The best things to do in Saket

What is it: A hidden lane in the village of Saidulajab, reachable by turning right past a cigarette shop into what appears to be a dead end, that contains, improbably, some of the most charming cafe and artisan real estate in South Delhi.

Why we love it: In 2013, graphic designer and hobby carpenter Jiten Suchede took over a host of abandoned poultry sheds. Part of the result of this was a pushcart made from discarded wood, which became Jugmug Thela, the cafe that gave the lane its soul. Blue Tokai moved in shortly after and brought champa plants; the flowers gave the street its name. Today, the gali holds art stores, handicraft boutiques, and a standing cast of small eateries, all strung together with fairy lights and bougainvillea and, on good evenings, the sound of a guitar from somewhere.

Time Out tip: The gali is entirely alcohol-free. Check restaurants out for individual timings; by large, they close around 10.

Address: 11A Ground Floor Westend Marg, Lane Number 3, Saket, New Delhi, Delhi 110030

What is it: The joke (a gentle, very Delhi joke) is that India's first private museum of modern and contemporary art is located inside a shopping mall. Kiran Nadar established it in 2010.

Why we love it: What Nadar’s built is a site for exhibitions that arguably sit at the top of Delhi’s conversations about art, be it Raza's meditative bindu paintings, Tyeb Mehta's diagonal canvases cracked open by grief and history, Nasreen Mohamedi's ascetic graphite lines, Husain, Krishen Khanna, Rameshwar Broota… or, I’m confident, whoever is showcased next. It’s almost always not too crowded here, so you don’t need to fuss about that. The rotating exhibitions have shown a Caravaggio in Delhi for the first time, and staged a zine archive where visitors were invited to touch things and make their own, which is not something most museums let you do. KNMA’s also known to help programme interesting events across the city.

Time Out tip: If you go here, allocate proper time. I’m talking at least one and a half hours. You can easily break it up, though, by visiting the Dohful’s outlet for coffee or a snack station in between, which you can reach by using the gallery’s in-mall exit.

Timings: Tue-Sun. 10.30am-6.30pm. Mon closed.

Address: No 145, DLF South Court Mall, Saket District Centre.

What is it: One of the most important alternative arts organisations in the city, if you ask me. This seemingly humble Khirki Extension spot has seeded sister organisations in Karachi, Dhaka, and Colombo, staged the first international art project in Kashmir since 1947, and developed a residency programme for emerging graduates.

Why we love it: Because it has been doing risky artist-first work for nearly thirty years without becoming an institution in the deadening sense.  They have exhibition galleries, resident artist studios, a reference library, a media lab, and a canteen with good coffee. And while it’s not strictly in Saket, it’s right next to it (you can pair it with KNMA if you’re feeling especially determined) and as you enter from near a temple, you already begin to see the fading murals on the buildings of Khirki Extension: the first signs of their commitment to community.

Time Out tip: If you’re looking it up on a directions/ride-booking app, search for Khoj International Artists’ Association.

Timings: Mon-Sat. 11am-7pm. Check the website before visiting. The building isn't always open without an exhibition or event as occasion. 

Address: S-17, Khirki Extension, opposite Select Citywalk, near Sai Baba Mandir.

What is it: Just off Saket’s outskirts, this is a 13th-century urban village whose masjid was built in 1380 AD and whose lanes have spent the six and a half centuries since being continuously surprised by who shows up next. The current population is a dense mix of original village families, migrants from across South and Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, artists and architects who arrived when the rents were low.

Why we love it: Other than Khoj, there are some grassroots initiatives doing serious work here – Studio Khirki, which runs The Irregulars Art Fair, and Khuli Khirkee, which does interesting workshops not often found elsewhere in the city.

Timings: Varies per session.

Address: Studio Khirki – S-4, Khirki Ext Rd, Block J, Khirki Extension, Malviya Nagar, New Delhi, Delhi 110017

Khuli Khirkee – S-17, Block J, Khirki Extension, Malviya Nagar, New Delhi, Delhi 110017

What is it: One of Delhi’s best dive bars where many Saket evenings end well.

Why we love it: It’s reliable, friendly, does cocktails very nicely for a dive bar, and has chakna from North Indian to Indo-Chinese. It’s a spot perfected for second rounds, designed well for loud conversations (which you can overhear only if you strain your ears a little – they’re usually quite interesting). In a neighbourhood that has embraced ceaselessly rotating  restaurant menus, this place is timeless in the best sense of the word.

Address: 15-16, 1st Floor, J Block Market, Saket, New Delhi, Delhi 110030

What is it: A government-commissioned public park that is, against all odds, shockingly underrated as an urban green space.

Why we love it: It was designed on twenty acres of rocky terrain in Said-ul-Azaib village in 2003, building around the geological outcroppings rather than levelling them, which gives the whole thing a texture most public parks in this city lack. The Khas Bagh is modelled on Mughal garden geometry. There is a Court of Bamboo, a Court of Cacti, a water lily pool, an aromatic herb garden, ceramic bells, fibreoptic-lit fountains, twenty-five sculptures, and stainless-steel birds on slate-clad pillars at the entrance that catch the afternoon light in a way that stops you mid-stride. There is also a replica Mayan arch, which was a diplomatic gift from Mexico, built in Rajasthani stone by Indian stonecutters replicating a structure from the Yucatan dated to 862 AD.

