11 new restaurants and menus across India that should be on your must-try list

If you’ve exhausted your list of 'places to eat at' in your city or are bored of frequenting the same café every other weekend and are looking for a change, there are a string of new restaurant openings and fresh menu offerings across the country that will pique your interest. Bazaar India rounds up the latest and hottest kids on the culinary block that you should dine at in Mumbai, Delhi, Jaipur, Goa, and Bengaluru. 

Mumbai

Café Holiday Pali Hill

Restaurateur Bharat Kukreja's Café Holiday has a new outpost in Bandra’s Pali Hill and has the same Greek-inspired interiors and chic alfresco seating as the one in Andheri. The menu features a wide range of dishes like sushi, ramen, grills, salads, oven-baked pizzas, pasta, and pot meals. You can enjoy some classic cocktails like old-fashioned, gin sour, and espresso martinis to wash it all down. 

Tim Hortons

The Canadian coffee chain, which has a cult following in its home country, has washed up on Mumbai’s shores with two outlets—one in Bandra and one in Lokhandwala. You will be served all their signature drinks like the French vanilla and the iced ‘capp’, which is a blended frozen coffee, along with their iconic Timbits (bite-sized deep-fried sweet dough), and doughnuts. They also have India-inspired snacks like pinwheel samosas and baida roti cigar rolls for a local touch. 

Plural—seasonal menu

Plural, the Vietnamese restaurant in Mumbai’s Kala Ghoda neighbourhood has launched its seasonal menu that is an ode to the Indian summer. All the dishes are a twist to Vietnamese classics—their larb roulade, a play on the Laotian salad, is presented like sushi. There is a Southeast Asian-style tagliatelle in a BBQ sauce made with zoodles (zucchini noodles) and jackfruit banh mi among others. For the mains, the laksa curry is a warming mix of peanut butter, tofu, and chilli. 

Ekaa—pop-up

Ekaa, which recently bagged the 93rd position on Asia’s 50 Best Awards 2023, is hosting a pop-up in collaboration with Naga Chef winner Salangyanger Jamir, which will be a gastronomic journey into Nagaland’s dishes and culinary traditions. Chef Niyati Rao and Chef Jamir will be whipping up dishes like chicken soup in Naga style featuring desi chicken, bamboo extract, and floss; axone served with smoked duck or pumpkin accompanied by a special house-made juice and smoked pork with micro potatoes, kholar beans, and Naga mountain pepper.

St. Regis Café—summer menu

The St. Regis Café at Palladium Mall by the hotel has launched a fresh all-day summer menu that is all about salads. From a peach and burrata salad with peaches, pomelo, burrata, and candied pecan nuts in a honey cayenne dressing to a mango and avocado poke bowl featuring the seasonal fruit along with tuna, pumpkin seeds, scallion, jalapenos and more in a nutty, toasted sesame dressing, take your pick.

Goa

Slow Tide 

Slow Tide, a contemporary Goan shack tucked in Anjuna, has launched a new lunch menu that has the humble thali as the star. From an East Indian chicken thali where you get chicken ball curry, roast chicken, yellow rice, and fried chicken along with bread on the plate, a seafood-heavy Kevaji Voir fish thali with fish curry, rava fish, Kevaji (the local name for red snapper), to a Ceylon vegetarian thali. 

Jaipur

Paro

Jaipur is quickly shaping up to be an exciting culinary destination, with cool restaurants, cafes, and bars opening up throughout the city. Paro is a chic addition—the rooftop bar has colonial-style interiors that feature terracotta-plastered walls and grand chandeliers. The drinks are decidedly modern Indian—expect concoctions like a pineapple-based smoky ananas or garam masala, which is a spicy whiskey-based blend. Chaats, curries, and snacks all get a contemporary makeover here. 
 

Delhi-NCR

Smokehouse Deli—new menu

Smokehouse Deli has an all-new menu at their Delhi outlet that is packed with a slew of flavourful dishes. If you’re a fan of chicken, then give peri-peri grilled chicken, chicken oregano burger, or house spiced chicken a try. Seafood lovers shouldn’t miss the grilled tiger prawns in garlic chilli sauce. There are plenty of new pasta options, too—pick from boss-style spaghetti, alfredo pasta, tomato cream pasta, and mac and cheese, among other dishes. Whatever you choose, you’re in for a delectable meal. 

Reflex Brewery

New on the block, this one in Gurgaon is must be on your list if you are looking at a fun night out with a great cocktail menu, gourmet craft beer, and a diverse menu. We loved their starters, a curious mix of world cuisine with an Indian touch, especially their pita with gosht ki chutney, crispy tart chaat, and fish paturi. And from their mains, you cannot go wrong with their pizzas and burgers; plus special for their beer buddies chakna menu! 

Bengaluru

Burma Burma

The restaurant known for making Burmese cuisine mainstream in the country has opened its doors in Bengaluru’s shopping district at Forum Rex Walk on Brigade Road. The 12-seater restaurant exudes Burma’s old-world charm through clean and minimal interiors. Savour a special small plate menu that features dishes like crunchy shiitake fingers, soba noodles with tea leaf pesto, taro, and tempeh pan-seared bao, among others. There is a selection of interesting plated desserts, too—like the street-style Burmese falooda, saffron and samuza cheesecake, and more.

Shiro – summer menu

Shiro is one of Bengaluru’s favourite pan-Asian restaurants, and it has released a special menu of salads just in time for summer.  It features a host of refreshing Asian salads that are the perfect antidote to the hot weather—think an edamame salad with an umami miso poppy seed dressing, a chilled Thai watermelon salad, a Vietnamese pho chicken salad that is served with a side of pickled daikon, and more. 

Oia

Spread across a whopping 87,000 sq ft, Oia is the largest pub in Asia. The Greek-inspired ambience with white-washed interiors will transport you straight to Santorini. The pub serves up a mix of dishes from across the world that are still rooted in Indian cuisine—dig into creations like tequila pani puri, blue pea sushi, and Greek cheese samosas. 

Lead image: Slow Tide