While staying at the magnificent Imperial Hotel, Delhi, India, I found myself with not enough energy to venture past the ground floor to find lunch. The short walk from my room to the main hallway led me to Daniell’s Tavern, one of the in-house Indian restaurants at the hotel.

Vegetarian Thali at Daniell's Tavern, Delhi

The lunch crowd was long gone, in fact most of the crew was situated around a large table either recapping the lunch rush or preparing for the dinner onslaught. The seating and order taking was prompt leaving lots of time to take in the rich surroundings. The interior is finished as well as one would expect for being in the Imperial complete with white linen tablecloths and napkins. This was a far cry from most of the restaurants I find myself in outside of Delhi.

Now the food. I have to admit I ordered thali, certainly not exotic but one of my absolute favorites. And although I have never been given the “look” for ordering what I think of as peasant Indian food, I felt quite ridiculous doing so at this location. That is until the food arrived. My travel companion ordered the vegetarian thali while I took the meat lovers version. As evident in the pictures below, the presentation was mouthwatering and every bit gourmet Indian. Every bite was better than the first.

The Imperial, one of the best hotels in Delhi, houses several Indian restaurants on site. The most notorious and often reviewed is The Spice Route which I have not had a chance to try at present. Until then, Daniell’s Tavern is where I would put my money. Stop in for lunch if you’re in the area.