Delhi Delhi brings the flavours of India's capital to the heart of Royal Oak — a restaurant and bar on Mount Smart Road where street-style chaat sits alongside slow-cooked curries, tandoor classics and a properly serious drinks list. The kitchen's ethos is spelled out plainly: real food, real stories, real soul, built on authentic spices, real technique and zero shortcuts.
The menu reads like a tour of Delhi's streets. Nostalgic plates include aloo tikki chaat with tangy tamarind chutney and creamy yoghurt, nutri kulcha with warm, buttery bread, and lamb keema served with laccha paratha, while the tandoor turns out chicken tikka marinated overnight and smoke roasted, tandoori chicken, paneer tikka and seekh kebab. Curries run from butter chicken and the dhaba-style, bone-in Delhi Da Butter Chicken to rogan josh, Punjabi goat curry and a house lamb shank, with a deep vegetarian list from dhaba dal makhani to malai kofta — vegan options marked on the menu.
The bar holds its own end of the bargain. Cocktails take their names from Delhi itself — Chandni Chowk to China, Shikanji, Aachar — alongside gin and tonics built on Moksha Spice of India gin, Tanqueray and Scapegrace, New Zealand and international wines, Kingfisher on tap, and a mocktail list with mango lassi, nimbu pani and masala chai for the streets-of-Delhi finish.
Delhi Delhi is open Tuesday to Thursday from 4pm, with lunch and dinner services Friday through Sunday. Dine in, reserve a table online, or order online for takeaway — and if anyone at the table has allergies, the team asks that you let them know before ordering.
Delhi Delhi bills itself as "The Streets of Delhi. The Heart of Royal Oak" — and the menu at this Mount Smart Road restaurant and bar backs the claim up. From street-style chaats to slow-cooked curries, every dish is pitched as carrying a story, crafted with authentic spices, real technique and zero shortcuts. The house motto, "Dine in. Drink up. Stay a while", tells you the shape of an evening here: this is a place built for lingering.
Start where Delhi starts — the street snacks. The aloo tikki chaat stacks crispy potato patties with tangy tamarind chutney, creamy yoghurt and house-made spices, while the nostalgic plates run to nutri kulcha, a deep fried soya curry served with warm, buttery kulchas, and lamb keema slow-cooked with onions, tomatoes, ginger and green chillies alongside a laccha paratha. Poppadums with chutneys, onion bhaji and vege samosa round out the opening acts.
The tandoor carries real weight in the kitchen. Chicken tikka is marinated overnight and smoke roasted in the tandoor oven; tandoori chicken arrives with mint sauce; black pepper tikka spends a night in fresh yogurt, mint and coriander; fish tikka uses market fish in ginger-garlic paste and lemon; and paneer tikka gives vegetarians the same char-kissed treatment. Seekh kebab — minced lamb with garam masala, fresh herbs and ground chillies — is built for the table, as is the mix platter, which gathers samosa, hara bhara kebab, chicken tikka and lamb seekh kebab on one board. Indo-Chinese street favourites like chilli chicken, veg manchurian and drums of heaven with schezwan sauce fill out the share plates.
The curry list is where the slow-cooking shows. Butter chicken leads the chicken curries — boneless chicken half cooked in the tandoor, then finished in a creamy flavoured tomato gravy — while Delhi Da Butter Chicken is its dhaba-style sibling, made with succulent bone-in pieces. Chicken tariwala is a classic, rustic Punjabi curry with aromatic whole spices, and the tikka masala and tikka saag cover the tangy-nutty and spinach ends of the spectrum.
Lamb and goat get the full treatment: rogan josh with Kashmiri chilli, cashew-enriched lamb korma garnished with sultanas, fiery vindaloo, coconut-cream madras, lamb saag and Punjabi goat curry with turmeric, ginger and garlic. The house signature is the Delhi Delhi lamb shank, low cooked in a tomato and onion sauce and served with naan bread. Seafood options include fish curry with nigella and mustard seeds and prawn masala with capsicum and onion.
The vegetarian list is a destination in its own right: dhaba dal makhani slowly simmered from urad, chana dal and red kidney beans, paneer saag, karahi paneer, butter paneer masala, malai kofta stuffed with plum and cashew, plus chana masala, aloo gobhi, daal tarka and vege karahi — with vegan options marked on the menu. Order biryani cooked with a special blend of spices, add breads from plain naan to chilli, cheese and garlic naan, and finish with malpua with rabri, gulab jamun with vanilla ice cream, or the Nutella ka kulcha.
The bar earns its half of the motto. Cocktails borrow their names from Delhi: Chandni Chowk to China mixes limoncello, sencha, lemongrass, prosecco and soda; Shikanji pairs vodka, Cointreau, lemon, mint and masala; Kaffee builds spiced rum and cold brew under a vanilla ice cream foam; and the Aachar is a pickle fat-washed tequila sour with Cointreau, lime and agave. Gin and tonics lean on Moksha Spice of India gin, Tanqueray and Scapegrace with Fever Tree mixers, and the wine list travels from Marlborough and Central Otago to Waiheke, Gisborne, Mosel and the McLaren Vale. Kingfisher flows on tap beside New Zealand craft from Garage Project, Sawmill and Urbanaut, and non-drinkers get genuine options: Gulabo and Tropical Fizz mocktails, mango lassi, nimbu pani and masala chai.
Find Delhi Delhi at 13 Mount Smart Road, Royal Oak, Auckland. Doors open Tuesday to Thursday from 4pm to 10pm; Friday and Saturday run a lunch service from 11.30am to 3pm and dinner from 4pm to 11pm; Sunday serves lunch 11.30am to 3pm and dinner 4pm to 9pm. Mondays are closed.
You can reserve a table online or order online for takeaway. A few house notes worth knowing: payment is one bill per table, credit card transactions carry a 2% processing fee, and if anyone in your party has allergy requirements the team asks to be told before you order — they take extra care where humanly possible, though they can't guarantee tracing every element.