New guide, new winners at Delhi’s Food Oscars

It’s the one day in the year when, for gourmets in Delhi, breakfast is not the most important meal of the day – dinner is! The Times Food and Nightlife Awards 2018, or the ‘Food Oscars’, were held in a glitzy ceremony at the ITC Maurya on March 15, and had in attendance actors, beauty queens, TV stars, fashion designers, top cops and bureaucrats.

Filmfare Award-winning actor, singer, songwriter and foodie Ayushmann Khurrana unveiled the brand new Times Food and Nightlife Guide 2018 for Delhi and the rest of the NCR.The guide, in a swanky new avatar that features the best of the best in each category, has been compiled by food critic Marryam H Reshii and nightlife expert Deepali Gupta. The stylish black book gives you the lowdown on not only the best places to eat at and party at, but also tells you about culinary trends, the Delhi foodscape, food from across the country and more.
Emcee Anuj Gurwara had guests laughing as he cracked jokes and set the mood for the evening. Once they had worked up an appetite, after the awards ceremony, the guests made a beeline for the famous dinner spread. Even fitness-conscious Ayushmann, shooting in Delhi for Junglee Pictures’ Badhaai Ho, stopped by the bowl of nihari!



The Times Food and Nightlife Awards 2018 honoured the best in the F&B industry across categories and cities – from premium to casual dining, and from not just Delhi, but also Gurgaon and Noida. Said Zubin Songadwala, general manager, ITC Maurya, New Delhi, “We are proud that Bukhara and Dum Pukht continue to retain their legendary status at the Times Food Awards, the nation’s Food Oscars. This recognition endorses ITC Hotels’ endeavours to present the finest renditions of India’s culinary traditions and encourages us to strive to preserve and present the rich legacy of our nation.”
Ayushmann Khurrana, who unveiled the new-look guide this year and gave away awards to the winners, stayed on to sample the nihari and Mughlai food. Actor, singer and popular host Maniesh Paul also spoke about his love for food, saying, “It was lovely being here, and being a Delhiite and a Punjabi, I can never resist food!” Popular TV actor Karan Vohra, who was there with his wife, said he hadn’t had a cheat day like this in ages – he had something from nearly every stall, he said! TV actor Vishal Malhotra, who also presented awards to the winners, said, “This is my first time experiencing a festival of food like this. I have to shoot after this, but I think idhar se jaane ke baad suit hi nahi fit aayega!”
The Times Food and Nightlife Awards, Delhi-NCR, 2018 were presented in association with Swiggy, India’s largest food ordering and delivery platform, Narang Group - O Smart Natural Mixers, drink smart mix Natural and QUA natural mineral water, and Diageo – Johnnie Walker The Journey that has told stories of personal progress.

Sweet girls: Yamaha Fascino Miss Diva 2017 finalists Shelly Kataria (L) and Elisha Mayor try some dainty desserts
Times Group MD Vineet Jain (C) with Yamaha Fascino Miss Diva 2017 finalists Shelly Kataria (L) and Elisha Mayor
TONIGHT, DIETS ARE OUT! Dilip Cherian (C) shares a light moment with Bishen Singh Bedi as Devi Cherian looks on

OPPO Delhi Times Fresh Face 2017 winners Viren Tak and Seemran Pookulangara



She's not Priya Prakash Varrier, but Neelam Pratap Rudy has a pretty cool wink too! We wonder what joke she and David Abraham were sharing!
Karan Vohra with his wife Bella



Times Fresh Face winner and Bigg Boss contestant Nitibha Kaul
Raghubeer Lal, DIG, CISF, presented awards to winners of the Times Food and Nightlife Awards 2018 and enjoyed the dinner too
Bharatnatyam exponent Pratibha Prahlad also took a day off her dancer’s diet to sample the delicacies on offer
Deepali Gupta,Marryam H Reshii, anchors of Times Food and Nightlife Guide 2018 Delhi-NCRAnuj Gurwara, the emcee for the evening




