What to eat…this April

Here’s April, heating up with Easter menus and the first proper mangoes of the year. Naturally, restaurants and bars are going all in. Mangifera indica is on a pizza in Bengaluru and in a picante in Goa. There is a fajeto spin in Mumbai. Mango-salted caramel appears in a pâtissier’s Easter eggs. Ralph Prazeres is even bringing his burrata with mango jam to Mumbai for one special collaborative lunch.

Meanwhile, the intriguing, unstoppable run of new openings around the country continues. A rooftop bar in Udaipur is putting Rajasthan in a glass, using ingredients that sound improbable (sangri and camel milk?) until they aren’t. In Goa, a hotel gets its guests to check in at the bar, welcome drink in hand, followed by state-wide cocktail trails and in-room DIY kits. In Mumbai, an all-day restaurant in a theatre complex cooks almost everything over fire, and a 25-year-old legacy brand creates a cafe spin-off for everyday meals. Restaurant Week India returns with smartly edited prix-fixe menus, and chefs everywhere are tightening tasting menus and thalis, trimming them for light-eating weather.

In Bengaluru, you can spend a whole day at a 68,000-sqft chocolate experience centre. During Easter weekend, tables across cities are serving up tradition and memory through community-specific feasts and family recipes meant to be passed around the table. Come, pull up a chair.

Openings and launches

Dore, Udaipur

A new bar in Udaipur is called Dore, pronounced dori (like thread), and serves cocktails that are Rajasthan max. One cocktail combines sangri with camel milk, another somehow puts kachori-spiced whisky in a glass, and a third combines hing with pisco. Brought to the city by Pranav Sharma—founder of Manuscript Udaipur and Sagar Neve and co-founder of Ekaa, KMC, and Bombay Daak—Dore is on the relaxed rooftop of a restored haveli with views of the City Palace and the Aravallis. The bar menu reads like a local archivist met an alchemist: Janana/Mardana pokes fun at gender segregation, and Veg/Non-veg puts a laal maas tadka in bourbon. Haldighati puts vetiver and chaitri roses from Khamnor into gin. The food plays a fitting partner to the cocktails. There is kharghosh ka kheema, murg ka khichiya, tandoori bater, cabbage khichiya, pankh ke pakode, and mirchi bada, of course.

Izipizi Street, Pune

Izipizi Street calls itself Pune’s first southeast Asian “living street”, bringing together several hawker-style food options in one place. Rather than sticking to one cuisine, the space is divided into different counters for sushi, robata grills, dim sum, noodles, and Korean small plates. Diners can try dishes and drinks from across the subcontinent all in one meal from stalls such as Moto Moto Sushi, Izi Dimsum Station, Tama Goro Cafe, and Black Bear Boba. The robata counter has chicken yakitori, grilled prawns, and charred vegetables. The noodle bar features broths and wok-tossed dishes, including pad thai, ramen bowls, and stir-fried noodles. Table service is also available from Izipizi’s central kitchen, featuring soups, salads, carpaccio/crudo, curries and stews, and desserts. The drinks menu, created by Arijit Bose, brings cocktails with decidedly Asian flavours, such as coffee boba and umeshu. For instance, one picante here has galangal and basil. Non-alcoholic choices include matcha, Thai teas, and Vietnamese phin coffee. Keith Menon has designed the space to look and feel like an Asian street market, with layered seating, a karaoke room, and a small retail area.

Tomo Kei, Bengaluru

Tucked inside the Sheraton Grand Bengaluru Whitefield Hotel & Convention Centre, Tomo Kei’s new 52-cover restaurant features chef Bobby T Recto’s menu, which celebrates the contrast between Japanese precision and Peruvian brightness, with dishes like salmon tiradito with passionfruit leche, smoky anticucho lamb chops, jalapeno miso cod, and a signature saltado. The bar follows suit, through agave-forward cocktails and a tight sake list. A few dishes are finished tableside, like the chaufa rice with aromatic oils, a guest-led leche de tigre blend, which means guests can decide what goes in the leche de tigre marinade at the table, and the 811 dessert with its drift of nitrogen vapour.

