This Review of Indian Accent, at The Lodhi Hotel in New Delhi, is part of our 2018 India trip report and site inspection. Indian Accent, helmed by Chef Manish Mehrotra, also has restaurants in London and NYC, and specializes in modern Indian cuisine, with interesting twists to traditional Indian favorites. There's no Michelin guide for India, but both the London and NYC Indian Accent Restaurants are listed in the Michelin Guide.
Indian Accent New Delhi Location and Hours
In late 2017, Indian Accent moved to The Lodhi Hotel, which is located on Lodhi Road, about a 25-45 minute drive from New Delhi Airport, depending on traffic. The Lodhi is about a 5-10 minute drive from India Gate and a 15-25 minute drive from The Red Fort.
Indian Accent is open daily for lunch from 12noon to 2:30pm, and for dinner from 7pm-10:30pm; reservations are recommended for dinner.
Indian Accent New Delhi Menu and Food
Indian Accent offers 9-course vegetarian and non-vegetarian Chef's Tasting menus for INR 3600-3900 per person (roughly $50-55 per person) but as we wanted a briefer dining experience and not too much food, we chose to order a la carte. The menu offers a number of vegetarian, meat and seafood options.
Both our dinner and lunch the next day started out with mini blue cheese naan breads, which my husband and I loved, although our son isn't quite as much a fan of blue cheese. It's a great combination, that neither of us had encountered before, and just as well that they didn't offer us any more, as we'd have filled up on them given the chance.
A spiced cauliflower soup in an amuse bouche size serving followed, and was also delicious.
For our lunch, we tried the Potato Sphere Chaat with White Pea Ragda and Watermelon. It was a scrumptious combination of crispy and creamy, savory and sweet, refreshing watermelon. Definitely one of the most unique new-Indian dishes we tried.
For our dinner, the consensus favorite was my husband's Chettinad Chicken Keema with Curry Leaf Lemon Seviyan and Sago Puffs. While this is by origin a fairly humble dish, made of spiced, minced chicken, but it was so aromatic (the Chettinad region of South India was heavily involved in the spice trade, so the cuisine is known for its freshly ground masalas and deft spicing of dishes) that I couldn't resist stealing bites throughout our meal.
My vegetarian Masala Wild Mushroom dish was enjoyably presented, with a cone of paper dosa, and it was a solid dish, but not one of my favorite wild mushroom dishes. The best wild mushroom dishes in Russia are far better.
Our son, who avoids super spicy food, ordered the Chicken Kofta with Punjabi Kadhi, Onion Pakora and Greens. It was the perfect mild dish for him, or for anyone who is worried about too much heat.
My favorite main dish was at lunch the next day, when we tried the Tamarind Crab with Coconut Curry. This is a rich dish, so best shared, but wonderfully tangy, fresh crab paired with a slightly sweet and creamy coconut curry sauce.
Indian breads were highlights at both dinner and lunch. Our favorite, of the ones we tried, was the Chilli Hoisin Duck Kulcha:
I also liked the Roast Pumpkin and Cheddar Kulcha:
A delightful palate cleanser (and for us, a dessert, as we were too full to order anything more) were these fruit and pistachio popsicles:
Afterwards, an instant towel, which appeared as a hockey puck but was reconstituted in water, was brought for us to cleanse our hands, a nice touch.
The Verdict
Indian Accent is a huge asset to The Lodhi Hotel, and was one of the best aspects of our stay there. Highlights for us were the blue cheese naan puff amuse bouche, all of the Indian breads, especially the Chilli Hoisin Duck Kulcha, the fantastic Tamarind Crab with Coconut Curry, and the Chettinad Chicken Keema. Much of the food is somewhat rich, so the one thing I'd have liked are more fresh vegetable or salad options, although I did really appreciate the refreshing popsicle palate cleanser during our lunch there.
The only criticism was the inordinately long time it took to get the check after our dinner–longer than we waited for our food.
If you've recently dined at Indian Accent in New Delhi, or the London or NYC Indian Accent restaurants, which dishes were your favorites?
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