever since it hired Chef Will Aghajanian it’s hit top form again. Go for the burger, the bone marrow and more.

 

THE CHINA KITCHEN

 

My old and consistent favourite because Chef Zhang is a genius. Skip the stuff on the menu that’s meant for first timers. Ask for real Sichuan food.

 

RAJ VILAS

 

Though not enough people are talking about it, the biggest change at the Oberoi group is how good the food has got. And even when the subject comes up nobody mentions Raj Vilas where Rajiv Sinha fed me a perfect Mallard Duck on lentils and a great Acquarello risotto. An underrated experience.

 

YI JING

 

It’s probably a failing on my part but each time I stay at Mumbai’s ITC Maratha I eat Chef Liang’s Sichuan food to the exclusion of everything else. I can still remember his Ma Po Tofu and his Twice Cooked Pork.

 

SIENNA

 

I had no idea when I first went to the already excellent Sienna Cafe in Kolkata that it would grow to become such a popular favourite. The food is now even better than before with such great dishes as the Ros Omelette in Bone Marrow Jhol.

 

KARTHIYAYINI

 

This unassuming restaurant served the best seafood I ate on my one trip to Kerala this year. The fish is fresh, the cooking is terrific and Jajina Rajan who runs it is passionate about food.

 

SEEFAH

 

I’ve known Seefah from her days at the Four Seasons and after she opened her Mumbai restaurant I asked if she could make Khao Man Tod (fried chicken with rice) for me. The chicken was excellent and I’m not surprised that Seefah has now built a second empire on Chicken Rice for delivery.

 

PRAMOD SINHA

 

Out of every six meals I have at the ITC Royal Bengal in Kolkata five are made by Pramod. He has overseen the hotel’s foray into the food of the north east and his food is amazing.

 

THE ARTS ROOM

 

When this first opened at Delhi’s Eldeco Centre I was blown away by a simple lobster dish. It’s off the menu now but there are great new dishes.

 

EDO

 

When Edo opened at the ITC Gardenia in Bangalore it hired chefs from Japan to make authentic food. It now mixes modern Nobu-Zuma type Japanese with some trad Jap. This combination works because of the skill of Amit Patra a gifted chef who started out at Wasabi. (But didn’t they all?)

 

AMAR KHAMAR

 

It’s not exactly a restaurant in the traditional sense but more a project dedicated to reviving traditional grains and vegetables. (I buy all my rice from them.) But it has a lunch room where you can enjoy dishes from a vanishing Bengal made with artisanal ingredients