Picking one great restaurant is hard. Picking the 50 best from across an entire country is even harder. So, what goes into making that call, and which restaurants made the cut this year? Here’s everything you need to know about the Condé Nast Traveller x District Top Restaurant Awards 2026.Now in its seventh edition, the annual ranking brings together 50 restaurants shaping India’s dining scene, from established favourites to ambitious new kitchens and destination restaurants across the country.What are the Condé Nast Traveller x District Top Restaurant Awards?The Top Restaurant Awards are an annual ranking of India’s 50 finest restaurants, curated by Condé Nast Traveller and decided by a jury of food and cultural tastemakers from across the country.Where was it held?The 2026 awards were revealed at a ceremony at The Grand Hyatt, Bambolim, Goa, bringing together some of India’s leading restaurants and the people behind them.Why does the list come out every year?India’s restaurant scene changes rapidly. New restaurants open, established kitchens evolve and chefs keep pushing boundaries. This annual list captures these shifts and how India’s culinary map is changing.What are restaurants judged on?Food & Menu Creativity: Quality of ingredients, cooking and technique.Service: How well the restaurant delivers the experience beyond the plate.Ambience: The space and atmosphere.Who decides the ranking?105-member jury: Chefs, food writers, critics, designers, artists, entrepreneurs and other food and cultural tastemakers.National representation: Jury members bring knowledge of different regional dining scenes across India.Two rounds: 80 regional jury members help determine the Top 100, followed by a 25-member Super Jury that determines the final Top 50.Conflict checks: Jury members must declare any restaurant ownership or financial interests.What makes the awards credible?No entry fee: Restaurants do not pay to enter or nominate themselves.Independent oversight: An independent consulting firm is appointed to oversee the awards process.Expert-led voting: The ranking is based on a vetted jury, rather than public votes or online popularity.First-hand experience: Super Jury members must have personally visited the restaurants they score within the relevant period.And now, the part you came for: here are India’s Top 50 restaurants for 2026, ranked from 1 to 50.
A Sneak Peek at India’s Top 50 Restaurants for 2026
DistrictOct 6, 2026
·14 min
What really makes a restaurant one of India’s best? Is it the food, the service, the room or everything you feel by the time you leave?
At a glance
Rank#47
Naar
4.8
Darwa, Baddi
- Modern Indian
Perched on a cliff near Darwa village, NAAR is Prateek Sadhu’s deeply personal take on Himalayan cooking, with just 16 seats and a menu that follows the region’s six seasons. Everything is cooked over a juniper-smoked hearth, making the two-and-a-half-hour drive from Chandigarh feel worth it.Rank: #1
Bank benefits
The Table
4.7
Colaba, Mumbai
- Italian
This Colaba favourite has been a Mumbai dining institution since 2011, with a small, intimate room and a kitchen that likes to balance familiar signatures with dishes that take more risks.If you want to make the evening feel special, ask for Chef’s Picks and let the kitchen put together a six-course surprise.Rank: #2
Papa's
4.2
Ranwar Village, Bandra West
- Continental
- Fusion
With just 12 seats around the chef’s counter, Papa’s feels less like a restaurant and more like being invited to a very entertaining dinner party. Chef Hussain Shahzad’s 12-course menu brings Indian flavours, fine-dining technique, jokes, games and dishes you probably won’t forget anytime soon.Rank: #3
Farmlore
4.5
Yelahanka, Bangalore
- Continental
- European
- Beverages
Set on a working 37-acre farm outside Bengaluru, Farmlore builds its tasting menu around what is actually growing there, rather than a fixed menu.You get to walk through the farm, watch the chefs work from the open kitchen and hear the story behind each plate, making the three-hour dinner feel like much more than just a meal.Rank: #4
Sienna
4.2
Biplabi Ambika Chakraborty Sarani Road
- Continental
