2025 has been a great year for restaurants in India, be it winning international awards, or pushing the boundaries with creative menus. We loved eating what the chefs created for us, but what did the chefs savour? We speak to five Indian chefs, and ask them about the best meal they had this year.
Ruchira Hoon, chef patron, Draavin Canteen, New Delhi
In Colombo, I had this beautiful meal at Ceylon Curry Club. I love Sri Lanka very much so I try and go there on holiday often. What I love about this place is they have an appam cart. The cart is wheeled to you, and you can select different hoppers. They have chicken hoppers, coconut milk hoppers and sea food options. They have the whole setup, and the hoppers are made in front of you. It is served with a lot of sambol. It is a masterclass in Singhalese Sri Lankan food.”
Chef Ruchira Hoon
| Photo Credit:
Special arrangement
A dish from Ceylon Curry Club in Sri Lanka
| Photo Credit:
Ruchira Hoon
Chef Will Aghajanian, culinary director, Food Matters Group, leads The Table and Kaspers, Mumbai
“I have had many good meals through the year, but maybe the one that stands out the most is the one at Trattoria Fita. It is an unassuming family-run joint in Borgo Tossignano, about two hours from Florence. I happened to stumble upon it on Google Maps, and honestly, it looked good so we just headed there.
They are an amazing family, offering super simple cooking. I would 100% travel out of the way, to go back there for the steak, steak tartare, ham plate and secret green limoncello.”
Chef Will Aghajanian
| Photo Credit:
Special arrangement
Chindi Varadarajulu, creative chef and founder, Pumpkin Tales and Zhouyu, Chennai
A restaurant I went to in 2025 called Fyn, in South Africa, was a Japanese style restaurant, but with Cape Town ingredients. They had a seafood tasting menu. The dish I loved was the yellowtail tuna, done three ways. I also dined on octopus and oysters. Fyn is also where I have had the best chawanmushi (steamed egg custard).
Some unique meats I tried there, was springbok (an antelope found mainly in south and southwest Africa), and ostrich. I did not expect the ostrich to be so tender. The whole meal was paired with South African wines. The service was excellent and it was a beautiful experience.”
Chawanmushi at Fyn restaurant in Cape Town
| Photo Credit:
Chindi Varadarajulu
Tuna at Fyn restaurant in Cape Town
| Photo Credit:
Chindi Varadarajulu
Chef Sombir Choudhary, SOKA, Bengaluru
I would say the best meal experience I had in recent months is a newly opened cafe in Hyderabad by Chef Vignesh Ramachandran called Coffee Sangam. It has elevated Telugu snack staples. Dishes like the pistachio idli and peri peri punugulu are a part of this menu, while birthday party cutlets, jam rolls, cream buns, egg puffs, and chilli cheese toast took us back in time to our childhood.
Chef Sombir Choudhary
| Photo Credit:
Special arrangement
Chef Vignesh Ramachandran is personally involved in every step of building this café, which you can see which is evident from the entrance to food and the crockery. I feel Hyderabad is changing, and people will definitely start accepting the small plates concept. We will see many more concepts like this in the coming years.
Gresham Fernandes, chef partner, Bandra Born, Mumbai
Gresham Fernandes, chef partner, Bandra Born, Mumbai
| Photo Credit:
Special arrangement
One of the best meals I had this year was at Nouri, in Singapore. It is run by chef Ivan Brehm and the style of cooking he does is called crossroad cuisine, which is a mix of dishes and ingredients from the whole world. I had the tasting menu there, and we also did a pop-up together in June. One standout dish was the confit chicken skin dumplings in a beef consommé and a wagyu ‘nduja (a spreadable sausage). The way he came up with this, was amazing.
Black Gold at Nouri, in Singapore
| Photo Credit:
Gresham Fernandes
There was another dish calledblack gold. It is Japanese Koshihikari rice, and he makes a really nice foam out of the Kampot peppercorns. What I also like about the restaurant is that women run nearly 75% of its operations.
