Located in the heart of the capital in Connaught Place, this five-star hotel provides easy access to most corporate and financial centres, ministries and embassies. It offers a variety of cuisine at its award-winning restaurants, has a relaxing spa and facilities for MICE and personal events

Nicknamed as ‘THE MET’, the swanky hotel has a soft and minimalist yet stylish design. With a distinctive flavoursome dining experience, the traveler can choose to eat at Sakura (India’s first Japanese restaurant) or go to Chutney, Bar + Tandoor with its indigenous fusion of pan–Indian cuisine or perhaps bite into some comfy meals at Zing, the all-day world cuisine restaurant. Zing GourMET Shop offers a fresh range of sweets and breads. 

The hotel also has NeoVeda Spa, based on the concept of new Ayurveda. Here, the ancient science of Ayurveda is harnessed to heal and restore, relax and invigorate the body, mind and spirit.

For those who love to carry back a bit of India, THE MET is home to Craft House–a fashion and lifestyle store with its exclusive range of Indian handicrafts, pashmina, jewellery, ayurvedic spa products and unique tea selections. For those who adron art, there is Art Spice, the gallery that promotes contemporary art.

THE MET has state-of-the-art business center, stylish banquet halls and meeting venues, enhanced health club, and swimming pool.

My experience:

Fingerlicious Indian Fare @Chutney

Flavoursome, light and digestible, the food here gets the taste buds tingling with some innovative kebabs and dum biryanis. Specialising in Indian cuisine, the restaurant offers a delectable menu that is bound to woo the health conscious and global traveller. No curries with floating oil, no hard spicy bites and no breads dipped in butter.

With its old world sofa seating, the restaurant has a very pleasing and comfy feel. This reminds you of the time when not just families but communities ate together. With a bar that has a wide range of liquor, the restaurant is open for lunch and dinner. Kebabs being the favourites, our meal begins with Karele ki Shaami (bitterguard patty) and Malai Santra kebab (cream orange patty). Breaking the myths about the bittery karela, this is simply delicious. And giving the melt-in-the-mouth malai kebabs a fruity twist is the santra aka reduced orange. “This is a favourite with guests,” says Rajesh Khanna, F&B head. “The focus is on giving a lighter twist to popular dishes as heavy meals are no longer the demand now.”

A must-eat is the Maahi Methi Dariya (Fish). The goodness of fenugreek and the smokey flavour of the tandoor–this king-sized fish tikka is a delight. The Chef’s special is Aatishi Jhinga which is a creation of barbequed jumbo king-sized prawns marinated in a rich creamy paste of spices and herbs. This is simply a pleasure to bite into. Of course, for chicken lovers there is Gazab ka Tikka, Irani Murg Tandoori and more. Among the vegetarian starters—Tandoori Malai Broccoli and Bharwan Aloo Tilnaaz are good too.

Soups—there are healthy ones on the menu such as quinoa and cauliflower chowder. But we decide on the favourite Tomato Pimento Shorba (tomato soup) and Murg Shorba Lasooni (chicken and garlic soup). When it comes to soups, I generally never go beyond the tomatoes and this is made of fresh ones! No shortcuts here.

For the mains, there’s bhindi (okra), mushroom and all things green. But the omnipresent paneer (cottage cheese) undergoes many transformations. We try the Chef’s special Shahi Paneer Firdoshi which is stuffed paneer roll cooked in buttery tomato gravy with cashew nuts. Among the prawns, there are options but I like the Gulnaar Jalpari. These are tiger prawns marinated in unique batter, then find their place on dum gravy.

In India and not had biryani? We try the Dum Murgh (chicken) and Vegetable Biryani. No handis for dum here—an edible cup-shaped flour covering is what gives these a unique flavour. The flavours of exotic spices, nuts, basmati rice mingle and the accompanying raita and salan simply make it a must-try dish.

There is a huge variety of breads, which makes it a difficult choice. But we try laccha paratha and naan. We end our meal with another Chef’s special–Rajgira ki Kheer made of amaranth seeds. Take your time and go through the menu slowly for you will find a lot that would please your palate.

While you are deciding, you can keep licking from the chutney platter which has 12 fresh dips. These include Sweet chilli, Tamarind, Pineapple, Beet root, Kiwi, Broccoli, Coconut, Pudina, Zucchini, Mustard, Tomato, Garlic—satiating enough to make it a fine Indian meal. (Visited in July 2019)

Price: Rs 3,500 plus taxes (without alcohol, meal for two)

Sushi and more at Sakura

While sushi and authentic Japanese cuisine stay on at the famous Sakura there is a Pan-Asian menu too. Curated by Head Chef Swapnadeep Mukherjee, this menu has about 35 dishes. Innovative, flavourful, and tasty, they have been crafted with plenty of herbs. Studying the cooking methods of different Asian countries such as Mongolia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and others, this menu offers some really out-of-the-box dishes. After all, India is the melting pot of spices and flavours. 

The one that tops my list is Prawn Sugarcane. The dear old ‘ganna’ is the stick on which the prawn chop comes and there’s a chilliest dip with this. Three different flavours but none of them mix or kill the other. This is a must-have. So, if you are in a mood to experiment and like fish, do begin with Ice Fish Jelly with Shiso Leaves and Barbequed Eel. The sauce on the eel gives it a certain distinct flavour and makes it palatable. We downed all this with a Japanese beer but you could opt for wine too. The bar’s right there.  Among the salads, I do not know of any restaurant or hotel offering Som Tam {raw papaya, long bean, cherry tomato, palm sugar, lemon, roasted peanut, chilli, and garlic} with sabudana papad or rice crackers. Needless to say, you will want to let go of your chopsticks and relish it with your hands. 

There is Salmon Ceviche too with rice crackers {raw salmon, lemongrass, kafir lime leaf, galangal, chilli, lemon, and onions}. In the main course, we had Prawn Szchewan {prawns tossed in semi-spicy Szechwan curry}, Bangkok Chilly Chicken, Yanju {fried rice}, and Chilly Garlic Noodles. 

Before you give your dessert order, you must know that Sakura makes its own ice creams and the vanilla is unlike any other vanilla that you have tasted. So, do try the Seared Lychee with ice cream and yummy, hot Date Pancake with ice cream. If you still need something sweet then opt for Coconut Custard and a scoop of Black Sesame Japanese ice cream. 

We did have a bite of the famous rainbow sushi too.  Should you like to go in a group, there’s private dining space too.

Timings: Lunch: 1200-1430 Hrs Dinner: 1800-2300 hrs;Price: INR 3,000+