The Oberoi, New Delhi, has a firm place in the hearts and minds of well-heeled Delhiites, as well as for travellers for whom this legacy hotel has always been the top pick for a memorable stay in the capital. To mark this milestone, Chef Vineet Bhatia MBE returns to familiar ground with “Ode to the Icon,” a special tasting menu now being served at Dhilli. Inspired by the rich culinary history and heritage of Delhi, this restaurant is known for celebrating the cuisine of various foodie hubs of Delhi, from Jama Masjid to Nizamuddin, Rajouri Garden to CR Park. Now, the new tasting menu is a heartfelt tribute to the hotel, its history, and the memories that shaped Chef Bhatia’s own journey in food.
The space where Dhilli now stands has always been more than just a restaurant—it’s been a witness to changing times and enduring tastes. Back in 1965, when The Oberoi, New Delhi, opened its doors, Café Espresso welcomed guests with round-the-clock warmth. A 24-hour coffee shop unlike any other, it served sizzling American platters, golden apple pie, and a cold coffee that became a favourite accompaniment for many late-night conversations. Its glass aviary and cosy alcoves find place in many fond memories of regulars. By 1988, as a young Chef Bhatia began his journey within these very walls, Palms had taken over the space. A stylish eatery known for food that comforted and connected, Palms had become the go-to place. Over the years, the hotel has had many successful restaurants—Kandahar played soulful ghazals while dishing out North Indian favourites and the finest tandoori fare; at Taipan, diners indulged in Chinese cuisine and enjoyed dim sum brunches with a view; and La Rochelle served up French elegance and live jazz.
With “Ode to the Icon”, Chef Bhatia revisits those precious culinary chapters by not replicating them but by reimagining them and in keeping with the ethos and style of Dhilli. The menu blends nostalgia with innovation: seared ‘La Rochelle’ Sea Bass is spice-crusted and served with a tropical mango and coconut curry; Palm’s beloved crisp chicken returns, nestled beside rich daal makhni sauce. Kandahar’s Shahi Seekh Kabab gets a royal reinvention in a smooth foxnut gravy, while the Taipan Twist blends Chinese technique with Indian boldness with prawn or vegetable dumplings, green chilli tamarind glaze and edamame puree.
While I thoroughly enjoyed this very well-crafted and balanced menu (this 7-course menu leaves you highly satiated, but not overly stuffed), it was Chef Bhatia’s stories that accompanied each course that made it all the more special. “My association with The Oberoi goes way, way back,” he shares, reflecting on his first day at the hotel in 1988, when he began his culinary training at The Oberoi Centre of Learning and Development. “You walk into this legendary hotel straight out of college, wide-eyed and completely unprepared for what you’re stepping into—it takes your breath away! Those early experiences, the sights, the smells, the discipline… they shape you for life.”
A Personal Journey
The tasting menu is befittingly built on these personal memories, “every dish is a whisper from those years,” he shares. Developing the menu was not without challenges. With no digital archives from the 1980s, Bhatia had to rely on memory and handwritten notes from his early training years. “Back then, we didn’t take photos of food. There were no menu folders saved to the cloud,” he explains. Thankfully, he had some old notebooks stored in London that his son helped track down. With support from the hotel’s archives and his own recollections, Bhatia and his team spent nearly seven weeks piecing together flavours, stories, and ideas. “You can’t serve food exactly as it was 40 years ago. People eat differently now. But you can hold on to the emotion, the soul of it,” he said. “It’s not just nostalgia, it’s revival with relevance.”
One of the standout dishes in the lineup is actually the sorbet course, one that is usually considered to be a ‘palate cleanser’. This one, however, is a tribute to the late Mr. PRS Oberoi. The idea originated in 2010 during a tasting menu trial for Ziya in Mumbai. “Mr. Oberoi came in the day before the opening and said to me, ‘Vineet, nine courses is too much.’ I told him we’d stop when he was full,” recalls Chef Bhatia with a laugh. “When we reached the sorbet, he asked what was so special about it. And then we poured the champagne over the lychee-ginger sorbet. He took a bite and said, ‘This is one of the best things I’ve ever had.’ That moment stayed with me.” Now, the sorbet is served with a seasonal twist, a lemon-based version topped with grated gondhoraj lemon and black salt, finished with a pour of sparkling wine. “It’s a little thank you,” said Bhatia. “Not just to Mr. Oberoi, but to everything he stood for: excellence, detail, and timeless taste.”
The sweet ending comes in the form of Gulab Jamun Misu. A playful nod to coffee shop days of the past, this dessert marries gulab jamun and tiramisu, finished with airy cappuccino foam, just like long-lost coffee catch-ups at Palms.
Going by my personal experience over the years, I remember accompanying my parents on multiple occasions to Kandahar as they entertained their friends from overseas. I heard my father’s stories as a wide-eyed kid as he talked about the immaculate service at La Rochelle, especially about the ‘grand reveal’, when cloches from everyone’s main course were removed at once, in a perfectly synchronised manner. And later, when I could afford to indulge myself, I enjoyed fish ‘n chips at Palms or tucking into the array of dim sum and dumplings at Taipan, and feeling very fancy. So, in a nutshell, the new tasting menu at Dhilli that will be served through the entire year of the 60-year celebrations is sure to take old-timers down a culinary memory lane, and introduce young diners to the glory of the old days, of which they may have heard stories from their parents and grandparents.
The Information
Pricing: INR 7500 plus taxes
Timings: Monday to Thursday: Dinner: 7:00 pm to 11:00 pm
Friday to Sunday: Lunch: 12:30 pm to 2:45 pm, Dinner: 7:00 pm to 11:30 pm