Time Out tip: The annual Garden Tourism Festival in February is the best occasion to visit.

Timings: Mon-Sun. April to September: 9am-7pm. October to March: 9am-6pm. 

Address: Westend Marg, Saidulajab, Saiyad ul Ajaib, Saket, New Delhi, Delhi 110030

Tickets: ₹50 for adults and ₹20 for children (ages 5-12) and senior citizens.

What is it: A retro-heavy gallery and showroom, otherwise known as the studio of Abhisek Basak, a NIFT Hyderabad alumnus and an extremely committed steampunk artist. 

Why we love it: This space sources scrapped watches from across the world, restoring or reimagining them, and constructs jewellery with clockwork internals, table lamps from rewired typewriters backlit with exposed bulbs, cufflinks carrying ghosts of instruments. It feels straight out of one of those animated movies centred around an old antiques shop with a portal into another world somewhere. 

Timings: Mon-Sun. 11am-7pm.

Address: 264, Westend Marg, Butterfly Park, Saiyad ul Ajaib, Saket, New Delhi, Delhi 110030

What is it: Every person who has ever walked from Malviya Nagar metro to Eldeco Centre or Select Citywalk has walked past the Hauz Rani ceramics market, which runs along a strip of pavement in a colourful, slightly overwhelming blur of terracotta pots and ceramic plates.

Why we love it: Planters shaped like elephants and Buddhas and snails. Cute stuff everywhere. My recent absolute favourite find was a mushroom-themed mug, complete with a red-and-yellow-dotted cover resembling a mushroom head. The market is more than sixty years old. It was built by craftsmen from Rajasthan and Haryana who migrated here and set up stalls without fanfare, and it has operated, without a brand or a middleman or a concept, ever since. If you time it right, you might run into someone directly sculpting in front of you. The interior designers and cafe-owners of Delhi, and some other cities, know all about this place and say nothing.

Time Out tip: Resist the impulse to buy from the first stall if you’ve got time. Go through as many as you can before you zero in on a good deal. Bargain-drivers too tend to have a good time here. 

Timings: Wed-Mon. 11am-8:30pm, roughly. Tues closed.

Address: Hauz Rani, Malviya Nagar, between the metro and Select Citywalk. 

What they are: Select Citywalk, DLF Avenue, MGF Metropolitan, and DLF South Court, four insanely popular malls running along Press Enclave Marg.

Why we love them:  The food, if you know where to look, is great. Havemore at MGF Metropolitan is a Pandara Road institution since 1959,  named because the founder's customers kept demanding more, a joke that became a name that became a legacy with butter chicken and kakori. Effingut, also at MGF, is amazing with craft beer (my personal recommendation is the mango beer). Typically held as the best mall food court though is Commons in DLF Avenue, which houses Perch, Pot Pot, Vietnom, Mahabelly, and other classics. Select Citywalk is where to go for the shopping, and DLF South Court’s covered in a day’s ease with the KNMA.

Time Out tip: Select Citywalk also now houses pickleball courts under the moniker of Fusion Play Arena, which can be booked ahead online by calling or texting 7303732096. Often, they’re not too hard to find bookings for, which is becoming increasingly rare, given that pickleball’s increasingly tickling South Delhi’s pickle.

What is it: Located at the junction of Saket and Malviya Nagar metro stations, Eldeco Centre exudes confidence: LEED-certified, solar glass skylights, geothermal cooling, and one of the city’s ground-floor dining precincts that is taken more seriously.

Why we love it: There are several lovely places to visit here. The youngest outlet of Piano Man is a good anchor for an evening, with live (quality) music, gothic-church proportions, faux candles, and dark wood interiors that their food and cocktail programmes only barely compete with. It’ll likely demand most of your time.

Manam Chocolate, from Hyderabad, is another strong contender: founder Chaitanya Muppala built India's largest fine-flavour cacao fermentary, and now has opened a 3,200-square-foot Delhi space with chocolate pipes running visibly across the ceiling, all sourced from West Godavari. Scan a QR code to trace your bar to its source farm, or simply drink one of thirty-six chocolate beverages until the afternoon disappears. 

Arts Room rotates a new artist through the space monthly, making it simultaneously a restaurant and a revolving gallery. Hikki specialises in Japanese with black cod robata, brie sushi, yuzu cocktails, while Kamei is moody pan-Asian, rattan-furnished, with a good spicy tuna tartare. You’ve got Latoya for Latin American, and 6 Ballygunge Place for Bengali. 

Timings: Mon-Sun. 8am-1am. Check ahead for Piano Man gig timings.

Address: Block A, Shivalik Colony, Malviya Nagar, New Delhi, Delhi 110017 

What is it: A club hosting frequent comedy nights, boasting some pretty well-known names in the circuit.

Why we love it: Tickets are usually cheap, and they’re also known to give stage to some new kids in the block, often while experimenting with the stand-up format in their own way. Hideout also hosts what they call comedy festivals as well as the occasional open mic free-for-all.

Price: Varies.

Address: PVR Anupam Saket, 1, near Subway, opposite Croma, New Delhi, Delhi 110017