This New Delhi Hotel Serves 6 Unforgettable Courses Amid 7 Acres of Lush Gardens

I’ll never forget the first time my palate encountered Indian Accent’s famously fluffy stuffed kulchas, mostly because I was in such a severely congested state that I simply could not taste a thing — a devastating turn of events that I went on to lament for years. So when I returned to New Delhi one chilly December evening a few years later, this time with a mercifully clean bill of health, there was only one thing on my mind: Indian Accent’s signature six-course chef’s tasting menu. To make sure my suite-to-table commute was as brief as possible, I checked into The Lodhi, an ultra-modern oasis in the heart of the capital. 

If you spend a few days getting lost amid the property’s art-filled corridors, you could easily trick yourself into believing you’re not in a city hotel at all; but a city hotel it most certainly is and right in the heart of the world’s second biggest metropolis at that. The Lodhi may be mere minutes from storied monuments like Humayun’s Tomb and Nizamuddin Dargah and buzzy shopping promenades like Khan Market, but it’s flanked by seven lush acres of gardens with views over the greens of the Delhi Golf Club. The result: It can feel more like a secluded country hideaway. It’s a good thing all of the capital’s splendors lay at The Lodhi’s doorstep, though, because once guests cross the hotel’s portico — past the Bentleys idling in the driveway — to enter the imposing contemporary stone fortress, the hotel provides plenty of reasons to resist emerging until it’s time to head back to the airport. There are the 48 rooms and suites, many of which come with private plunge pools on the latticed balconies (squint through the fog and you just might glimpse the timeworn dome of Humayun’s Tomb peeking out above the trees); a serene swimming pool with sandstone colonnades that evoke a modern-day stepwell; and a spa, where you can while away the days with a jasmine-infused facial, Rajasthan red earth body wrap, or ayurvedic shirodhara treatment. 

But if there’s one thing in particular that sets The Lodhi apart from any number of urban sanctuaries, making it the ultimate destination for guests and locals alike, it’s unquestionably the food. Delhi may be one of the great culinary cities of the world, and The Lodhi has it all under one roof: from coffee and cakes at The Lodhi Bakery to pizza and pasta at Perbacco; dim sum spreads paired with imli (tamarind) martinis on the al fresco patio of Elan or chicken tandoori pies and paneer tikka at the jungle-themed Safari Lounge. The crown jewel of the hotel — and, many critics would argue, of the entire nation’s culinary realm — is Indian Accent, an institution that regularly tops the country’s top restaurant lists. 

Trailblazing chef Manish Mehrotra forged a new vision for modern Indian cuisine when he first opened this landmark restaurant in another part of Delhi in 2009; in 2017, it migrated to a sleek glass pavilion at The Lodhi, and the accolades have followed suit. With each new course, the laurels make more and more sense: five delicate puffs of pani puri are perched atop petite glasses filled with infusions that range from spicy to smoky; kanyakumari pepper crab plays hide-and-seek beneath a nest of crispy idiyappam (a rice flour noodle dish called string hopper in English); and a smoked duck shammi is artfully drizzled with barberry chutney. There’s some serious craft behind Mehrotra’s reimagining of traditional Indian flavors, but there’s no reason he can’t have fun with it — peppery scoops of paneer and methi chicken are doled into flaky cones, a palate cleanser comes in the form of a tart pomegranate and churan kulfi sorbet, and a quartet of digestives are placed atop a whimsical miniature woven charpoy, a daybed best suited for a nap, which I most certainly needed by then. Good thing my actual bed was just a few steps away.

Global Tastemakers is a celebration of the best culinary destinations in the U.S. and abroad. We asked more than 180 food and travel journalists to vote on their favorites, including restaurants and bars, cities, hotels, airports, airlines, and cruises. We then entrusted those results to an expert panel of judges to determine each category’s winners. In many categories, we’ve included a Plus One, hand-selected by our expert panel, to shout out more culinary destinations we don’t want our readers to miss. See all the winners at foodandwine.com/globaltastemakers.