The Passport Hotel, Assagaon, Goa

At The Passport Hotel, guests check in at the bar instead of the front desk. Ashesh L Sajnani’s 27-room spot in Assagaon is all about enjoying cocktails, swapping stories, and discovering new favourites. Things kick off at Mini Bar, the lobby that moonlights as a full-fledged watering hole. Here, your welcome drink is quite literally your welcome, along with small plates to keep things fuelled. Upstairs, Layover offers rooftop sunsets and cocktails that last into the night, while Jet Lag is designed for more relaxed, spirit-focused evenings, with cocktail workshops and curated tastings. At all three, the drinks are meant to be creative, refreshing, and simple. Here’s something different: the Passport Program gives you a special map of Goa’s top bars, encouraging you to explore the neighbourhood and collect stamps along the way. When you return to your room, you’ll find a DIY cocktail kit waiting for you.

Flint, Mumbai

At Flint, everything starts with fire. Chefs Rahul Akerkar and Jaydeep Mukherjee have put together a menu with varied styles of food, all built around grilling, charring, smoking, and cooking over a live flame. Flint is the new all-day cafe from ABNAH, located in the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) complex, right next to its sibling brand Waarsa. Breakfast features dishes like Eggs Benny with spicy crab cakes and cast-iron shakshuka. Later in the day, the menu offers fire-licked small plates, such as grilled papaya with flamed burrata, corn empanadas, and calamari fritti. For bigger appetites or groups, there are options like black truffle butter spaghetti, charred dukkah cauliflower, Manipur black rice risotto, and char-grilled lamb chops. Desserts continue the fire theme, with choices like charred lemon tiramisu and smoked apple tarte tatin. The bar runs with the idea, serving smoky cocktails such as a bacon-washed Bloody Mary and an already popular ambada leaf picante. If you’re heading to a show, Flint’s strong coffee menu can keep things warm and lively before you step into a cool, dark theatre.

Julien, Mumbai

Julien, ABNAH’s new delivery-focused patisserie and dessert house, is currently hosting a pop-up at Galeries Lafayette, Mumbai. (It fits; the brand is said to be inspired by fashion.) Julien’s menu offers signature petit gateaux, celebration cakes, and small treats, including Cocoa – The Julien Way (a gluten-free chocolate cake with ganache and cocoa nib tuile), Macadamia Muse (brownie, salted caramel, and mousse), Cherry After Dark (sour cherry confit and mascarpone Chantilly), and the lighter Velvet Blush (raspberry and red velvet). Cookies and tea cakes round out the selection, all sweetened lightly for a cleaner finish. And can anything today even call itself a pastry brand without house tiramisu?

Smoor Experience Centre, Bengaluru

At the new Smoor Experience Centre, 68,000 square feet are dedicated to all things chocolate. Guests can watch, taste, and sample chocolate from bean to bar, starting on the factory floor, where they can see how a cacao bean is transformed into a Smoor chocolate bar. Guided tours take folks through every step of chocolate making, from grinding and conching to tempering and moulding. There are tasting flights, workshops, and chocolate-bar-making sessions where visitors can create their own slab. The in-house cafe, which seats 60, serves desserts and dishes that keep chocolate in the spotlight, using it for depth and complexity instead of just sweetness. All at ₹1,500 per person.

Pizza No Cap, Bengaluru

At Ulsoor’s six-week-old Pizza No Cap, pizza making is an evolving process. Rahul Singh, Siddharth Nest, and Vichita Kumar operate the restaurant as a workshop where hydration and fermentation are tweaked to the weather. They use Caputo 00 flour. The dough is cold-fermented for up to 96 hours, creating airy yet structured bases. All pizzas are fired in a custom-built brick oven, resulting in crisp edges and a centre elastic enough to support solid toppings. “No Cap” means “no exaggeration, no pretence, no nonsense”, and, following this, the 40-seat space emphasises transparency through an open kitchen and counter seating. Also, there is more than just pizza. Small plates include Chillies on Fire, Grilled Eggplant with Harissa & Moz, Sticky Chicken, and Prawn in Custardy. PNC’s signature pizzas include Kerala Flex (tenderloin pepper fry, coconut), Rooted in Greens (basil pesto, garlicky spinach, fried potato chunks, parmesan), The Ottoman (chickpea kebab, baharat, brined raw mango), and Peppa’s Muddy Puddle (curling pepperoni, stretchy cheese, hot honey drizzle). We can see why PNC is known for its layered flavours: heat against fat, acid against richness. All our Bengaluru friends have been raving about it all.

