Everyone in Delhi loves eating. When people in Bombay and Bangalore are either partying or drinking, Delhites are, you guessed it, eating.
Walk into any wedding, party or social occasion and you will see huge tables groaning under an astonishing array of mouthwatering – and sometimes nose-watering too – dishes emanating exquisite aromas and fragrance. Usually, in the Delhi social scene, a perfunctory ‘hello’ is followed by the hostess indicating to the guest where the food has been laid; just what the guest had been too polite to ask himself but was, of course, dying to know.
An indifferent table is social suicide. On the other hand, feed a Delhiite well and you’ve got a friend for life; on a full stomach he will give you even unto half his kingdom. and what’s more, being a thorough generous live-for-today Delhite, won’t even regret it the morning after.
Perhaps that is why Delhi is the restaurant capital of India, just like Bombay and Bangalore are the discotheque and pub hubs respectively. The city is crawling with restaurants of all variety, nationality and vintage.
THE RULE OF SUCCESSIVE DYNASTIES BROUGHT DIVERSE CUISINE IN THE CAPITAL
Over the centuries, Delhi has changed hands, and hence personalities, umpteen times. She has been variously Rajput, Arab, Afghan, Mongol (Mughal), and English. The vivacious eat-well-drink-well Punjabis came to the city with literally nothing, having left everything behind, in what used to be home, in Pakistan when the partition happened. However in an amazingly short span of time they bounced back with their lives and careers back on track.