Restaurants in South Delhi/South-East Delhi (New Delhi)

Golden Dragon

A pioneer restaurant that perfected the art of Indianising the oriental cuisine. It makes Haka noodles and Chicken Manchurian just the way all Delhiites like it with Indian spices and curries. Golden Dragon also has a liquor license and the transformation from a respectable food place in the daytime to a seedy, ultra-rocking, alleged gay rendezvous point in the evenings is fascinating.

Pebble Street

This watering hole plus restaurant tries to offer something special every night. Mondays and Tuesdays are Corporate Club Nights. There is also the corporate credit card system and flashing it means a 30% discount on food. It also means happy hour for the entire day. Thursdays are Ladies Night, and on Fridays the place goes techno. Saturdays and Sundays bring a sober and less festive ambience for families. The food is passable, and the crowd in the evenings usually comprises of early-twenty workaholics trying to chill.

Mini Mahal

A wonderfully joint, the décor isn't too bad except for the Boyzone posters. There are some of Jim Morrison too but it doesn't make a difference because all they play is Punjabi Bhangra. The place is dark, smoky and most importantly, cheap. It's probably because it's confused about whether it wants to be a bar or a restaurant. The murkiness works for the bar area but is downright silly for a food place. If you just want to hangout on a budget, and don't care about a slapdash version of Indian vodka with some putrid orange juice, head here. The food is quite good too.

M-Fifty Two

It serves decent food at reasonable prices. They also have a good liquor menu but nothing out of the ordinary. So if you want to meet up for a date, don't mind some raised eyebrows. But if you have donned a party-suit...wrong place to go. The seating is on a mezzanine floor and the ground floor is non-smoking. Clientèle include a lot of families who come for the multi-cuisine, college-going kids who come for beer, and strange folk who just sit and stare. The favorite dish here seems to be the Murgh Achari Tikka.

Daitchi

Daitchi symbolizes the pun and fun in the Indian dining experience. It's got great food, good prices, serves Chinese food but has a Japanese name. Daitchi is the best moderately priced Chinese restaurant in New Delhi. Evenings are times of organized chaos, a time of an unspoken tussle between the crowd relishing their dinner inside and those stuck outside waiting to get a table. The place is unpretentious, has a record of good quality and is an ideal starting point in experiencing Delhi.

Top Of The Village

Performances by folk musicians from Rajasthan, a panoramic view of the lit ruins of Mughal monuments among the thick dark deer forest, The Rooftop is one of a kind. It is an open-air restaurant lit only by candlelight. Food is served in ethnic Indian pots and the waiters look like young turks, with red pointy hats, out of an Indiana Jones movie. The food is good and the cost quite reasonable. But the ambiance is priceless. You can live it up here; order Chinese soup, Indian tandoori main course with Korean kimchi, and top it all off with a French dessert.

Flavors

Flavors is a kind of place where communists forget their politics, diplomats forget their social status and the early-twenty-somethings forget that they don't make enough money. Owned and run by an Italian man and a Vietnamese woman, the place reflects the eccentricities of this couple. Loud talk is encouraged and food is healthy beyond the point of sanity. But it's good. All cheese and meats are imported, pizza, coffee and mocktails are a specialty, and they have garden seating in wrought-iron furniture for those who can't leave their tobacco behind. Advance booking is recommended on weekend evenings.

La Piazza

Serving award-winning exotic Italian cuisine, the pasta dishes and wood-fired pizzas in La Piazza are light on the stomach and shouting of fresh herbs. The sauces match up to any world-class Italian gourmet challenge. The decor is reminiscent of an Italian sidewalk restaurant on any lazy day. For such an elaborate decor and presentation, the food is refreshingly simple and just right. La Piazza also boasts of a fine collection of full-bodied Italian wines. Waiting lines are an imperative unless you make a very early booking.

Rajmahal Shin Miyako Restaurant

Miyako serves authentic Japanese food in tastefully done up, rich interiors. There are four halls, segregated by Japanese walls of thin rice paper. In each hall, the seating is on the floor and waiters have to serve on their knees. There are no geisha women here, just plain old men in silk uniforms serving sake. The Teppanyaki grill dishes out choice assortments of meats and it's interesting to see the staff help out first-timers of sushi with its shocking after-tastes.

Sagar

Sagar is a chain of vegetarian restaurants that serves south-Indian cuisine. They are a haven for families and teenyboppers on an evening out. The prices are low and the food is always good. It's specialty is the dosa—a massive, paper thin pancake made from rice, served with coconut chutney and spicy hot sauce. The waiting lines are huge and getting a table on the weekends is a nightmare, if not impossible. Everybody wants a piece of the action in Sagar.

Naivedyam

Intricate traditional south-Indian carvings, orange flowers and colorful floor artwork greet you at the door of Naivedyam. It is a chain of famous south-Indian restaurants in the country and its reputation is well-deserved. The interiors showcase the culture and art of southern India, with Tanjore paintings on the walls, golden lamps, incense sticks and regional music in the background. The waiters are dressed in their traditional garb with a sandal mark on their foreheads. The food is the best south-Indian food you'll get; it's generous in variety and portions.

Basil and Thyme

Perk up your ears and get ready to snoop on some Delhi political gossip as this is the place where the elite ministers and their clan come to eat. Basil and Thyme also serves the best risotta, pasta, and cheesecakes in town. Always packed, this quaint restaurant has made an exclusive niche for itself. Situated in midst of manicured lawns and adjacent to designer shops, it is a perfect getaway in the afternoons. The entrees are always accompanied with a standard salad with sprouts, which is a pleasant constant. There is a good variety of non-alcoholic beverages and the main course offers an eclectic mix of Continental and Thai.