A star-studded celebration of Delhi’s best food & nightlife

On Thursday evening, the Times Food and Nightlife Awards 2019 were presented in a lavish ceremony at the ITC Maurya, and had in attendance actors, fashion icons, beauty queens and top cops.
They say that if you come to Delhi and miss its food, your trip is incomplete. Many visitors to the capital travel to all corners of the city to taste the best food here on their visit. But on Thursday evening, all the best food in Delhi was under one roof. The Times Food and Nightlife Awards 2019 – dubbed the Food Oscars – were presented in a lavish ceremony at the ITC Maurya on March 14 and it saw the crème de la crème of the culinary world converge under one roof. The ceremony was presented by some of the biggest names in the entertainment and fashion world. From TV actors to fashion icons and from beauty queens to top cops, the evening saw them all.

Best Oriental (Premium Dining) – China Club (Gurgaon)JD Majethia awards Aditya Bhaskar and chef Yuan Sheng

The award ceremony saw emcee Anuj Gurwara entertain the audience with his witty one-liners while the guests presented awards to the best restaurants, bars, and chefs of the year. For many, the highlight of the evening was not the ceremony but the dinner, which showcased all these best eating joints in one place. With food so good, the fitness freaks forgot their dietary restrictions and the foodies their flights (more on that later). It was an evening that truly celebrated the best of Delhi’s culinary offerings.

Best Cocktails (Luxurious Night Out) – Public Affair (Delhi)

Zubin Songadwala, GM, ITC Maurya, said, “We are pleased that Bukhara, Dum Pukht and Fabelle have earned a reputation of excellence at the Times Food Awards, yet again, as iconic brands that endeavour to showcase the best of Indian and global culinary traditions, distinguishable by their authentic flavours and quality ingredients.”

Best Venue For Live Gigs (Indian) (Casual Night Out) – Studio Xo Bar (Delhi): Mansi Sehgal, fbb Colors

Femina Miss India

Delhi 2019, awards Rishabh Jain, Karan Kathpalia, Sushant Ishpunani, Sohit Goel, Tushar Gulati and Khyati Minglani

Best Pocket- Friendly Bar (Casual Night Out) – Duty Free Vayu Bar (Gurgaon): Sonal Sharma, fbb Colors Femina Miss India Haryana 2019, awards Varun Puri, Gaurav, Namman, Hemant Puri, Sachin and Manoj

Best Global Cuisine (Casual Dining) - Town Hall (Delhi) : Deven Bhojani awards Randeep Bajaj, Navneet Kalra, Vipin Sharma, chef Augusto Cabrera and Sophia Sharma

First among foodies: Here are NCR’s bestThe Times Food and Nightlife Awards 2019 saluted the best in the business of food and beverage. Spanning both casual and premium categories, hotspots across the capital’s gastronomical landscape were honoured at the glitzy event on Thursday evening

Best Western/European (Premium Dining) - The Wine Company (Gurgaon): Ashwath Bhatt awards Vandana Gupta, chef Rajiv Gurung, Samiya Shakir and Vikramjit Roy

Best Delivery – Biryani Blues (Delhi): Mandira Wirk awards Raymond Andrews, Aparna Andrews and Devesh Gupta

Best Confectionery (Premium Dining) – The Oberoi Patisserie And Delicatessen (Gurgaon): Charu Parashar awards Sarabjeet Singh Bhalla, Ria Nagpal and Saumya Bhushan

Best North Indian (Casual Dining) – India On My Plate (Gurgaon): Rina Dhaka awards chef Inder Dev and Aditya Oberoi

Best All Day Dining (Premium Dining) – Spectra (Gurgaon): Eleonora Dimitrova, Ambassador, Republic of Bulgaria, awards Abhishk Gupta, Amit Minhas and Mohit Pokhriyal

Best North Indian (Casual Dining) – Made In Punjab (Noida): Rina Dhaka awards Ajay Rana and Suyash Rastogi

Best Mithai (Casual Dining) – Sham Sweets (Gurgaon): Raghubir Lal, DIG, CISF, awards Sahib Bajaj and Anil Bajaj

Best All Day Dining (Premium Dining) – Threesixty Degrees (Delhi): Agis Loizou, High Commissioner of the Republic of Cyprus, awards Simon Rastrick, Ruchita Rathore and chef Sachin Sharma

Best Landmark Restaurant (Casual Dining) – Kwality (Delhi): Kalyani Saha Chawla awards Dhruv Lamba, Divij Lamba, Ashish Thakkar and chef Nazir

Best South Indian (Casual Dining) – Sanadige (Delhi): Paresh Ganatra awards Gaurav Shetty, chef Sukesh Kanchan and Gaurav Pandey

