10 new restaurants, menus and cool food updates to know in your city

As restaurants finally launch after a hiatus, thanks to the lifting of lockdown restrictions across cities, there are several exciting new additions to treat your tastebuds to. From a new Greek restaurant and a different take on Middle Eastern classics, to craft burgers and an experimental pop-up, we list out our edit of the coolest new places and menus across Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, and Chennai.

Mumbai

Making its way over from The Fairmont in Dubai, Opa Kipos is the newest entrant to the city’s dining scene housed in an expansive space in Worli. The 180-seater restaurant and bar with its whitewashed walls, pink floral creepers, along with accents in quintessential Santorini blue, offers a charming Grecian escape amidst the bustle of Mumbai. The menu is divided into dips, cold plates, salads, sharing platters, Greek-style pizzas along with signatures like Lobster Orzo and Prawn Saganaki, while the cocktails will transport you to Greece’s balmy islands, with zesty fruits, herbs and the traditional Greek aperitif, ouzo. And while you’re feasting on fresh cheese, olives and the indulgent baklava sundae, there will also be traditional Zorba dancers to liven up your meal.

Opens on August 11. Address: Wadia International Centre, Pandurang Budhkar Marg, Number 1, Worli. Tel: 07208881161/62/63

The city has a new address for fine dining on Middle Eastern fare. Sette Mara is inspired by the rich cuisines of countries like Greece, Turkey, Georgia, Lebanon, Egypt and Morocco. Divided into a restaurant and lounge bar, the interiors are a nod to the region’s vibrant culture, with copper hues, burnished tones and mirror accents. Nibble on a range of tossed salads, and cold and hot mezzes with fluffy pitas, while you make way for plates such as Kataifi Prawns, Israeli Couscous Risotto sprinkled with sumac, Salt-baked Sea Bass, and Chicken Maqlouba, along with fragrant charcoal grills and a khachapuri bar that pays ode to the popular Georgian leavened bread. Grab yourself a negroni from the selection of craft cocktails at the bar (they have an entire menu dedicated to negroni cocktails) and end with desserts such as the date and saffron ice cream, and sweet-scented baklava scattered with rose petals.

Opens on August 4. Address: Level 9M, The St. Regis Mumbai, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel. Tel: 08291926985 / 02261628422 or book here

This new bakehouse showcases artisanal breads and bakes with flair, with young chef Rachi Gupta at the helm. Choose from New York-style bagels that you can smear with an in-house pepper jam or cream cheese, savoury babkas, focaccia breads and tartines, to classic croissants and sweet bakes such as madeleines, tea cakes in flavours like pistachio cherry and raspberry dark chocolate, to flaky apple pies. On your way out, pick up fresh sourdough loaves or keto-friendly almond bread, along with an assortment of spreads and dips. Gupta sources from local producers across the country, be it cheese from Pondicherry, coffee beans from a micro-roastery in Chennai and veggies and fruits from across Maharashtra.

Address: Unit 2, Shah Industrial Estate, Deonar, Chembur. Tel: 08928482554

This Delhi-based café chain has just launched an outpost in the leafy suburb of Bandra. Known for its plant-based eats and healthy approach to food, the cheery space is an ideal spot if you’re looking to grab a meal or simply spend a lazy afternoon. The extensive menu lists specials from Cassava Root Fries that you can pair with different dips and sauces, Saigon rice paper rolls, earth bowls, Californian-style pizzas with vegan cheese, and much more. Take your pick of desserts from plant-based gelatos, to a vegan version of tiramisu with a ragi sponge cake and mascarpone. The health bar offers beverages such as homemade sodas, smoothies, kombucha, and specialty coffees and teas.

