My best restaurant meals of 2026, so far

Half the year is gone, time to take stock: restaurants that exceeded my expectations in the last six months

By Anoothi Vishal

Half the year is past, mercury is still retrograde, and contemplation is in order.

I had one stunningly terrible dinner, in the last six months, at a hyped restaurant. I had many mediocre meals, particularly in some old favourites within hotels (that now seem overpriced, with standalones priced at least 30 per cent cheaper, doing similar or better-quality food, with the added advantage that the tax is lower too in non-hotel restaurant). But, luckily, I also had a few excellent meals that were quite unexpected.

When I think of what makes for a “good” restaurant meal — it invariably means an “unexpectedly interesting” one (in a good, not disastrous, way). I consider technically-sound cooking to be a given within any upscale restaurant. If the cooking is not even competent (and many are shockingly not despite high prices), it has no business being a professionally-run restaurant. Mostly, an establishment like that will just fold up in under two years because customers are no fools. In my observation, even children with some exposure to restaurants can reasonably say what is “good” or poor cooking: Whether the pasta is salty, al dente, is the kebab grilled well, how well is the dal tempered and seasoned, or how legit the sushi or pizza is are opinions that virtually any customer can make fairly accurately.

What you need more thought, expertise and exposure for is to compare: Does the restaurant truly deserve to be “best”, as compared to? Is the food derivative? And finally does it truly delight and surprise—a palate that is perhaps jaded, and has tasted some truly great restaurant cooking. It is only then that in this day and age on constant online exposure, that something should even merit serious consideration and a “review”! The ultimate test should be whether a restaurant exceeds expectations. For me, for any restaurant to be more than passable, it has to showcase either a unique personality, chef’s pov, or represent a culture in an in-depth, nuanced, sometimes playful but always truthful way. The quality of truthfulness or “authenticity” is important. I don’t think any one other than the woefully ignorant can be truly delighted by any restaurant that comes across as fake, manipulative or claiming to be something it is obviously not. I dread encountering these types. In art, we call it artifice, a studied, off-putting quality.

Conversely, restaurants that feel thrilling always have an element of discovery, of offering an enjoyable experience but also allowing you an insight into something new. For me, discovery often is about going somewhere where you least expect anything much from your meal, but coming back with an experience that combines great taste and some thought behind it — but one that doesn’t leave you bored for a even a minute.

So, which restaurants did I like this year? Restaurants I’d recco to you without a doubt? I had some superb meals in Dubai and Bangkok too that I have written about separately, including at the eponymous Gaggan’s which to mind has to be one of the most unique, entertaining and unexpected meal-cum-theatre you can splurge on globally. But here’s my India list, which is more about smaller discoveries—restaurants without too much PR or social media attention compensating for their taste, and cultural authenticity.  

Regional Indian

1. The Madras Kitchen, UB City Mall, Bangalore: I believe in restaurants that are inclusive, and are able to give excellent, culturally-aware and authentic food at prices and in formats that people can actually afford. Also, I don’t like this very exclusivist cult of having tiny spaces that gets booked the minute it goes “live” somewhere in the digital world. This fastest fingers first propagates FOMO that we have had enough of, whether in food or fashion. Yes, there is a place for exceptional indulgences — restaurants that are so unique, where the chef is doing something that so pushes the boundary of creativity, and where he actually has an original POV that you pay for that and aspire to experience it. But that by definition is rare. By and large, given how underexposed regional Indian cuisine is with many heritage dishes now not having enough practitioners who can cook these in nuanced and proficient ways, I feel, Indian restaurants must bring more communities and regions to the table– without the mediation of FOMO and hubris of chefs. Ultimately, food represents an entire community’s culture, and if innovation is not a gradual evolution from within the community, it is more an appropriation. The Madras Kitchen is an excellent restaurant, high on my list, because it plates up diverse regional cooking techniques and genres of dishes from what was once the Madras Presidency with great nuance and care without falling prey to the temptation of “innovation”. Yet, how the small plates are presented and the menu designed is contemporary enough making it easy for even non-south Indians to understand the cuisine. It is a restaurant whose food I crave when I am in Delhi. It is reasonably priced, a restaurant where you can relax with friends, and have a fabulous meal.
   
   
2. The Spicy Venue, Hyderabad: Hyderabad is having an unprecedented restaurant boom as I wrote in my last column. But if I had to choose one restaurant to recco to you if you are travelling to the city, it would be The Spicy Venue. Hyderabad has many “family restaurants” or places serving a mix of localized Indian-Chinese-Telangana food and fried items of dodgy provenance (south Indian-Chineseish). But in a sea of these, if you had to have an authentic taste of Telangana, go to The Spicy Venue, with a 25-year history. Their thalis, pulaos and even a few elusive dishes that you otherwise get at weddings at such are a voyage of discovery into the fiery microregional flavours of Andhra/Telangana.