Best Modern Indian (Casual Dining) – Masala House (Delhi): JD Majethia awards Saurabh Anand and Dinesh Suri

Best Western/European (Premium Dining) – Olive Bar & Kitchen (Delhi): Ashwath Bhatt awards chef Dhruv Oberoi, Harish Chimmwal, Anuj Tyagi and Amanda Bhandari

Best North Indian (Casual Dining) – World Art Dining (West Delhi): Kalyani Saha Chawla awards Sanjay Choudhary

TAFE Best Health Food (Premium Dining) – AnnaMaya (Delhi): Shelly Kataria,

Miss Diva

2017 finalist, awards Varun Punhani and chef Balpreet Singh Chadha

Best Culinary Heritage (Premium Dining) – Dum Pukht (Delhi): Madhu Jain awards Azaan Qureshi, Jitendra Taak, Gulam Qureshi, GD Kochhar and Manisha Bhasin

Shelly Kataria, Miss Diva 2017 finalist

(L-R) Paresh Ganatra, JD Majethia and Deven Bhojani. Majethia told us, “I have always been a foodie and I used to think I have eaten most dishes from around the country. But when I came here, that myth was busted. Yahan aa kar 20 aisi dishes khayi hain jinka kabhi pehle naam bhi nahin suna tha. And all of these dishes were delicious. I had to fly out the same night, but Delhi ka khana stopped me. I cancelled my flight to eat and it was totally worth it.”

Self-confessed foodie Ambika Shukla was “spoilt for choice” at the dinner spread

Mandira Wirk was pretty enamoured by all the different kinds of sushi on display

Neelam Pratap Rudy tried some sushi too. Clearly, sushi was on a roll!

Rina Dhaka, fashion designer

Rahul Mishra and Kalyani Saha Chawla were all smiles for our camera

Randeep Singh Bajaj and Shaleen Jain

Shovana Narayan, Pratibha Prahlad and Madhu Jain

Best Microbrewery (Casual Night Out) – Tama Brewery And World Kitchen (Faridabad): Mayank Gandhi awards Pankaj Menddiratta, Bhownesh Menddiratta, Ishaan Grover and Manmeet

Best Resto Bar (Casual Dining) – Drunken Botanist (Gurgaon): Agis Loizou, High Commissioner of the Republic of Cyprus, awards Jogender Singh, Megha Sharna, Khyati Minglani, Sahil Sambhi, Vaibhav Bhargava and Sandeep Rawat

Bar With Best Ambience (Casual Night Out) – Whisky Samba (Gurgaon): Ayush Gupta and Amit James, members of Astitva the band, award Amit Jaiswal, Triveni Singh, Vandana, Samiya and chef Vikramjit Roy

Best Venue For Gigs (Casual Night Out) – Auro Kitchen & Bar (Delhi): Suryaveer awards Rathin Adlakha, Megha, Sanil Sudan and Drishti

Best Resto Bar (Casual Night Out) – Decode (West Delhi): Ambika Shukla awards Shamit Ajmani, Piyush Jain, chef Ramesh Rana and Khyati Minglani

Best Bar For Beer (Casual Night Out) – The Beer Cafe – Biggie (Delhi): Rahul Mishra awards Anshul Kapoor, Anil Sarda and Rahul Singh

Bar With Best Ambience (Casual Night Out) – Plum By Bent Chair (Delhi): Nida Mahmood awards Gaurav Gupta and Natasha Jain

Bar With Best Ambience (Luxurious Night Out) – Rubicon Bar (Gurgaon): Nitibha Kaul awards Shankar Saxena, chef Ashish Bhasin and Hitesh Sangvan

Best Concept Bar (Casual Night Out) – Pra Pra Prank (Gurgaon): Star Boy LOC awards Inderjeet Singh Banga, Vishal Thakur, Harangad Singh and Pavneet Kaur

Best Microbrewery (Casual Night Out) - Quaff (Gurgaon): Star Boy LOC awards Rajesh Sharma, Ishaan Grover, Rohit Raj and Sanjay Joshi

Best Lounge Bar (Casual Night Out) - Unplugged Courtyard (Gurgaon): Dhruv Vaish awards Rohan Gandhi, Dinesh Arora and Pooja Arora

Emcee Anuj Gurwara

Best Lounge Bar (Casual Night Out) – Serai (Delhi): Dhruv Vaish awards chef Dhruv Oberoi, Amanda Bhandari, Anuj Tyagi and Harish Chimmwal

Bar With Best Ambience (Luxurious Night Out) - PCO (Delhi): Ayush Gupta and Amit James, members of Astitva the band, award Aanand Bajpai and Eeshaan Kashyap