The Potbelly Bihari Kitchen

Delhi's first serious Bihari restaurant has spent over a decade single-handedly making the case that there is a cuisine east of Lucknow worth taking seriously in the capital (Bengalis and Northeast Indians, we’re obviously not talking about you. You know who we’re talking about). 

It began as a fourth-floor walk-up in Shahpur Jat and has since moved to Hauz Khas Market under the name Potbelly Bar and Kitchen, and is in better form than ever. 

The old favourites are all still here – Champaran mutton, the Bihari burger, dehati fish and chips, litti chokha – but Puja Sahu Iyer, who runs the kitchen, has been rummaging through her own childhood and peppering the menu with ingredients she grew up eating. 

Millet is a motif across the menu. The arbi patta chaat is a refreshing departure from its cousin, palak patta (which Delhi has adopted whole-heartedly) but the real underdog is the moong dal chaat: tangy, sweet and with the right amount of crunch as a side. Oh, and there’s a new headliner: the noon paani mutton, slow-cooked in its own fat into something so delectable that everything plays out in sensuous slow motion after the first bite.

The surprise, in a part of town that has otherwise abandoned all pretence of reasonable pricing, is how good the bar is. The signature cocktails are built around house-made and fermented ingredients – the Pick-up the Ante is tequila and mezcal sharpened with turmeric, pepper and honey; the Kanji ka Quila is tequila with fermented carrot and beet kanji – and at ₹695 a pour, it is suspiciously fair.

Through all this, the thalis remain the steady heart of the place. The Madhubani, the Maithili, the Bhojpuri, each is a different region of Bihar making its case in marua pooris, sattu paratha, and the flaxseed chutney, a sidekick with main character energy.