3. Sahib Room and Kipling Bar, St Regis, Mumbai: Mumbai’s understanding of north Indian cuisines is rather limited as per my observation. And Punjabi food gets mistaken for Lucknowi and vice versa, as some greasy generic paneerised gravies. Thankfully, the city has the superlative Sahib Room, which has lavish north Indian dishes, but with nuance. Chef Taj does legit dum, kakori kebab and breads with finesse that is distinctly Lucknowi. And no, it is not greasy and certainly not “spicy”!

4. Dumpukht, ITC Maurya, Delhi: In the race to be modern, Delhi is not credited enough with having the best upscale Indian restaurants. Dumpukht is the OG of these. I went back quite recently, and ate just the keema kofte, a largely homely, forgotten dish within restaurants, and taftan along with the best kakori any where, a kebab that is notoriously difficult to master. These are heirloom dishes, along with the the biryani (actually a pulao). The highly skilled and technical way in which even the rice is cooked by Chef Ghulam and his team is something to be studied. The dish made with andaz typically took 2 years to set within the restaurant when it first opened. The nafast endures.

5. Nisaba, Delhi: I went back for the fourth time to Nisaba with a friend, expecting her to enjoy it much more than I — since I was not expecting any surprise! But to my surprise, I enjoyed every bit and ate every bite, again!

Asian

6. Fireback, Mumbai: I love Thai food and nothing obviously compares to Thai food in Thailand with its freshness and regionality. But in India, for Indians (with vegetarian, no nam pla etc preferences), Fireback Mumbai is the best Thai food in the country, despite the spate of recent Thai restaurant openings by top chefs and companies. Its curries, salads and the stir frys are top notch what with the celebrated David Thompson as its culinary director, and dishes such as the kraphao and massaman are my favourites.
7. Megu/ Kylin/ Grand Hyatt Gurgaon: Megu often doesn’t get the credit it deserves. It is an expensive restaurant, yes, but the quality of ingredients and cooking both crucial to Japanese food, are top class. For a celebration, I’d go here. In Gurgaon, despite its plethora of Korean, ramen, and even one very authentically-Chinese restaurants, I’d go to the Sunday brunch at the Grand Hyatt for my fix of sushi, dim sum and delicately steamed fish. Executive Chef Vikramjit Roy has always been a very good Asian chef. I hope the hotel opens a separate Japanese restaurant soon. Meanwhile, Kylin, a Delhi-grown brand is just pure deliciousness. It has continued to evolve with changing times and palates and I have yet to meet any one who hasn’t come back praising its sumptuousness. They do all their sauces in house. Go to the aerocity outlet.

Med & Italian ish

8. Americano, Mumbai: The easy-going vibe but the absolute top-class ingredients and cooking make this a most deceptively casual restaurant to go back to. It could be in Frisco or anywhere similar, but it does really describe Mumbai’s penchant for internationalism the best.

9. Mister Merchant’s, Moira, Goa/Farro, Pune: Both are chef-led restaurants by the talented Rahul Gomes Pereira aka Picu and Vardaan Marwah respectively who take up Med flavours and add a sense of place to these, elevating them in the process. Enjoyable, beautiful done up, with a vibe that makes you want to linger on at the table, indulging in long conversations — the whole point of visiting a restaurant.

Experimental & novel

10. Primitive, Jaipur/ Theta Theta Telugu, Hyderabad:We used to think of them as India’s smaller metros. But in the last five years, cities like Jaipur, Hyderabad and Pune are raring to catch up with Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. As the saturated food capitals are now seeming to simply things and go back to basics, the erstwhile underexposed-to-global gastronomy cities are looking at novelty. One, there is an ambition of local restaurateurs and chefs, many of who have quit work in the larger cities to settle down here; real estate is still cheaper though growing exponentially and therefore the cost of opening restaurants still not prohibitive. Second, consumers in these cities, who always had the means for entertainment, are no longer necessarily travelling out to enjoy what is trendy. Three, as domestic tourism is growing, Indians are travelling to these culture rich cities. And while I will always seek out the traditional cuisines of Rajasthan, Hyderabad or any other place I go to—and hope they don’t die out in the race to be trendy, experimental restaurants that are of high quality and which may be in any part of the world are growing in the B towns. I had a few very interesting experiences. Was struck by the polished experience at Primitive—it does modern Indian food but with a high degree of technical skill on open flames. Beetroot, corn and of course the meats and seafood all are layered with sophistication and cooked to precision. T3, as it is popularly called, meanwhile, does “Telugu” food, broad Telangana-Andhra flavours, and plays around with these in some most imaginative ways. The restaurant has quickly become a must stopover in Hyderabad.