Sienna has grown from a small Shantiniketan pottery store into one of Kolkata’s most interesting food and culture spaces, with Bengal’s maati and manush at its heart. Its modern Bengali cooking brings together local ingredients, old recipes and plenty of fresh ideas, without losing sight of where the food comes from.Rank: #5
Bank benefits
Izumi Assagao
4.6
Assagao, Goa
- Japanese
Izumi brings its Mumbai-born Japanese cooking to Assagao, with sushi made using Japanese rice, a dedicated yakitori bar and ramen broths that take hours to simmer. The Chef here, Nooresha Kably is trained from Tokyo Sushi Academy and that training shows in the precision!Rank: #6
Bank benefits
Indian Accent
4.9
The Lodhi, Lodhi Road
- Modern Indian
Indian Accent is where familiar Indian flavours get a fine-dining rethink, with Chef Manish Mehrotra using global ingredients and techniques without losing the soul of the food. It’s the kind of place that makes you look at Indian food a little differently.Rank: #7
Bomras
4.5
Anjuna, Goa
- Asian
Chef Bawmra Jap has spent 16 years building Bomras around Burmese cooking, using local Goan produce and influences from across Southeast Asia. The open-air restaurant is known for its pickled tea leaf salad, tiger prawn ceviche and off-menu dishes that change with whatever Jap feels like cooking that day!Rank: #8
Avartana - ITC Grand Chola
4.8
ITC Grand Chola, Guindy
- South Indian
Avartana takes South Indian food and turns it into a tasting menu without losing the flavours and ideas that make it South Indian. Pick from four menus of seven to 13 courses, with playful plates like parotta with coconut chicken and a double-distilled rasam that you’ll probably want more of.Rank: #9
Bank benefits
The Bombay Canteen
4.7
Lower Parel, Mumbai
- North Indian
- Continental
The Bombay Canteen is the kind of place where you might recognise the idea of a dish, but not quite the way it arrives on your table.Its kitchen takes recipes from across India, gives them a playful spin with seasonal ingredients and modern techniques, and builds stories around them, while the bar does the same with Indian ingredients in its cocktails.Rank: #10
Bank benefits
Masque
4.6
Mahalaxmi, Mumbai
- Mexican
A century-old textile mill, a 10-course menu and a kitchen that might serve you Himachal ferns, Ladakh apricots or something foraged from another corner of India. Masque is where Chef Varun Totlani gets to experiment with Indian produce, and you can even step into the kitchen for a course midway through dinner.Rank: #11
Americano
4.2
Kala Ghoda
- Italian
Since opening in Kala Ghoda in 2019, Americano has built a following around modern Italian cooking where every detail is considered, especially the pizza, from its carefully worked dough to its precise balance of toppings.The tiramisu is another signature, served tableside over tempered chocolate and can even be turned into a birthday cake if you give the team a heads-up.Rank: #12
Inja
4.7
The Manor Hotel
- Japanese
INJA brings Indian and Japanese cooking together in a way that neither cuisine has quite seen before. Chef Adwait Anantwar turns familiar flavours into unexpected combinations, from Amritsari crab sushi to chawanmushi with rasam masala.Rank: #13
Bank benefits
Amar Khamar
4.1
Hindustan Park, Kolkata
- Bengali
Amar Khamar’s Lunch Room is built around Bengal’s forgotten grains, recipes and native produce.Its 20-seat dining room brings these flavours back through heirloom rice, regional dishes and home-style cooking from across the state.Rank: #14
Bank benefits
NĀVU
4.1
MG Road, Bangalore
- Continental
At NĀVU, there is no single cuisine to pin down and no rigid formula for the menu. Chefs Pallavi Menon and Kanishka Sharma follow their instincts, turning whatever catches their attention into playful, often surprising dishes like mustard ice cream or a chicken liver pâté white chocolate bonbon.Rank: #15
Bank benefits
The Second House
4.7
Saligao, Goa
- Continental
Inside a 108-year-old bungalow in Saligao, The Second House brings together art, heritage and a menu shaped by Chef Jyoti Singh’s time in Egypt and Indonesia. Even familiar Goan ideas get a new treatment, like poee reworked with Egyptian bread techniques and balchao with Indonesian flavoursRank: #16
Theta Theta Telugu
4.5
Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad
- South Indian
- Andhra
Theta Theta Telugu takes the flavours of Telugu cooking and puts them through a distinctly modern lens. The result is playful dishes like Mudapappu Hummus, ghee prawns with tamarind and mutton chops Seena Roast, all while keeping the region’s flavours firmly in focus.Rank: #17
Bank benefits
Praca Prazeres
4.8
Panaji, Goa
- Continental
- Bar Food
- Desserts
In the colourful lanes of Fontainhas, Praça Prazeres pairs a restored heritage home with chef Ralph Prazeres’s technique-driven European cooking.Look closely and you’ll find pieces from his grandfather’s house, a live kitchen downstairs and a cocktail bar tucked into the attic.Rank: #18
Bank benefits
The Johri
4.5
Johri Bazaar, Pink City
- North Indian
The Johri brings Rajasthan’s rich food traditions into an intimate vegetarian dining experience inside a restored haveli. Chef Sonu Kumar reworks familiar flavours into dishes like paan-patta chaat, truffle aloo tikki and mirchi ka halwa.Rank: #19
Comorin
4.8
DLF Horizon Center, Golf Course Road
- North Indian
- Mughlai
Comorin is Manish Mehrotra’s take on a more relaxed, all-day Indian restaurant, bringing together food, cocktails and a small retail space under one roof. The menu moves from pav vada and bheja fry to Cheeni Malai Toast, while the bar gives Indian ingredients an equally inventive treatment.Rank: #20
Kopitiam Lah
4.5
Indiranagar, Bangalore
- Malaysian
- Chinese
Kopitiam Lah brings the traditional Malaysian coffee-house culture of Kuala Lumpur to Bengaluru, built around food, coffee and the rituals of a kopitiam.Its menu stays rooted in Malaysian heritage, from Hainanese kopi and kaya toast to house-made bakwa, served in a space inspired by the old-school coffee shops of Malaysia.Rank: #21
Bank benefits
Naru Noodle Bar
4.0
Courtyard
- Japanese
Naru started with DIY ramen kits during lockdown and grew into one of Bengaluru’s most talked-about noodle bars. Chef Kavan Kuttappa keeps the menu tight, with bowls like shoyu ramen, tori paitan and Goan chorizo tantanmen served across just 20 seats.Rank: #22
Cavatina
4.9
Benaulim, Goa
- Goan
At Cavatina, Chef Avinash Martins turns childhood memories, forgotten Goan ingredients and local traditions into a highly personal tasting menu. From hand-ground masalas and village poder bread to dishes built around fish-market memories, every course is tied closely to the people and places that shaped his cooking.Rank: #23
Bank benefits
Kaspers
3.7
Hill Road, Bandra West, Mumbai
- French
Designed entirely by chef Will Aghajanian, Kaspers is full of the sort of details you notice slowly: crayon boxes on white tablecloths, hand-painted cherubs and wine bottles collected from past dinners.The menu follows the same relaxed precision, moving between French, Italian and Basque cooking with dishes that change daily and cocktails that wisely know when not to overcomplicate things.Rank: #24
Larder + Folk
4.7
Fontainhas, Panaji
- Continental
- Bakery
What started as a delivery kitchen is now one of São Tomé’s most talked-about cafés, with Priyanka Sardessai turning comfort food into things like fried chicken hot honey doughnuts and soft-shell crab burgers.Sundays are the day to go, when the display case gets a fresh lineup of cakes, puffs and desserts.Rank: #25
Bank benefits
Padaria Prazeres
4.5
Panaji, Goa
- Desserts
- Bakery
Padaria Prazeres is chef Ralph Prazeres and Stacy Gracias’s love letter to European baking, born after the couple returned to Goa from London in 2021. Its flaky pastel de nata quickly became the signature, but the bakery’s real charm lies in Ralph’s meticulous, from-scratch approach to classic European bakes.Rank: #26
Bank benefits
Hosa
4.8
Siolim, Goa
- South Indian
Hosa takes over a powder-blue Indo-Portuguese bungalow in Siolim and fills it with inventive South Indian cooking from across the southern states. Expect dishes like toddy shop prawns and pineapple gojju, plus an equally playful bar serving everything from inventive cocktails to zero-proof drinks.Rank: #27
Grumps
4.6
Penha de Franca, Goa
- Oriental
