Diner's club: Celebrities and their favourite restaurants

 

ROHIT SHARMA 

Cricketer

Favourite restaurants: Chaat at Swati Snacks, and avocado tartare and lotus root on fire at Yuuka in Mumbai. Also Buddha Bar in Monaco: There’s no dish I don’t love there

The surprise twist: Indian food at a Mauritius hotel some years ago. My friend had a craving, but there wasn’t any at the hotel. The chef was nice enough to try his hand at it and it ended up being one of the best Indian meals I’ve eaten

Street food: Vada pav

Comfort food: Poha or sabudana khichdi. Don’t get to eat it that often but have it whenever I’m at my mom’s house

Guilty pleasure: Waffles, but I never eat them. Unless I’m in London and we pass Wafflemeister

SHUBHRA CHADDA 

Co-founder, Chumbak

Favourite restaurants: The Bombay Canteen, Mumbai; Indian Accent, Delhi; Toast & Tonic, Bengaluru; Gaggan, Bangkok; and Le Bernardin, New York; Masakichi, Tokyo. My favourite dishes are the Kejriwal toast and gulab nut for dessert at The Bombay Canteen

The surprise twist: Salmon roe at Tsukiji fish market in Japan

Street food: Bhel puri or vada pav in Mumbai

Comfort food: Curd rice, which my husband makes for me, and I get to have 2-3 times a week

Guilty pleasure: A glass of wine everyday

AMISH TRIPATHI 

Author

Favourite restaurants: Be it India or abroad, I’m more concerned about the ambience than a particular restaurant or the cuisine

The surprise twist: Mango Tree in the historic town of Hampi in Karnataka. They served this lovely South Indian thali on banana plantains. The ground-level seating faced the Tungabhadra river and beyond the river were the architectural ruins of the Vijayanagara empire. The food was simple, tasty and pocket-friendly

Street food: Pani puri

Comfort food: Dal khichdi with buknu (spice mixture, popular in northern India), ghee, papad and dahi at least once a fortnight, and my go-to restaurant for this is Khichdi Samrat in Mumbai

Guilty pleasure: Cream biscuits and chocolates

SHILPA SHETTY 

Actor

Favourite restaurants: Wasabi by Morimoto in India and Nobu abroad

Street food: Vada pav and pani puri

Comfort food: Dal khichdi with ghee

Guilty pleasure: Chocolate

SIDDHANT KAMATH 

Director, Natural Ice cream

Favourite restaurants: Highway Gomantak in Mumbai for authentic seafood; Al Jawahar in Delhi for the best khameeri roti and chicken changezi; the unique kebabs and the biriyani at Kolkata’s Arsalan; Giri Manja’s in Mangaluru for its home-style seafood thali; and Kokni Kanteen in Goa for barleli bangda and baby shark curry

The surprise twist: At Gunpowder, Goa, I was surprised how South Indian food can be redefined
Street food: Misal pav, any day, any time

Comfort food: Dal makhani with plain laccha paratha. When I am having a bad day, there’s extra white butter on the dal. I usually let myself indulge on Friday nights

Guilty pleasure: Moong dal halwa. I forget about diet and etiquette when I’m having it

 

PAYAL SINGHAL

Designer

Favourite restaurants: Peshawari in Mumbai: There’s no black dal like Peshawari’s in the world; Pio Pio 8 in New York—their green sauce is to die for

The surprise twist: The raspberry dessert at Yauatcha
Street food: Egyptian chicken & rice on 49th Street & 6th Avenue in New York City

Comfort food: Homemade chicken biryani. I have it at least twice a week

Guilty pleasure: Chocolate cake, any time