Small counters, big ideas, and bars that put the craft first.
New tables, great kitchens and places worth your evening.
places on the shortlist
9 recent openings
Taiyaba Ali’s 12-seat dining room explores the home cooking of Lucknow.
A September review spotlights the region beyond its better-known kebabs and biryanis.
A new Indian dining room in Indiranagar with kebabs, chaat, curries and biryani, led by a kitchen with a regional focus.
Go for the food: Condé Nast Traveller’s September review singled out dishes such as Gosht Beliram and kacche gosht biryani.
Arijit Bose’s compact bar brings a precise cocktail programme to Hotel Southern Star.
July coverage of its Asia’s 50 Best Bars recognition strengthens its case as a destination bar.
A small destination restaurant whose farm, seasonal produce and regional traditions shape the tasting menu.
A recent Time Out review highlights cooking rooted in local ingredients, with menus that change through the seasons.
Pallavi Mithika Menon and Kanishka Sharma’s intimate, ingredient-led restaurant.
Short seasonal menus with an individual point of view. Book at its current MG Road address.
Divya Prabhakar’s reservation-only meals explore Karnataka’s regional food traditions.
Seasonal, personally curated meals make this an intimate alternative to a standard restaurant menu.
A compact neighbourhood bar by Sombir and Avinash Kapoli with inventive snacks and regionally inspired drinks.
Familiar flavours appear in unexpected cocktail forms, with food given equal attention.
Varun Pereira’s compact cantina puts Mexican cooking at the centre.
A focused choice for tacos and regional flavours.
Joonie Tan and David D’Souza recreate Malaysian kopitiam flavours.
A specialist for laksa, kopi and kaya toast.
Kavan Kuttappa’s small, highly focused ramen counter.
A specialist worth planning a reservation around.
A formal Indian dining room spanning slow-cooked meat dishes, dals and coastal cooking.
A longstanding choice for a celebratory Indian meal, with a menu that moves across regions.
Kerala home cooking and toddy-shop traditions guide the curries, seafood and regional accompaniments.
A focused regional kitchen for diners seeking Kerala dishes beyond the usual restaurant repertoire.
An art-filled cocktail bar with a focused drinks programme and Burmese small plates.
The unusual rooms accompany a serious bar programme; the cooking gives a reason to stay for dinner.
A Kyoto-inspired speakeasy pairing Asian-influenced cocktails with small plates and live music.
A destination bar for a leisurely evening inside The Leela Palace.
Jenny Clinta’s intimate dining room moves from savoury bites to desserts, drawing on her Andaman Islands childhood.
A distinctive tasting-menu choice for diners who want pastry to shape the whole meal.
Chef Rahul Sharma’s tasting restaurant explores regional Indian ingredients through changing seasonal menus.
A food-first counterpoint to the city’s general-purpose openings.
Mir Zafar Ali’s Latin American cooking with an agave-led bar.
A specific culinary direction and garden-grown herbs distinguish it from a general hotel restaurant.
Japanese and Korean plates meet a highball-focused bar.
Jason Hudanish’s kitchen and the bar programme make a focused dinner-and-drinks destination.
Kavan Kuttappa and Vedant Mehra pair a compact bar with thoughtful food and playful cocktails.
A collaboration between a chef and bartender, built for a 40-seat neighbourhood room.
Bobby T. Recto’s kitchen combines Japanese technique with Peruvian flavours.
An identifiable chef and a focused Nikkei menu make this worth considering.
A cocktail bar exploring ingredients in fresh and transformed forms.
Countertop India’s drinks programme is the reason to visit.
Chef Avinash Martins reworks Indian regional dishes, from Odisha-style crab to a Karnataka-inspired lamb meal.
Servd Bengaluru’s September visit highlights a clear chef-led point of view and an inventive cocktail programme.
Sibasish Palai’s low-alcohol cocktails meet Rahul Sharma’s small plates above Nila.
A distinct bar programme built around sake, vermouth and the phases of the moon.
A tasting-menu dining room at ITC Gardenia, with menus built around seasonal ingredients.
Choose among three structured menus in an intimate dining room.
A coffee focused café bringing Indian and international roasters to a manual brew bar, alongside French and Japanese influenced café food.
Its house Indian Arabica and changing manual brew choices make the coffee programme worth exploring beyond a regular espresso order.
Manu Chandra’s restaurant pairs European cooking with carefully sourced ingredients and an extensive wine programme.
A chef-led choice for a longer dinner, with a courtyard, dining room and dedicated bar.
An intimate room within Courtyard built around vinyl, careful acoustics and a beer focused drinks programme.
The listening format has its own identity, with food by chef Adithya Kidambi supporting a slower evening.
Slow fermented, wood fired sourdough pizza, panuozzo and fresh pasta, with the brand’s first wine bar in its Indiranagar outpost.
Come for the 72 hour dough and a focused pizza kitchen, with more room to linger over a glass of wine.
A reopened bar pairing cocktails and substantial snacks with a collection of music memorabilia.
A specialist bar edit and The Nod’s reopening coverage put it back in consideration.
A café, micro roastery and sensory bar built around Indian coffee, with a choice of espresso and manual brewing methods.
The sensory bar offers V60, AeroPress, Chemex and other brewing methods, with roasting and coffee education in the same space.
