The enclaves and villages spread across the vast area of South Delhi offer countless eating options. Trendy Hauz Khas , with its Village Bistro restaurant complex comprising several eateries, is renowned as one of Delhi's best areas for dining out. Chanakya market holds a cluster of Tibetan dhabas selling excellent momos (dumplings) and thukpa (soup). The alleys and lanes of the medieval village of Nizamuddin conceal cafés and a range of restaurants, while Pandara Road Market 's restaurants and snack bars, close to India Gate, stay open until 2am, and the expensive coffee shops in the five-star hotels are all 24hr.

 

Asian Games Village , Siri Fort, Khelgoon Road. A clutch of restaurants including Angeethi , with desert decor and live Rajasthani music in the evenings, specializing in delicious tandoori dishes; ACS , a coffee shop with a Mexican theme good for snacky meals and a cold beer; and Chopsticks , a smart Chinese restaurant.

Barista , M Block Market, Greater Kailash II. Trendy young café with a snacky menu: good cakes and coffee. Fab Café next door is equally good but a little more formal.

Basil & Thyme , Santushti Shopping Complex. Popular with Delhi's "ladies who lunch", serving Western and Parsi food at reasonable prices, despite the chic location.

Bengali Sweet House , Bengali Market. More than a sweet shop: a busy café whose menu ranges from dosas to onion kulcha and channa (bread and chickpeas), plus ice creams and milk shakes. Also takeaway makki-ki-roti (cornbread) with sarson ka sag (mustard-leaf spinach) and yoghurt in winter.

Dasaprakash , Ambassador Hotel , Sujan Singh Park. Considered by many Delhi-ites to be one of the best south Indian restaurants in Delhi, dishing up terrifc dosas . Expensive.

The Dhaba , Claridges Hotel , 12 Aurangzeb Rd. Designed to look like a trucker's café, with a reconstructed truck to add atmosphere - for those who want really good dhaba cooking without the grime of a roadside truck stop.

Dilli Haat , Safdarjang. Shop and snack at the exhibition ground popular with Delhi-ites, at small, inexpensive restaurants from every state in India, although standards vary.

Ego , Community Centre, New Friend's colony. Authentic and imaginative Italian, with good beer, cocktails and loud music.

Flavours , 52c Moolchand Flyover, Banks Complex, Defence Colony. Well-kept Delhi secret near Humayun's Tomb, serving excellent Italian food including risotto and delicious tiramisu; run by a Naga-Italian couple.

Fujiya , Malcha Marg Market, Chanakyapuri. A pilgrimage place for homesick Chinese tourists and well worth the queues. Superb, piping-hot Chinese dishes and fast service.

Karim's , Nizamuddin. Unmissable Mughlai cooking, although not as good as its Old Delhi counterpart. The sumptuous food is very rich, offering much-renowned specialities, plus kebabs, korma and rumali roti (super-thin bread).

Moets , Defence Colony Market. This very popular restaurant serves excellent Kashmiri - try the dum aloo, paneer shashlik and mirchi korma - plus Mughlai and Thai cuisine; another branch can be found on Mathura Road.

Nathu Sweets , 23-25 Bengali Market. Popular and clean, recently revamped inexpensive vegetarian café with an assorted menu including great thalis, masala dosas on banana leafs and a mean kulfi falooda . They also have a patisserie a few doors down good for snacks and cold coffee.

Osaka , Main Square, Hauz Khas Village. Chinese and Japanese food with a pleasant ambience; gentle on the pocket.

Rampur Kitchen , 8A Khan Market. A must for connoisseurs of Muslim haute cuisine, run by a famous chef. The food can be very rich indeed; order half-portions to sample the dishes and if the biriyani is too rich try some of the breads to soak up the spices.

Sagar , Defence Colony Market. Delicious, inexpensive south Indian food - sample the dahi vadas , and the masala dosas. The service is fast and the decor nondescript but it is popular; there's another branch at the Lodi Hotel where you need to book ahead.

Tea House of the August Moon , Taj Palace Hotel , 2 Sardar Patel Marg. Named in honour of the Goon Show , this place serves excellent Chinese cooking and does a good-value lunch including a glass of wine or beer for around Rs500.

TGIF , Modern Bazaar, Vasant Vihar. Tex-Mex, pasta, burgers and ribs and the best cocktails in town - the happy hour every evening from 6pm-7.30pm is especially good value. There's a new branch at CP.

Triveni Kala Sangam , 205 Tansen Marg, near Bengali Market. Small art-centre café serving Indian food. Go for lunch, but be prepared to share a table and put up with indifferent service.

Village Bistro Complex , Hauz Khas Village. Choose excellent Indian cuisine from any of the three menus offered in six different dining-halls. The outdoor Top of the Village balcony is the most pleasant, with good views over South Delhi.

Yellow Brick Road , Ambassador Hotel , Sujan Singh Park. Themed coffee shop with an excellent snack menu: a great place for a coffee after shopping at Khan Market next door.