Grumps was created as an antidote to Goa’s more pretentious bars, with good drinks, bold food and none of the fuss. Set inside a 130-year-old Portuguese outhouse, it has become a neighbourhood favourite for its Asian-ish small plates and balanced martinis.Rank: #28
Bank benefits
Bandra Born
4.8
Bandstand, Bandra West, Mumbai
- Fusion
- Continental
Bandra Born takes the suburb’s mixed heritage and turns it into playful, unexpected food, from beets cooked like steak to East Indian crab curry with croissant pav. The bar follows the same spirit, with storytelling cocktails, seasonal off-menu specials and India’s first dedicated Mahua bar.Rank: #29
Bank benefits
Rannaghor By Sienna
4.4
Hindustan Park, Kolkata
- Bengali
Rannaghor takes Sienna’s focus on Bengal’s maati and manush into a more intimate tasting-menu format. Chefs Avinandan Kundu and Koyel Roy Nandy reinterpret forgotten Bengali ingredients and home cooking across a 13-course menu.Rank: #30
Bank benefits
Petisco Goa
4.8
Panaji, Goa
- Continental
- Fusion
Petisco takes its name from the Portuguese word for small dishes, and its menu is built accordingly, with plenty designed for sharing. It gives you three floors and three very different ways to spend the evening, from sharing plates upstairs to live gigs and karaoke in the basement.Rank: #31
Bank benefits
Rynsan
₹1500 for two
Laitumkhrah, Shillong
- North Eastern
- Fusion
Rynsan puts the food traditions of Meghalaya, Nagaland and Mizoram at the centre of a modern restaurant.Its kitchen works with indigenous ingredients, rural farms, smoking and fermentation to bring dishes like Nai Krung and smoked fish Kharang to a wider audience.Rank: #32
The Bangala
₹2000 for two
Karaikudi Locality, Karaikudi
- Chettinad
- Tamil
The Bangala is a living archive of Chettiar food and hospitality, housed in a century-old heritage bungalow in Karaikudi. Its elaborate banana-leaf feasts preserve family recipes, traditional cooking techniques and the rich spice culture of the Chettinad region.Rank: #33
Ekaa
4.6
Fort, Mumbai
- Modern Indian
Inside Fort’s 133-year-old Kitab Mahal, Ekaa pairs heritage architecture with a pared-back room and a constantly changing, ingredient-led menu.Chef Niyati Rao builds around one ingredient at a time, with local produce, in-house fermentation and cocktails inspired by ingredients from across India.Rank: #34
Bank benefits
Trishna
4.7
Kala Ghoda
- North Indian
- Indo-Chinese
A Kala Ghoda favourite since 1965, Trishna has built its reputation on Mangalorean and Konkani seafood, with its butter pepper garlic crab becoming a Mumbai classic. The simple, unpretentious room has barely changed over the decades, while the likes of rawas Hyderabadi and Koliwada prawns keep regulars coming back.Rank: #35
Bank benefits
Aeseo
4.6
RA Puram, Chennai
- Korean
Aeseo’s glass facade opens into a restaurant where the mood shifts with every floor. Grills sizzle away downstairs while the top level stays hushed, built for slower conversations. A Korean couple runs the kitchen and flies ingredients in from home, which makes this the pick for a date night (perfect to impress your crush with proper authentic Korean food).Rank: #36
MEGU - The Leela Palace
4.6
The Leela Palace, Chanakyapuri
- Japanese
Megu brings a distinctly theatrical side of Japanese dining to The Leela Palace, pairing premium ingredients with traditional techniques. Its sumibi-yaki, extensive sake collection and signature Kanzuri Shrimp have made it one of Delhi’s longstanding luxury Japanese addresses.Rank: #37
Flat 10% OFF
La Loca Maria
4.7
Pali Hill, Bandra West, Mumbai
- Spanish
Chef Manuel Olveira brings the flavours of his hometown in Spain to Bandra, with a menu built around bold, ingredient-led cooking and a zero-waste bar programme. The paellas, Spanish-style cocas and deconstructed La Loca Tiramisu have earned a loyal following, while the open kitchen keeps the room buzzing.Rank: #38
Bank benefits
Kappa Chakka Kandhari
4.7
Nungambakkam, Chennai
- Kerala
- South Indian
Kappa Chakka Kandhari was born from Chef Regi Mathew’s mission to document Kerala’s disappearing home-cooking traditions. After travelling across the state for three years, he turned those recipes into a menu spanning different regions, communities and cooking styles.Rank: #39
Flat 10% OFF
Baan PhadThai
4.7
Indiranagar, Bangalore
- Thai
