Taiwanese foodie shares ‘honest review’ of chef Gaggan Anand’s new Delhi restaurant Raga: 22 courses for ₹11,111
Raga’s 22-Course Delhi Debut Draws a Detailed First Review
Indiadailyupdate.com – Chef Gaggan Anand’s new Delhi restaurant, Raga, has entered the city’s dining conversation with an ambitious proposition: a 22-course tasting menu priced at ₹11,111 per person. Opened in August 2026 with chef Rydo Anton and restaurateur Zorawar Kalra, the restaurant brings a highly theatrical, experimental approach to Indian flavours.
The launch naturally arrived with considerable expectations. Anand’s Bangkok restaurant has led Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants ranking five times, and Raga presents Indian ingredients and recognisable dishes through intricate, avant-garde formats rather than conventional plating.
Taiwanese content creator and Delhi-based teacher Lily Shih visited Raga on the second day after it opened and shared a full video review on Instagram on September 12. Her evening covered dishes that delighted her, a few that left her unconvinced, and several observations about the restaurant’s early operational rough edges.
An Early Start and Familiar Flavours Reworked
Shih arrived for the 7 pm seating and found the dining room nearly vacant. Her meal began with a fine course presented on ice, which she felt recalled aam panna. Its sour and salty profile, she said, still carried a sense of familiarity despite the restaurant’s modern presentation.
Her standout bite was called the “pink blossom,” a jelly-like creation combining yoghurt, guava, chilli and popping candy. The contrast of creamy, fruity, spicy and crackling elements made a strong impression.
“It literally explodes in your mouth.”
Other early courses included a chilled papad with cucumber and puffed rice. Shih compared it to a vegetarian Indian take on meat jelly. She was also taken by a walnut-shaped jhalmuri cookie, while a foil-covered pani puri or golgappa, set on a nest and described as a golden egg, supplied one of the meal’s most visually dramatic moments.
When the Concepts Were Less Convincing
Not every reinvention landed equally well for Shih. An aloo bonda sandwich made with compressed powdered bread felt too dry to her, and she said it was difficult to eat.
“I really admire the effort, but...”
The stuffed chicken wing, served inside a bamboo cage, received a restrained response from the self-described izakaya enthusiast. She called it “just okay.” A basa fish preparation in banana leaf was another course she found challenging, citing an intense mustard taste and a mildly bitter finish.
These reactions underline the nature of a long tasting menu: it is designed as a sequence of ideas, textures and references, rather than a collection of universally comforting dishes. At Raga, familiar Indian food memories can appear in forms that are deliberately unexpected. That approach may be especially appealing to diners seeking culinary spectacle, though individual courses can naturally divide opinion.
Lamb Dishes and a Playful Dessert Finish
The main portion of the menu leaned heavily toward lamb and arrived in tall porcelain vessels decorated with floral motifs. One bowl left Shih unsure of precisely what she had eaten; she wondered whether it contained lamb brain.
“A lamb brain? After eating it, I still wasn't really sure what it was.”
By contrast, the lamb chop proved to be a clear success. Served to be eaten directly from the bone, it was praised for being unexpectedly tender and juicy.
Dessert began with shaved ice, glass noodles and green mango. It was followed by Anand’s well-known “lick it up” course, in which diners are meant to consume sauce directly from the plate. Shih chose a less literal interpretation of the instruction.
“I still don't have the courage to literally lick the plate in a restaurant, so fingers it is.”
She finished with meringue, saffron-and-pistachio ice cream, and a small wooden chest containing sweets. While the closing presentation was visually impressive, she felt that Indian desserts remained somewhat too sweet for her palate.
A Strong Score, With Suggestions for Improvement
Shih ultimately awarded Raga a 9.2 out of 10, reflecting her appreciation for its visual ambition and the imaginative way it breaks down and reconstructs Indian food. In her caption, she described being impressed by the menu despite not having deep familiarity with Indian cuisine.
“Even though I'm a foreigner and not deeply familiar with Indian cuisine, I was still amazed by how Indian food could be deconstructed, reassembled, and reinvented in such unexpected ways.”
Her review also included practical feedback from the visit. She mentioned water leaking from the air-conditioning, small bugs inside the restaurant, and tableware that she felt could be more refined. Some plates drawing from Japanese or Chinese-inspired design language did not seem entirely suited to the overall experience from her perspective.
Such details can matter at the premium end of Delhi dining, where guests are paying not only for inventive food but also for polish, comfort and consistency throughout a multi-course evening. Raga’s early days may still involve adjustments, but Shih’s overall response suggests that its core food experience made a substantial impact.
Standing outside the illuminated entrance after the meal, she made her clearest endorsement yet: she said that when foreign friends next visit Delhi, Raga could be her choice over Indian Accent.
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