1932 Trevi

A designer, a curator, and a restaurateur walk into a bar, and....no. Wait. They create the bar, along with the city's slickest Italian restaurant, where drink, design, and dining compete to see which one gets noticed first. Trevi gets its name from Rome’s ridiculously famous fountain (and features one of its own, unseriously encouraging the whole coin bit) and 1932’s when the owner purchased the land on which the family-run hotel Santha Bagh was built, which is now where the restaurant resides. 

Founder Namokar Jain's behind some of Jaipur's finest nightlife spots, so Trevi's backed by his hefty reputation, which sings – no, screams – through the craft cocktails and Italian menu, which has been admittedly watered down to better suit the Indian palate. We're not really complaining about that, though, because it works. 

The drinks at Trevi – served at the Omakase-style low-slung bar – are named after the gemstones often worn by the maharajas of Jaipur. Coral Reef's a spicy tomato mix full of masala and tequila; Cat's Eye's a hazelnut-Irish cream affair, and the signature 1932's a play on a whiskey sour, featuring bourbon and lemon bitters. They're all pretty great. 

The menu's got plenty of impressive items – The Avocado Galouti Kabab with the little Warki paranthas, Jackfruit Korma Tacos, Honey Chipotle Chicken Tikka and Dates Lamb Chops make for solid starters. The Ricotta and Chicken Candy Pasta, spicy Lamb Diavola pizza, Mutton Seekh Kebab, Cacio e Pepe and Laal Maas are big meaty hits. And it would be a cardinal sin to sign off without the thick Vanilla Hibiscus Kheer that surprises you with pops of candied butterscotch and nuts. 

A good restaurant doesn't necessarily need to go ham on decor, but this one does. Designer Shantanu Garg's transformed the 14,000 square foot space by marrying Italian architecture to Jaipur's best-known motifs – lotus, lime plaster, Araish walls, even the metallic peacocks on the bar lights, which tip their hat to the scores of real-life peacocks strutting all over Santha Bagh. Curator Jay Sharma's done his bit to transform the 168-seater into what he'd imagine the architectural fantasies of a fictional maharaja obsessed with Italy to be. Thanks to that opulent dream, guests are treated with the finest tableware (the red maharani plate's a delight) and even an ottoman exclusively reserved for ladies' handbags. 

Trevi’s got plenty of indoor seating for the summer, but in winter, the open-to-sky dining area’s usually lit up with hundreds of candles and flickering bar heaters, making for a pretty sick experience.