Kimikai Umami House, Delhi

​Kimikai’s interiors draw on the life and travels of an eponymous, mysterious, fictional spice trader who journeyed across Japan, China, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, and India, collecting flavours and learning about culture. To this end, it features warm wood and layered textures, intimate low-lit corners, and carved screens inspired by traditional Asian trading houses. The menu highlights umami, starting with clean, bright starters and moving to richer, more robust dishes. Cold options include salmon carpaccio with yuzu and wasabi cream, tuna tataki with ponzu, and a sharp yuzu Caesar. Small plates play with contrast: miso mushrooms, silken tofu with wafu sauce, and chicken nanban with yuzu kosho mayo. The robata section offers caramelised eggplant in sweet miso, and black cod with citrus miso. Rice and noodle dishes, such as kinoko gohan with truffle and dan-dan-style glass noodles, add heft. The cocktail menu has fun names like Faux-Y and Bae of Bengal, featuring humanised animal sketches alongside. On it, fun subcontinental flavour combinations have Pistola with almond and poppy seeds, and whisky with pippali, kewra, and wasabi. A zero-proof menu marks the hours from noon to midnight in four-hour intervals, playing with ratios of citrus, fruit, and savoury for each time of day.

New and limited menus

For the Record comes to Que Sera Sera, Mumbai

On April 10, Que Sera Sera in Andheri West will host a one-night bar takeover by Goa’s For the Record (FTR). Buland Shukla, the founder of FTR, will serve his creative, ingredient-focused cocktails at the bar. Guests can look forward to drinks like the rich and tropical Mango Sticky Rice (vodka with ripe mango, coconut, and pandan, topped with warm payasam foam), the smooth and citrusy Tea Totaller (milk-washed gin, lemongrass, and green tea), the aromatic and tangy High Fall (whisky, rosso vermouth, apricot, and cacao bitters), and the spicy, sweet, and earthy Upper Cut (bell pepper, ginger, and pear). Both QSS and FTR are known for their relaxed, conversation-friendly vibe, so this collab feels like a natural fit.

Grumps, Goa

Grumps, Sangolda’s neighbourhood bar, hidden behind a 1930s Portuguese home, is ringing in its second birthday with a fully revamped cocktail menu, from drinks to design, with a few surprises underfoot. Inspired by the Goan superstition that every traditional home has a pet snake to ward off other snakes, Grumps has built a terrazzo snake into their floor ‘to keep their space safe’. They have extended this idea to the menu, now presented in a playful Snakes and Ladders format. New drinks on it include The Unforgettable, a mahua-led twist on the picante with raw mango and spice heat, and Poetic Justice, a dirty martini reimagined with guava brine and blue cheese. The Asian-influenced bar food includes smoked eggplant “hummus”, wok-fried calamari, and coconut milk salmon tartare with nam-jim and grapes. For mains, there’s XO-laced Triple Szechuan with bacon and prawn XO, crispy noodles, and fried egg; house-made flat ‘Mouthwatering’ noodles in chilli oil and sesame paste; and mushroom chilli crispy rice.

New thalis at Comorin, Mumbai 

Launching this month, the Comorin Thali Experience turns the restaurant’s regional Indian menu into a compact, well-rounded meal. Every thali starts with a kachalu dahi batata puri. The vegetarian thali features dishes like badam kathal ki nihari and paneer papad ki subzi. These are served with Comorin’s dal tadka, fragrant gucchi pulao, and saffron raita. The non-vegetarian thali highlights Old Delhi butter chicken and Nilgiri masala prawn, northern and coastal flavours on one plate. Guests can choose from breads like butter naan, ajwaini paratha, and chilli mint lachha. For dessert, there’s slow-cooked kheer and rasgulla finished with jaggery. Priced at ₹999++ for the veg thali, and ₹1,399++ for the non-veg.

Paashh, Mumbai and Pune

The new menu at Paashh, by chefs Ajay Chopra and Rajesh Moolchandani, is so ingredient-led that it sources produce from 18 farms, making its plant-forward menu truly rooted in the region and the season. Dishes that illustrate this well: Seven Layers Satpura Chaat with pumpkin launji, methi dana chutney, and radish-chilli slaw; a Buddha Bowl with OOO Farms Navara rice, edamame, seasonal vegetables, avocado, and kale salad; and water apple and tender coconut carpaccio with yuzu kosho, wakame, melon, and dill ajo blanco. In keeping with Paashh’s philosophy, the food is designed to be light and functional, yet hearty and nourishing.