Best Resto Bar (Casual) – Philtre - The Bistro (Gurgaon): Shibani Kashyap awards Manish Chauhan, Aman Dua, Chef Gaurav Raghuvanshi and Neeraj Sharma
Best Nightclub (Luxurious) – Privee’ (Delhi): Parvin Dabas awards Rajiv Ranjan, Ankur Bhasin, Vvikas Verma, Mohitt Jaen and Karan Ahluwalia
Restaurateur of the Year – Inderjeet Banga: Vikram Jain, AVP customer marketing, and Saurabh Dewan, general manager, key accounts, Diageo India, award Inderjeet Banga and Ishita Banga
Restaurant of the Year – Masala Library: Vikram Jain, AVP customer marketing, and Saurabh Dewan, general manager, key accounts, Diageo India, award Chef Saurabh Udinia, Praveen Singh Rawat, Zorawar Kalra, Siddharth Malhotra & Karan Veer Singh
Best Modern Indian (Casual) – Masala House (Delhi): Ayushmann Khurrana awards Tina Anand and Rajnish Taneja
Best Bar (Casual) – The Time Machine (Noida): Karan Vohra awards Siddharth Vashisht, Charu Sahni and Amit Sharma
Best Resto Bar (casual) – Prankster (Gurgaon): Ayushmann Khurrana awards Jasmeet Banga, Inderjeet Banga and Arpit Singh
Best Modern Indian (Casual) – Prankster (Gurgaon): Ayushmann Khurrana awards Jasmeet Banga, Inderjeet Banga and Arpit Singh
Best North Indian (Casual) – Lantern’s Kitchen & Bar (Delhi): Ayushmann Khurrana awards Jasneet Singh Sahni, Khyati Minglani and Suneet Singh Sahni
Best Western Cuisine (Casual) – Nueva (Delhi): Sanjeev Bijli awards Sharad Batra, Vikas Kohli, Vikrant Batra and Prerna Grover
Best Western/ European (Premium) – Olive Kitchen & Bar (Delhi): Dependra Pathak, Special Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Delhi Police, awards Amanda Bhandari, Anuj Tyagi and Chej Dhruv Oberoi
Best Chinese (Premium) – Shang Palace (Delhi): Lushin Dubey awards Vipin Vijay, Neeraj Tyagi and Govind Bhusal
Culinary Heritage (Premium) – Dum Pukht (Delhi): Bishen Singh Bedi awards Jitendra Singh Taak, Gulam M Qureshi, GD Kochhar and Azaan Qureshi
Culinary Heritage (Premium) – Bukhara (Delhi): Bishen Singh Bedi awards Himanshu Bhandari, Kawaljeet Singh, Manisha Bhasin and Chef Parshotam Singh
Best South Indian (Casual) – Mahabelly (Delhi): Dilip Cherian awards Susan Joseph, Prem Kiran, Zachariah Jacob and Thomas Fenn
Best Regional/Speciality Indian (Premium) – Amaranta (Gurgaon): Sanjay Bhatia, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Airport, awards Sous Chef Tejas Sovani, Ishrat Kaur, Nikhil Mangal and Executive Chef Manish Sharma
Best World/Global Cuisine (Casual) – Town Hall (Delhi): Yamaha Fascino Miss Diva 2017 finalist Shelly Kataria awards Randeep Bajaj, Augusto Cabrera, Asha Sharma and Sophia Sharma
Best Oriental (Casual) – Ziu (Delhi): David Abraham awards Gurmehar Sethi, Sohan Rawat and Ankit Ahluwalia
Best Vegetarian (Casual) – Imly (Delhi): Ambika Shukla awards Surjit Singh, Aman Puri, Hemant Puri & Rajdev Maharaj
Best Oriental (Premium) – China Club (Gurgaon): David Abraham awards Aditya Bhaskar and Yuan Sheng
Best Confectionery (Premium) – Fabelle Chocolate Boutique (Delhi): Anju Nigam, joint secretary, I&B ministry, awards Himanshu Bhandari, Sreyoshi Bannerjee, Jasmine Saini and Ranjana Yadav
Best Confectionery (Premium) – The Leela Patisserie (Gurgaon): Parvin Dabas awards Priya Ranjan & Anurag Barthwal
Swiggy Public Choice for Delivery: Biryani – Biryani Blues: Ankur Sethi, city business head, Swiggy – Delhi NCR, awards Naveen Rawat, Josiah Hans, Aparna Andrews and Raymond Andrews
TAFE Best Health Food Restaurant – Fab Cafe: Namrata Joshipura awards Sunil Chauhan and Rebekah Blank
Best Global Cuisine (Premium) – Spectra (Gurgaon): Neelam Pratap Rudy awards Manuj Sahni, Jatin Puri and Devranjan Dasgupta
Bar with Best Ambience (Luxurious) – Rubicon Bar (Gurgaon): Ashish N Soni awards Manuj Sahni & Jatin Puri
Best Cocktails (Casual) – Ek Bar (Delhi): Zubin Songadwala, general manager, ITC Maurya, awards Shaaz Mehmood, Neeraj Soman and Esra Jung
Bar with Best Ambience (Casual) – Whisky Samba (Gurgaon): Jeevan Verma, director, and Rahul Bahl, key accounts manager, Narang Group, award Ashish Dev Kapoor, Meghana Kapoor, Joydeep Singh and Triveni Singh
Best Lounge Bar (Casual) – Tourist Janpath (Delhi): Ashish N Soni awards Rahul Gulati, Sanal Gulati, Dinesh Arora and Anuj Mahto
Mixologist of the Year – Prabhakar Tiwari: Dilbagh Singh awards Prabhakar Tiwari
Noteworthy Newcomer - Bar (Casual) – The Bar Cat (Delhi): Yamaha Fascino Miss Diva 2017 finalist Shelly Kataria awards Karan Nambiar, Ashwin Venkatraman and Rachit Goel
Best Bar for Beer (Casual) – The Beer Cafe - BIGGIE (Delhi): Peter England Mr India 2016 1st runner-up Viren Barman awards Priya Vasudeva, Anshul Kapoor, Anil Sarda and Rahul Singh
Nightlife Venue of the Year (Casual) – Whisky Samba (Gurgaon): Jeevan Verma, director, and Rahul Bahl, key accounts manager, Narang Group, award Ashish Dev Kapoor, Meghana Kapoor, Joydeep Singh and Triveni Singh
Best Resto Bar (Luxurious) – Public Affair (Delhi): Nitibha Kaul awards Augusto Cabrera, Kitty Kalra, Himani Mishra and Navneet Bajaj
Noteworthy Newcomer – Bar (Casual) – Lock & Key (Gurgaon): Yamaha Fascino Miss Diva 2017 finalist Elisha Mayor awards Kuldeep Singh, Rituu K Memaani, Bhaskar Chandra and Lokesh Kumar
Best Venue for Live Bands/Singing (Casual) – Farzi Cafe (Gurgaon): Deep Money awards Saurabh Udinia, Dildeep Kalra, Sonali Priy Kapoor, Chef Praveen Singh Rawat and Arnab Dash
Best Microbrewery (Casual) – Quaff (Gurgaon): Vishal Malhotra awards Jayesh Sanchihar, Amit Mishra, Rohit Raj, Sanjay Joshi and Mukesh Rishi
Best for Wine (Casual) – The Wine Company (Gurgaon): Abhinav Shukla awards Joydeep Singh, Ashish Dev Kapoor, Ramanika Singh, Vandana Gupta and Akashdeep Singh Dhiman