The colonial-era circles of New Delhi: coffee houses from 1942 and 1957, South Indian breakfast rooms, state bhawan canteens and hotel bars.
Kake Da Hotel is a dhaba-style Punjabi kitchen in Connaught Place, New Delhi, tucked into a market lane and best known for its mutton saag gosht.
OrderThe saag gosht, mutton simmered into a mustard-greens curry.
TipSeating is tight across two small floors, so expect a short wait at lunch; the mutton dishes are the reason to come.
Saravana Bhavan on Atul Grove Road off Janpath in Delhi serves South Indian vegetarian food from 07:00: ghee roast dosas, idli, vada and filter coffee.
OrderThe ghee paper roast masala dosa with a pot of filter coffee.
TipIt opens at 07:00 for dosa breakfasts; at lunch the thalis are the way to try several dishes in one order.
Naivedyam in Connaught Place, Delhi, is a South Indian vegetarian room for dosas, uttapam, dahi vada and vegetable korma with Malabar parotta from 09:00.
OrderA masala dosa, or vegetable korma with flaky Malabar parotta.
TipIt opens at 09:00, so it works for a South Indian breakfast before a day in Connaught Place and Janpath.
Sagar Ratna, the South Indian vegetarian chain Jayaram Banan founded in Delhi in 1986, runs this Outer Circle branch in Connaught Place from 08:00 daily.
OrderThe ghee roast masala dosa, with idli chaat to share.
TipGroups can order the four-foot dosa from the menu; it opens at 08:00, early enough for a South Indian breakfast in Connaught Place.
Chef Amninder Sandhu's Kikli in Connaught Place, Delhi, cooks village Punjabi food, including dal slow-cooked overnight on a cow-dung-fired hara.
OrderThe hara dal with toonhi roti, plus kathal takatak and a glass of lassi.
TipDal, chana and winter saag cook overnight on the hara in the courtyard; the kadahi section covers Lahori dishes such as kadahi chicken.
United Coffee House has served coffee and a long continental and North Indian menu in Connaught Place, Delhi, since 1942, the year of the Quit India movement.
OrderThe lamb kebab platter or the badshahi kofta, with a pot of coffee.
TipThe dining room runs from 10:00 to about 23:45, so it works for a late-morning coffee between Connaught Place errands.
Indian Coffee House on the second floor of Mohan Singh Place in Delhi is a cooperative-run canteen with fading hand-painted signs, filter coffee and pakoras.
OrderFilter coffee with a plate of pakoras or an omelette.
TipDo not expect speed: the waiters take their time, which is the point; it closes at 20:30, so come for coffee rather than dinner.
Andhra Canteen in M Block of Connaught Place, Delhi, serves Andhra-style biryani, dosas and masala uttapam, the biryani plated thali-style with salan.
OrderThe masala uttapam, a thick lentil-and-rice pancake topped with onion and chilli.
TipOrder the biryani, which comes on a thali with salan, raita and salad; a short wait at peak lunch is normal.
Raga is chef Gaggan Anand's homecoming restaurant in Delhi: a 22-dish tasting menu on Janpath Road next to Le Meridien, run day to day by chef Rydo Anton.
OrderThe full 22-dish tasting menu, including Gaggan's take on the Bombay sandwich.
Book3 to 4 weeks ahead
TipRaga serves dinner only, every day except Tuesday, with the last seating at 21:00; book as early as you can.
Rajasthali serves an unlimited Rajasthani thali from a small dining room in Connaught Place, Delhi, built around dal baati churma and gatte ki sabzi.
OrderThe unlimited Rajasthani thali with gatte ki sabzi and dal baati churma.
TipCome hungry and skip breakfast; the thali is refilled on request until you wave the server off.
Wenger's has baked hot dogs, patties and pastries in Connaught Place since the 1930s, a Swiss-founded bakery often called New Delhi's oldest.
Worth the queueHot dog and chicken patty
TipHot dogs and burgers sit on the separate Wenger's Deli menu; the bakery counter handles patties, pastries and cakes.
Patiala Peg at The Imperial hotel is a vintage Delhi bar built around the 120ml giant peg, said to be the only place serving that pour worldwide.
OrderThe signature 120ml Patiala Peg pour, the bar's namesake drink.
DrinkThe 120ml Patiala Peg, a giant pour honouring the Maharaja of Patiala
FoodBar snacks served alongside The Imperial's vintage drinks list
TipThe hotel opened in 1936; ask staff for the polo match story behind the giant peg.
Bengali Sweet House, opened by a Bikaner family who reached Delhi in 1936, runs a chaat, chole and mithai counter in Bengali Market near Mandi House.
OrderA plate of chaat and chole bhature, then a rasgulla from the sweet counter.
TipThe shop, one of the first to bring rasgulla to Delhi, opened in Bengali Market in 1937; finish the chaat with one.
Ministry of Beer in Connaught Place calls itself Delhi's first microbrewery, holder of the city's first brewery licence, and brews its own beers in M Block.
OrderA tasting round of the house German wheat beer and coffee beer.
TipThe food menu changes every six months, and the taps and kitchen run from 12:00 to 01:00 every day of the week.
Food Tour in Delhi's New Delhi crawl covers 12 to 16 dishes at seven to nine stops around Connaught Place, starting from Block A in New Delhi.
TipThe route stays around Connaught Place rather than Old Delhi; pair it with the operator's Old Delhi tour on another day.
1911 at The Imperial on Janpath, Delhi, is an art deco all-day brasserie with a verandah and terrace, and runs a buffet lunch on Fridays from 12:30 to 15:30.
OrderThe Friday buffet lunch, or classic Indian dishes from the all-day menu out on the verandah.
The 24/7 Bar inside The Lalit New Delhi pours cocktails and finger food around the clock, a genuine all-hours room on Barakhamba Avenue near Connaught Place.
OrderA cocktail from the bar list with a plate of finger food.
TipLounge music plays through the night; the hotel says the bar is open 24 hours, seven days a week, for a drink at any hour.
Delhi Darbar Dhaba cooks butter chicken, chicken biryani and dal makhani at a Gole Market restaurant near Connaught Place, Delhi, open until about 01:00.
OrderButter chicken with a side of dal makhani and tandoori roti.
TipLook for Shop 10 in Baird Line Market; the kitchen runs from 11:00 to about 01:00, so it covers a late dinner after Connaught Place.
The One at Le Meridien New Delhi is the hotel's all-day restaurant, open 24 hours with an international menu and Illy coffee poured by its baristas.
OrderA dish from the international all-day menu, then an Illy coffee from the baristas.
TipIt is open 24 hours, seven days a week, inside Le Meridien on Windsor Place, at the Janpath end of Connaught Place.
Privee inside the Shangri-La Eros hotel is a Connaught Place nightclub in Delhi, running EDM and Bollywood sets well past midnight on weekends.
TipDoors open at 23:30 from Wednesday to Sunday and the peak crowd arrives after 01:00; entry is 25 and over, with government photo ID.
Warehouse Cafe on the Inner Circle of Connaught Place, Delhi, is a first-floor bar and cafe with live singers and a menu running from kebabs to Asian plates.
TipIt is on the first floor of D Block on the Inner Circle; reviews say a live singer performs most nights, so ask for a table near the stage.
The 24/7 Bar inside The Lalit New Delhi pours cocktails and finger food around the clock, a genuine all-hours room on Barakhamba Avenue near Connaught Place.
TipLounge music plays through the night; the hotel says the bar is open 24 hours, seven days a week, for a drink at any hour.
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