Indian Accent’s anniversary menu, Mumbai

Indian Accent, Mumbai, is celebrating its third anniversary with a new summer tasting menu created by chef Rijul Gulati. The meal opens with chaat, of course: a trifecta of panna pakodi with mango, papdi chaat with crackling spinach, and goat’s milk ‘sholay’ kick off guests’ appetites with acidity, crunch, and sweetness. Next, the menu features meat ka karela, dry-aged duck with khandvi and (just in time for the season) the Gujarati classic mango ‘fajeto’. Seafood and meat include tiger prawns, with til bugga (a sweet made with roasted sesame seeds, khoya and sugar) served with Amritsari vadi rice, the restaurant’s iconic Old Delhi butter chicken, and an Iberico pork that gets slightly crosscultural with seaweed poha and bacon sev. Melon and khus sorbet refreshes the palate before desserts like mawa kachori with masala maple, and mango-pista kulfi. Indian Accent’s Show Kitchen Experience also offers a more personal, chef-led format that allows diners to interact with the cooking process.

Restaurant Week India redux, Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru 

Restaurant Week India returns after a decade-long snooze. From April 24 to May 3, the once-popular festival will be revived in Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, and Bengaluru. It brings back RWI’s prix-fixe format, now updated for today’s urban diner. Co-founders Aatish Nath and Gauri Vij lead the 2026 edition, with guidance from chef Nachiket Shetye and Chaitanya Rele. Each restaurant offers special three-course menus created for 10 days. Lunch costs ₹1,600++ and dinner is ₹1,900++. The idea is to make it easier for people to try places that they might not usually visit or haven’t tried yet. In Mumbai, we have names like The Table and Americano. Bengaluru brings Kopitiam Lah and Lupa, among others. In Delhi, the mix includes Adrift Kaya and Inja. The focus is on restaurants where a condensed menu can still communicate identity and flavour. Further details, including the full list of participating restaurants and booking information, will be available here.

Viral Japanese fried cream sandwich at Grounded, Mumbai

At Grounded - On the Go, the newest menu item taps into a Fukuoka shop’s sando spin gone viral. The cafe’s Japanese fried cream sandwich follows the recipe: soft milk bread is deep-fried crisp and golden. It is then filled with lightly sweetened whipped cream and fresh strawberries. Much of the dessert-snack hybrid’s popularity is about contrast. A warm, crunchy outside meets a light, airy, creamy centre, with just enough fruit to balance the richness. Obviously, it’s best eaten freshly made. Grounded promises the dessert is not too sweet, the cream is light, and the portion just right for sharing.

A nostalgic new cocktail menu at Scarlett House, Mumbai 

At Scarlett House, Juhu, the new cocktail menu, Nostalgia 2.0 – The House of Firsts, connects cocktails to core memories using flavour as a medium. If that sounds confusing, here are some examples. The First Monsoon Bus Ride aims to be romantic. It combines vodka with jasmine, pandan, and tender coconut for a light, floral profile. The self-explanatory First Puff blends aged rum, smoky tea, and charred pineapple. There are others. TV Shows at 9pm brings up post-dinner sibling fights over the remote, and 80s Kids Vent Out Sessions for people who grew up without therapy.

Amadeo’s new menu, Mumbai

At Amadeo by Oberoi, the new Counter Collection menu showcases four long-loved cuisines—Japanese, Italian, Chinese, and Indian. From the Japanese section, kinoko maki combines shiitake, morel, and lotus root with truffle. In Chinese, Sichuan braised chicken and mushroom-edamame rice promise to be richly flavoured without being heavy. Italian dishes include gentle classics like prawn fagottini with bisque, and basil-leek risotto with stracciatella. The Indian selection gets a slight nudge, nothing too dramatic. Think lamb seekh kebab with black garlic burhani, and a spin on Surti undhiyu, both familiar plates with a light update.

AABBCC at Yazu, Lower Parel, Mumbai 

On April 3, Yazu will host a one-night bar takeover by Basant Lok’s AABBCC, known for structured, layered, slightly wild cocktails that are anything but classic. Here’s a peek: Oddly Done Gochujang brings heat and umami through chilli paste and berry jam, while Miyazaki combines whisky, shiitake. beurre noisette, kombu, and tonka. Where Is My Rice gets its name from Thai chilli paste matched with guava, chilli oil, and clarified coconut milk.

