What I miss in Delhi
If there’s one thing that I missed doing in Delhi, it’s eating. There are too many must-eat places in Delhi that I can’t recommend enough!
Surviving a few bilious attacks after multiple 6-meal days, I have to say that street food places in Delhi are just out of this world.
Places to Eat in Delhi
There was one point in time when my friend asked me, “if you can only have one cuisine for the rest of your life, what cuisine would it be?”
It was a real hard consideration but Indian cuisine came straight into my head before other cuisines did. Maybe I was just craving for Indian food that night but I do seriously love Indian food.
So when I decided to take a trip to the shrine of amazing food A.K.A India, I made a list of all the must-eat places in Delhi.
Many places listed below are just merely stalls. Unpretentious and authentic, they have been serving Delhiites their best offerings for decades.
Without further ado, let’s reveal the places that you must go try when in Delhi!
Note: You can even do a food tour by yourself!
What you need to know about food places in Delhi
The thing about food stalls in New Delhi is that many of the have no name. They don’t have a huge online presence because they don’t need to.
Someone will just tell their friends about the Chole Bhature is good, and then that person will go on telling their neighbours, their aunts, their dogs, their plants and every cell that the Chole Bhature is good. Word of mouth is key.
This list is provided to me by one of my friends who was born and raised and still living in Delhi so it can’t go wrong! I have omitted some of the stalls that he gave me because you simply can’t find it if you don’t have a local to bring you around. They are not on the internet!
Must Eat Places in Old Delhi
- Chaina Ram – dessert shop. Get Karachi Halwa.
- Meghraj & Sons – dessert shop. Try Poori Chole/ Karachi Halwa.
- Haldiram – dessert shop + all-day restaurant. Try their Raj Kachori and Dhokla! I love Dhokla so much I can still taste and feel it in my mouth.
- Old Famous Jalebiwala – street food stall. It’s some overpriced Jalebiwala but it’s really good. You can get Jalebiwala everywhere so you don’t have to come to this shop.
- Shiv Mishthan Bhandaar – All-day restaurant. Get bedmi Poori with aloo ki sabzi. I can have it for breakfast lunch dinner.
- Natraj Bhalle Wala – dhal bhalle. In my heart forever.
- Khemchand Adesh Kumar’s – Daulat Ki Chaat. Just google this dish. You will know why I tell you, you must go there.
- Jung Bahadur Kachori Wala – I think they only serve one dish (kachori) but with variation.
- Shree Balaji – Get Chaat Bhandaar. The sauce is really well balanced.
- Kallu Nihari – I had this for breakfast and nope, it wasn’t too much. Can be too spicy if you have low spice tolerance.
Must Eat Places in Delhi: Jama Masjid
- Karim’s – Biryani
- Al Jawahar – Biryani
- Aslam Chicken Corner – BUTTER CHICKEN
- Haji Mohd. Hussain – Fried Chicken
- Ameer Sweet House – Kachori sabzi and also Halwa!
Must Eat Places in Delhi: Connaught Place
- Kake Da Hotel – Tandoori <3
- Odeon Gupta Pan – Odeon
- Mughlai Junction – any dish with gravy.
- Hotel Saravana Bhavan – vegetarian food. It’s a franchise with branches all over the world.
- Briyani Blues – Briyani
My experience on eating street food in Delhi
Another thing worth mentioning is that I didn’t get a single episode of gastroenteritis or food poisoning when I was in India. I didn’t restrict myself from eating any street food.
I just followed this list given by my friends. According to them, these famous chains have a higher standard of hygiene.
That being said, I also tried food from some unnamed stalls. As long as my eyes think that it’s hygienic, I will eat it.
My favourite quote from an Indian friend: If Indian street food gives diarrhoea all the time, it wouldn’t survive because no one would eat them.
Where to stay?
Delhi is huge so I recommend staying near the central station. Staying in this area allows you to commute to many places easily.
Traffic is cray cray in Delhi. Use the metro to avoid that. This area is so well-connected to almost all area of interests in Delhi, and it’s also walkable to most food places that I have listed too!
India is not an easy country to travel in. For just under 40 euros per night, you get free hotel pick-up, which is much safer especially if you’re landing at night. If you are flying into Delhi, stay with Hotel Ritz.
You don’t wanna spend time haggling the price when you just went on a long haul flight. Furthermore, the hotel is really clean and well-rated!
If you wanna splurge, treat yourself at The Imperial. You literally will be treated like a king/queen. Not only you have 2 metro stations a stone’s throw away from the hotel, you are also close to Connaught Place, Central Secretariat and other main interest points of Delhi!
Many have claimed that Imperial might be one of the best hotels in THE WORLD. Splurging in India is not too expensive, so why not?
Get travel insurance - protect yourself
I lost my luggage in Bangkok thanks to the airline that shall not be named here. The airline company was really irresponsible and I did not get my luggage back in the end.
It’s not unusual for these kinds of unfortunate event to happen at times. Luckily, I was insured with World Nomads! They have been wonderful to help. They responded to my email in 15 minutes. I thought I was gonna be shirtless for the entire week but they gave me the green light to buy clothes (so I can claim it back) and claim them back with receipts. It was the best shopping spree ever!
The plus side, World Nomads is quite cheap as well – considering the service and the benefit that you’d get. Reimbursement comes in quick and they’ve always got your back! I never leave without getting insured.
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