Neha Mehrotra
22-Aug-2025
Explore the top fine dining experiences and chef’s tasting menus in India—from Himalayan culinary havens to iconic city hotspots.
Searching for the best restaurants in India right now? Look beyond à la carte and step into the world of carefully curated prix fixe menus.
The Indian gastronomy scene is booming, and restaurants are trying their best to offer unique dining experiences in India, and one such concept is prix fixe menus or chef’s tasting menus that offer a curated sequence of dishes that showcase seasonal produce, regional heritage, and bold innovation. Instead of choosing your own starters, mains, and desserts, you surrender the decision-making to the chef, who curates a progression of dishes that build in complexity, texture, and surprise. Each course is portioned for tasting (not feasting), so you can experience anywhere from seven to twenty different creations in a single sitting without feeling overwhelmed.
Whether it’s a 20-course sensory adventure in Mumbai or a secret farm-to-table menu in Bengaluru, here’s our edit of the best tasting menus in India right now, each worth the trip and the wait!
Mumbai:
1. Avatara Mumbai
For a premium dining experience in India, head to Avatara Mumbai, the second outpost of the Dubai restaurant and the first Indian vegetarian restaurant to receive a Michelin star. Led by chef Rahul Rana, it offers a 16-course tasting menu, RASAS, crafted without onion, garlic, mushrooms, or paneer, spotlighting local produce. The menu is built around the six foundational tastes of Indian cuisine—sweet, salty, sour, bitter, pungent, and astringent. Highlights include Madhura (sweet) with bite-sized makhan malai pops, Lavana (salty) with braised red beet and ghee roast ketchup, and Amla (sour) featuring butternut dhokla and black lime pickle. The menu also offers various other standout options using innovative ingredients. Additionally, according to the restaurant’s Instagram handle, a brand-new 16-course experiential menu is on the way.
2. Masque Mumbai
Masque is an ingredient-driven restaurant founded by entrepreneur Aditi Dugar with Head Chef Varun Totlani. Ranked among Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants, it is a top choice for those seeking an exclusive tasting menu in Mumbai. The restaurant offers a seasonal 10-course menu that showcases hyper-local Indian ingredients. Highlights include lamb brain paniyaram or turmeric scampi, while a vegetarian version offers sweet potato paniyaram or morel and gutti aloo. The menu also has reinventions of chef Totlani’s classic dishes, such as his take on makkai mathri (corn and hemp seed crisps) served with charred corn, Kashmiri chilli and a range of chutneys. There’s also an extensive cocktail menu inspired by Ayurveda.
3. Ekaa, Mumbai
The Awakening 6.0 is a 20-course dining experience, and the menu only reveals a few main ingredients. Chef Niyati Rao and restaurateur Sagar Neve have curated a menu that will take you across various flavours like fermentation, umami, and the art of layering textures in three hours. The meal begins with an Achappam, followed by a pumpkin and carrot dish and a crispy koji waffle. You will find a lot of Japanese ingredients and dishes on the menu, including koji, miso, ponzu, and ramen. Indian flavours include kewra, gulkand, kasundi, and Tomme de Bombay cheese. A Harry Potter-inspired Butterbeer is also served along with the dishes that pair beautifully with the multi-course tasting menu.
DELHI:
4. Indian Accent, The Lodhi, New Delhi
Ever since its opening, this modern Indian restaurant has changed the shape of gourmet restaurants in India. At Indian Accent Chef Shantanu Mehrotra crafts a seven-course journey that opens with velvety mushroom soup and blue cheese naan, followed by a trio of inventive chaats—from a khakra tart with vatana and dhokla to a French-inspired aloo tikki and kothimbir vadi with chilli-peanut thecha. The vegetarian tasting menu shines with green jackfruit congee, ratalu shaami, achaari paneer, and banarsi aloo papad and mains like elephant yam with white asparagus and veg nihari or palak paneer—paired with signature black dairy dal, kulchas, smoked aubergine, and bhujia raita. The non-vegetarian menu swaps in soft-shell crab with congee, lamb shikampuri, meetha achaar pork ribs, chicken seekh with prune and mulberry korma or rawa-crusted sea bass. Both end with tender coconut and chocolate and the indulgent Malpua Crepe Suzette.
5. Ziya, at The Oberoi, Gurgaon
Ziya at The Oberoi, Gurgaon, mentored by Michelin-starred Chef Vineet Bhatia MBE, celebrates the rich and varied culinary heritage of India, from Kashmir to Kerala and Goa to Bengal. The ten-course degustation menu reimagines traditional delicacies into contemporary creations, from white tomato shorba with sesame-crusted dahi kabab to gucchi potli with wild mushrooms and indulgent signatures like grilled chilli lobster or Kapi lamb chops. Each course layers flavour, artistry, and storytelling, culminating in inventive desserts such as the marbled chocomosa with coffee jalebi. Additionally, the extraordinary cocktail menu and unique experiential tea service will complete your dining experience.
6. Inja
This unique Indian and Japanese fusion concept might surprise you for a good minute or so, but once you dig into the Hawker High tasting menu, your taste buds will thank you for the experience. Expect Indian street food formats reimagined with Japanese flavours like the aam papad tuna sashimi, Mangalorean buns paired with banana and bonito, and gulkand finds a new home inside mochi. The Hamachi ‘Bombay Sandwich’ layers wasabi potato and sweet potato chips under sashimi, while Koji chicken wings get a tamarind-jaggery glaze kissed with Kashmiri chilli smoke. Courses flow from kadhi pakoda to nimbu mirch gindara, finishing with a playful patti samosa alongside adzuki and coffee.
7. The Orient Express, Taj New Delhi
Tucked inside the Taj Palace, New Delhi, the Orient Express is one of the best fine dining restaurants in Delhi. The dégustation menu begins with an amuse-bouche of truffle cappuccino followed by a refined selection of hors d’oeuvres for both vegetarians and non-vegetarians. Mains include highlights like rösti with wild mushrooms and aged Gruyère, celeriac-artichoke stuffed crêpe with quinoa and romesco, seared king scallops with confit chicken and truffled cauliflower purée, and magret duck with chou rouge purée, fig, and golden beet. For dessert you can choose between the mulled wine-steeped pears with cinnamon ice cream, pistachio cake with malted milk and vanilla bean ice cream, or the warm chocolate pudding.
BANGALORE:
8. Farmlore
Farmlore, nestled on a lush 37-acre working farm just outside Bengaluru, turns farm-to-table dining into something theatrical and brilliant. With just 18 seats and floor-to-ceiling glass walls, every meal is a surprise here. The 10-course menu isn’t announced ahead, so you come with an open palate. Think dishes like foraged red ants that awaken your senses, or molecular marvels like potato-starch “edible plastic” and apple caviar with a message about ocean conservation. The dining experience is immersive and rooted deeply in seasonal produce, ethical farming, and a refusal to serve anything not grown or raised sustainably.
KASAULI:
9. NAAR
At Naar, Chef Prateek Sadhu brings the spirit of the Himalayas to your plates. The Himalayan-forward cuisine captures the region's landscape and ingredients and spans six unique seasons. Set in an intimate 18-seater space, the menu shifts with the seasons, offering a sensory journey through the changing moods of the mountains—hisalu berries in spring, tart cherries in summer, peaches in the monsoon, pine syrup in autumn, and sharp citrus in winter.
The NAAR Dining Experience begins with a drink in the salon, from where you will travel across the restaurant space for your multi-course menu. Come prepared to taste the Himalayas over a two-and-a-half-hour culinary journey.
Cover Credits: The Orient Express, Taj New Delhi