Easter specials 

Coracle at BIC Cafe, Bengaluru

On Easter Sunday, at Coracle at BIC Cafe, chef Tresa Francis goes beyond her usual Kerala dishes to offer a selection inspired by the estate kitchens where she grew up. And so, her menu features celebratory, slow-cooked dishes such as a rich, traditional duck roast with vellappam, a typical Easter-table centrepiece. Her pork roast, on the other hand, will be somewhat untraditional, bringing in flavours from outside Kerala. A baked fish dish pays tribute to older, cross-cultural estate cooking, a nod to influences from across the world that found their way into Sunday feasts. The beef brisket is cooked slowly to highlight its tenderness, and the cashew mappas makes an interesting nut-filled vegetarian dish. The meal is meant to be eaten family-style, served from 10 am to 3 pm, for a long, relaxed Easter lunch.

Tijouri, Bengaluru

At Tijouri, chef Priya Verghese is rolling out a home-style Syrian Christian feast inspired by family traditions and recipes this Easter Sunday. The festive menu starts with kappa phuzhungiyathu (tender steamed tapioca), then moves to beef cutlet and vazhappu vada (a fritter made from shredded banana flowers, chana dal, onion, and spices). For mains, enjoy duck roast, kodumpuli meen curry, egg roast, and Nasrani mutton biryani. Sides like ulli theeyal, pineapple pachadi, and kandari chammandi bring sharp, sweet, and tangy flavours for balance. Vatteappam and red matta rice accompany the meal. Dessert is madakusan (a crepe filled with sugar). The meal runs from noon to 3 pm and is ₹3,300 per person.

La Panthera x Padaria Prazeres, Mumbai 

This Easter, La Panthera hosts a one-day collaboration between chefs Manuel Olveira and Ralph Prazeres from Padaria Prazeres, featuring a menu that spotlights both signature and collaborative dishes. The highlight is the pastel de nata sourdough pizza—a fusion of Prazeres’s famed Portuguese custard tart and Olveira’s 48-hour fermented dough, finished with cinnamon and caramelised sugar for a dessert-meets-main twist. The menu also offers a collaborative slow-roasted lamb and Padaria Prazeres signatures such as red amaranth salad, cheddar mushroom croquettas, burrata with raw mango jam, prawn XO with brie, and seabass skewers with chimichurri. Mains include vegetable caldeen, mushroom orzo, sausage shakshuka, and pork belly with apple sauce. Desserts feature mango tres leches and sticky toffee pudding. Olveira’s menu features La Panthera favourites like Bloody Mary ceviche, butter garlic crab croquettes, and charred octopus. Classic pastas, such as cacio e pepe, and main dishes like grilled tenderloin and seabass and pizza will also be on hand. A special brunch cocktail menu featuring drinks like an Aperol spritz with spiced apple cider and a tiramisu-inspired cocktail, and a Padaria Prazeres pop-up bakery with pastel de nata, palmiers, Berliners, and carrot cake, complete the experience. There are two seatings—noon and 2 pm—on April 5. Reservations are recommended.

Jakobi’s Easter eggs, pan India

Jakobi Chocolatier’s Easter Egg Box, a nine-piece assortment, comes in a three-by-three grid: Dolcezza leans classic with a milk chocolate truffle with a honey-caramel centre; Mahro is a touch tropical with white chocolate, mango, and salted caramel; and aromatic Elara has coconut and cardamom within a milk chocolate shell. A box is ₹749 for nine pieces.

O Pedro’s Goan feast

Pedro’s Easter Feaster, running April 4 and 5, embraces the celebratory feast the Goan way. It opens with plates like charred cabbage foogath. A chicken Scotch egg comes paired with cafreal ketchup. Richer plates feature baked clam rissois, as well as lobster and squid sukka layered with a vermicelli pancake and chilli-coconut masala. The meal’s big-ticket items include Portuguese lamb roast, pork chop cutlets with green rassa, and a devilled beef roast with potato hash. The menu is laced with playful bites. Ham and cheese meet hot cross buns, and a choriz highball brings together gin with a chorizo infusion, cucumber-dill pickle, and salad-bar kombucha. Dessert is an ice cream sando with mascarpone, fig compote, and rum-chocolate sauce. In keeping with the theme, a band called The Vindaloos will be playing over the weekend.