Address: 57/116, Drego House, Pali Naka, Dr Ambedkar Rd, Bandra West. Tel: 08591138613

Revolving around the Ayurvedic philosophy of wholesome, Sattvic cuisine, this new café founded by Sheetal Bhatt, who has a passion for natural foods, offers a menu that predominantly features A2 milk from Gir cows reared on their own farms. Meals here are prepared using cold-pressed oils and ghee, without any refined ingredients. The organic, natural approach extends to the beverages and desserts with options such as lassi with date palm jaggery, ice apple (tadgola) and lemongrass cooler, and even sweet treats made with A2 milk ghee. Think churma ladoos, gulab jamuns,and fresh-churned ice creams.

Address: Opp Shiv Sena Bhavan, Dadar West, Shivaji Park. Tel: 09594614135

Delhi-NCR

This newly-launched experiential restaurant bases its concept around a mystery woman named Miss Pinto, who considers herself something of a savant with a taste for the finer things in life—think whiskey and Cuban cigars—while drawing influences from her escapades around the world. The menu is a highlight of her sophisticated travels featuring global plates such as Charred Broccoli with smoked feta, pretzels and sourdough bread served with an assortment of savoury butters, duck salad with fermented plum dressing, Barley and Quinoa Khichdi with black truffle, along with signature desserts such as the Cigar Matinee, which features cigar-smoked cognac, hot chocolate and strawberry sorbet. The bar is a highlight here with a curated selection of cocktails, from a Delhi-inspired chai negroni to a Havana old-fashioned.

Address: 24, Second Floor, Basant Lok Community Centre, Vasant Vihar, Delhi. Tel: 08527275528 / 01140527468

Bringing a European-style cafe experience to the city, Amelia offers a range of classic eats from handmade pastas and sourdough pizzas, to comforting sandwiches and burgers using potato starch buns. Don’t miss the baked goods, from artisanal baguettes and brioche loaves that you can pair with infused butters—think pina colada, tangerine or a banoffee-infused butter. They also have savoury croissants, flavoured green tea and beetroot sourdough breads. The interiors are a play on rustic, French influences with floral accents and stencilled walls.

Address: The Gallery on MG Road, Shop no: 253, New Delhi. Tel: 011 41020126 / 27

Bengaluru

The Mumbai-based ingredient-driven, experimental cuisine restaurant has just turned five and as part of its celebrations, it's popping up in five different cities across the country with a signature 10-course tasting menu. Having completed the first pop-up in Delhi, Bengaluru is next on the list. The menu will vary in each city, influenced by local flavours, foraging trips, ingredients sourced from local farmers, and the like. The pop-up in Bengaluru will take place on August 21 and 22, at the ITC Gardenia.

Masque will also be popping-up in Chennai and Kolkata on August 27 and 28, and September 3 and 4 at the ITC Grand Chola and ITC Royal Bengal, respectively, finally ending with Leh on September 10 and 12. Check out @masquerestaurant for updates and you can also call 09819069222 for details and bookings

Offering a compact selection of gourmet burgers, this restaurant has now launched its own delivery platform and a new cloud kitchen in Whitefield. Inspired by the American and European-style of craft burgers, choose from flavourful options paired with thick shakes, fries and sides such as jalapeno poppers and dynamite shrimp. New additions to the menu include the Phoenix Burger and the Seigneur Cheeseburger which is their take on the classic American cheeseburger.

Order online for deliveries

Chennai

This new spot in Chennai will ensure you get your healthy fix with a colourful array of crunchy salads, wholesome rice bowls and yoghurt smoothies. Apart from catering to the global palate, the restaurant has also added local flavours across several of its dishes, from the Thayir Saadam Salad which is a play on curd rice, to the Namma Bowl featuring coconut rice with a chicken or mushroom ghee roast, and even a Jigarthanda Smoothie. Other signatures include Italian Burrata Salad and the Shawarma Bowl.

Address: No: 13, 1^st Crescent Road, Gandhi Nagar, Adyar. Tel: 09025656811 for takeaways and deliveries or order directly online

Also read: 

6 new restaurants in Goa you need to visit in 2021

This is what dining out in India post-lockdown will look like

Zorawar Kalra on launching three new restaurants and one delivery kitchen post the pandemic