Baan PhadThai is built around one of Thailand’s most recognisable dishes, treating Phad Thai as a craft rather than just another item on a Thai menu. It also carries the Bangkok original’s focus on Sen Jan noodles, a deeply layered house sauce and variations topped with everything from soft-shell crab to tiger prawns.Rank: #40
Bank benefits
Jamun
4.6
Assagao, Goa
- North Indian
- Goan
Jamun brings regional Indian cooking into a Goan setting, pairing the techniques of its Delhi original with flavours from across the country. Chef Rahul “Picu” Gomes Pereira moves from stuffed morels and beetroot galouti to crab kalchi kodi and pork assado.Rank: #41
Bank benefits
LUPA
4.6
MG Road, Bangalore
- Mexican
- Continental
Lupa is Chef Manu Chandra’s take on what a modern Italian restaurant can be when it has the space to do things properly. It brings together a trattoria, salumeria, cheese room and cocktail programme, with much of the food made in-house.Rank: #42
Bank benefits
Trèsind
4.9
Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai
- North Indian
- South Indian
Trèsind brings the acclaimed Dubai restaurant’s progressive Indian cooking to BKC, with a tasting menu that reworks familiar flavours through fine-dining technique.The Khichdi of India, served tableside with a marble map and regional condiments, is one of the menu’s most memorable touches.Rank: #43
Bank benefits
Nonna Mei
₹1200 for two
Police Bazaar, Shillong
- Italian
Nonna Mei asks a simple question: what would Italian comfort food look like if it were cooked in the Khasi Hills?The answer combines fresh pasta, cured meats and Italian techniques with Meghalaya’s local ingredients and produce.Rank: #44
Mister Merchant's
4.6
Moira, Goa
- Continental
- Middle Eastern
Mister Merchant’s imagines the restaurant of a well-travelled Parsi merchant, with food shaped by his journeys through Persia and the Levant. Chef Rahul Pereira turns that story into dishes like saffron chicken cigars, mushroom-truffle baklava and the restaurant’s richly spiced mutton curry.Rank: #45
Bank benefits
O Pedro
4.8
Jet Airways Godrej, Bandra Kurla Complex
- Goan
O Pedro brings the food, colours and easygoing spirit of Goa to BKC, drawing on its Portuguese and Saraswat influences without turning the space into a cliché. The menu moves from Margao Choriz Pulao and Chicken Baffad Curry to Aunty Braganza’s Crab Rissois, with interiors designed to feel like a lived-in Goan home.Rank: #46
Bank benefits
Seefah
₹1200 for two
Hill Road
Run by Thai chef Seefah Ketchaiyo and Japanese chef Karan Bane, Seefah has built its reputation on keeping both cuisines close to their roots. Thai pastes and sauces are made from scratch, while the menu moves from Southern Thai seafood and Thai chilli crab to sushi and Japanese izakaya favourites.Rank: #47
The Farm
4.4
Semmancheri, Chennai
- Continental
The Farm is built around the idea that the restaurant should grow and make as much of its food as possible. Its working food ecosystem includes organic farming and dairy production, with house-made cheeses, sourdough pizzas and other dishes shaped by what the farm produces.Rank: #48
For The Record - Vinyl Bar
4.4
Panaji, Goa
- Continental
For The Record is Goa’s first dedicated vinyl listening bar, tucked into a rustic corner of Fontainhas. Japanese-inspired hi-fi, wood-fired sourdough pizzas and cocktails made with local spirits and feni give it a distinct identity.Rank: #49
Bank benefits
Nutcase Etc.
₹1200 for two
Kalighat, Kolkata
Nutcase Etc. turns Kolkata’s food memories into cocktails, using familiar flavours from the city as the starting point for an unconventional bar menu. In its tiny 650-square-foot space, drinks like Tangra Town and the plum-based Joker give street-food nostalgia a very different form.Rank: #50
What the 2026 awards tell us about Indian dining? This is more than 50 restaurants ranked in order.The 2026 list reflects how Indian dining is changing, with regional cooking, ambitious new ideas and established favourites all finding their place at the table.TL;DR: Consider this your cue to discover a few restaurants you might otherwise have missed.Download the District App to reserve your table, enjoy the best offers, and discover your next favourite spot.