These are the old Delhi survivors — places that have outlasted everything around them, serving the genuine article in every sense. A word of honest warning: the food here is rich, oily, fierce with spice, and served the way it has been for a century, with no concession to a delicate stomach. You go anyway. You go because it's unreconstructed — and you go knowing your gut may file a complaint the next morning. Worth it, every time, if you eat with a little caution and no fear.
On this page:
Karim’s (Jama Masjid) The Old Delhi institution, founded in 1913 in the lanes beside Jama Masjid, and still run by descendants of the founder — a cook whose family had reportedly fed the Mughal court. Mughlai cooking at its most unreconstructed: mutton korma, seekh kebabs, the famous nihari from a dawn-fired pot. The lanes are cramped, the seating is basic, the queues are real. That's the point — this is the genuine article, not a polished revival of it.
Al Jawahar (Jama Masjid) A few doors from Karim's, and its eternal rival — the other great Mughlai institution of the Jama Masjid lanes, and the argument every Delhi food-lover eventually has to take a side in. Korma, biryani, kebabs, the same deep tradition, a slightly different hand on the spices. My advice: don't pick a side from a guidebook. Eat at both, back to back, and decide for yourself. There are worse ways to spend an evening.
Andhra Bhavan Canteen (Ashoka Road) The South Indian canteen attached to the Andhra Pradesh state house, running since the 1950s, and the great democratic equaliser of Delhi dining — civil servants, students, families and the occasional minister, all elbow to elbow over the same unlimited thali. Fiery Andhra cooking served at speed and at a price that feels like a misprint. Not pretty, not polished, utterly beloved. Go hungry, go off-peak, and don't miss the biryani.
