Bengaluru is undeniably a diverse hub of culinary delights, as evidenced by Condé Nast Traveller’s Top Restaurant Awards. The city boasted 11 restaurants within the top 50, showcasing a rich blend of cuisines, culinary methods, and fine dining innovations. Among established favourites like Falak and Burma Burma Restaurant & Tearoom, newer and smaller establishments also shone, from a ramen bar born during the pandemic to Manu Chandra’s European restaurant on MG Road.
Here are the best restaurants in Bengaluru right now:
#1 Bengaluru Oota Company:
Bengaluru Oota Company provides a cosy dining setting with a reservation-only policy, offering just five tables in a charming yellow-walled home in Halasuru. Their Gowda-Mangalorean menu changes daily based on fresh market ingredients. Guests can share their dietary preferences upon booking, and the meal will be customised accordingly. A typical 5-course meal includes seasonal drinks, traditional starters, flavorful curries, rice dishes, chutneys, pickles, pachadis, curd rice, desserts, and filter coffee to finish. Owned and run by Divya Prabhakar, a 7th generation Gowda from Ulsoor with 18 years of hospitality experience, the restaurant ensures a delightful experience with regional delicacies like kori gassi and mutton cutlets, coupled with insights into their history and preparation. You can find them on Instagram at Bengaluru Oota Company, located at 5, Cambridge Cross Road, Halasuru, Cambridge Layout, Jogupalya, Bengaluru.
#2 Le Cirque Signature, The Leela Palace Bengaluru:
This fancy restaurant at The Leela Palace Bengaluru gives guests a luxurious dining experience blending French and Italian flavours. Le Cirque Signature has a cozy yet elegant atmosphere that matches its Franco-Italian cuisine. You can dine indoors privately or outdoors with a view of the hotel gardens. Chef Ranjan Rao, who has experience from The Oberoi Bangalore and One & Only Royal Mirage Dubai, creates beautifully presented dishes like pan-seared Atlantic scallops, butternut squash soup, and hazelnut mille-feuille with layers of flavour and texture.
#3 Lupa
Chef Manu Chandra returned to the restaurant scene with Lupa after taking a break from the Olive Group in 2021. Alongside Founder-Partner Chetan Rampal, he opened Lupa in February 2023, spanning 11,000 square feet. The restaurant, named after the mythological she-wolf La Lupa, combines classic European flavors with a modern twist. Inside, you'll find a salumeria and small plates bar offering tapas-style bites and house-cured meats, a gelato lab for freshly made gelato, a stone wine cellar housing 2,000 wine bottles, and a raised bar serving craft cocktails. Despite being new, Lupa made it to the Top Restaurant Awards 2023 list.
#4 FarmLore, Bengaluru
This small 18-seat restaurant is set on a 37-acre farm at the city's edge. They use ingredients grown on the farm and cook everything on a large wood-fired oven and pit stove. The menu changes monthly, and the details are kept a surprise until you arrive for your reservation. You can find out about the menu on the restaurant's Instagram page after the month's last serving session. For example, the July menu included Malabar oysters and a Milagu seaweed broth, while the August menu featured drumstick metil soup with metil moringa noodles, crab with scallion bread, and mead apple sorbet with a floral berry consommé.
#5 Karavalli - Vivanta Bengaluru Residency Road
Karavalli is located at Vivanta Bengaluru Residency Road and offers a menu filled with popular dishes from the southern and western coasts of India. Some highlights include fiery crab milagu fry, tiger prawns roast, and Alleppey meen curry. The restaurant focuses on authentic flavours and cooking methods, featuring recipes from Hindu, Muslim, and Christian coastal communities. Designed like a traditional Mangalorean bungalow amidst tamarind trees, Karavalli takes inspiration from South Indian coastal homes. Chef Naren Thimmaiah and his team curated the menu after extensive research, conversations with locals, and testing age-old recipes.
#6 Falak, The Leela Bhartiya City, Bengaluru
Falak is all about top-notch Indian cuisine. Their slow-cooked qormas, dals, and niharis pair perfectly with Indian breads like khameeri roti, bakarkhani, and kulchas. Chef Farman Ali, with five decades of experience in Indian cooking worldwide, came out of retirement to join The Leela and showcase his expertise. For a lavish experience, try the Dastan-e-Goi menu, featuring kebabs, Falak's special tandoori chicken, lobster kali mirch, gosht dum biryani, and a mithai platter with sweets from North India.
#7 Burma Burma Restaurant & Tearoom, Indiranagar, Bengaluru
Burma Burma is a restaurant that celebrates the flavours, culture, and cooking styles of Myanmar. They offer a modern twist on traditional dishes like mango salad, Mandalay noodle bowl, Mekong curry, crispy lotus root chips, samosa soup, and steamed buns. Their vegetarian menu explores Myanmar's cuisine deeply, using unique ingredients beyond typical Southeast Asian fare. Desserts include a Burmese-style falooda and tagu payan, a coconut panna cotta. They also have a wide selection of teas, including oolong, chamomile, mandarin, flavoured cold brew teas, and bubble teas like matcha and yuzu.
#8 Oota Bangalore
In Kannada, "Oota aita?" is a friendly way to ask if someone has eaten, often suggesting, "Can I make you something?" This reflects the hospitable nature of Karnataka locals. Oota Bangalore embodies this warmth with its diverse menu, featuring dishes from various places across Karnataka, including roadside stalls, small eateries, temple kitchens, famous restaurants, and local khanavalis. Each dish is labeled with its region, such as Souji chicken curry from North Karnataka, maddur vade and chicken sukke from South Karnataka, kori curry and anjal fish fry from coastal Karnataka, and kumme (mushroom) curry and akki roti from Coorg.