Arriving delhi & need help on restaurant and shopping?

emmak1

Hi there - when I arrive in Delhi where is a good place to go shopping for bit and bobs like mosquito coils and shampoo and also bags and some clothes etc? is there like an area called something? where do I head for?

Also - does anyone know a cool laid back restaurant for a couple of backpacking gals to go to where other travellers go?... thanks!

Alchemy

Paharganj.

thirdreel

Paharganj is only good if you have a very strong stomach. I didn't find it good for general shopping. The best place I found for necessities was a gas station with a store. I went there, having run out of toothpaste, and found a few other little things I needed.

As restaurants go, try some in Connaught Place. The United Coffee House is neat. You might feel a little underdressed based on the interior design--it's such an elegant decor complete with chandelier--but you won't find any lapse in service for it.

machadinha

Since from the other thread you seem to be planning on staying in Paharganj you'll find that (unless it's had a major overhaul in recent years) it has all the stores for knickknacks and bags and clothes you need, mostly the "traveller"'s variety so a little limited yes, outdated hippie stuff you know the works. For small necessities ask any of the small tobacconists who usually sell an astonishing array of shampoos and toothpaste and mosquito coils and repellent and whatnot (probably not your brand but certainly a local "ayurvedic" variety). Paharganj takes a little getting used to yes to put it mildly. Just retreat to your or some other hotel's rooftop restaurant if it gets too much, of which there are also plenty. Or just sit down at a street-level eatery or chai shop and watch the world go by. Travellers will be hard not to stumble over by the dozens there.

My initial trouble with buying simple things like toothpaste (hi Thirdreel! Glad to hear you're getting into it! Delhi mayhem as a shock-treatment route to mental equilibrium eh! ) was that instead of too few shops Main Bazaar is essentially one long row of them, with a zillion signs in incomprehensible scripts and colors and general visual overload and people nagging you to buy this that and the other and lepers thrusting their stumps of an arm at you that it's very hard to focus or know where to go. (See also here for a first impression ) The fact that it's best to purposely walk on as if you know what you're doing instead of gazing around like an obvious newcomer doesn't help. Maybe see to it that you've got your necessities covered for the first few days at least then slowly ease into it. Have fun, you'll be so proud of that first bar of soap you bought!

If it still exists the market on and around Janpath used to be good for a slightly different albeit also touristy kind of shopping btw, also nice for just walking around. I hear Karol Bagh is a more realistic shopping area in the non-touristy sense, haven't visited.

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Alchemy

Paharganj really has all the bits and bobs a traveller could ever need -- after all, it is a travellers' ghetto. It's just a matter of walking into one of the myriad stored lining the Main Bazaar, and you'll find everything you asked for.

It also has several really pleasant rooftop restaurant with hundreds of equally bewildered travellers to talk to

Of course, other areas are much more pleasant for some "proper" shopping, but for the basics, there really is no need to venture any further if you're staying in the area anyway.

cyberhippie

with a little diligence you will find everything you need on Paharganj, coming from the station with your back to it so to speak there are a few shops on the main drag to your right as you apprach the junction, the little chemists are good for toileteries.
I you take the left at the junction you're headed for the spice and fruit market in between there are loads of little grocers shops selling eveything you might need!
Paharganj doesn't have any big shops but all the little ones sell pretty much everything!
As for restaurants well to be fair Paharganj ain't what it was food wise, time was it was a bit of a mecca for decent food, not so much these days but there are still good places to eat, The rooftop restaurant at the Vivek does pretty decent food, for dosas idli and decent Indian food the Sonu chat house is still popular, The Dimond cafe offers a mixture of western and Indian and for the price is tasty enough!! The Everest Bakery does home cooked stuff like momos and even Quiche I noticed, I don't eat here but it's always packed when I walk past!
For cheap and tasty try the hole in the wall place opposite the Metropol Hotel, this doesn't look like much but it serves up some of the tastiest North Indian food on the Paharganj at a rediculously low price, many people working on the Paharganj eat here and swear by it!
Just before the Metropol take a right then the first left you'll see a couple of restaurants on the left (can't remember their name right now) great place for a kebab, like Malai/Tikka kebab and very affordable!
Ajay's near the Hari Rama seems popular for baguettes and the like but I've not been in for a few years so I'm not sure how the food is but once again it's a popular place!!
On Janpath of Connaught Place there's a chain restaurant called the Sarovan Bhavan, just up from Mcdonalds.
A pleasant place with some great South India food.

machadinha

Haha hm yes I hadn't wanted to say but of your fellow travellers about 45% will suffer from culture shock no less than you do, with the other 45% severely burned out from months of travelling on a quid and a half and whatever else they may have been doing along the way. Don't let it rub off on you. Combined with as Cyberhippie mentioned many restaurants not being the most inspiring and mostly geared to tourist tastes (perceived or otherwise) at inflated prices I thoroughly hated the place for the first few days & only started appreciating India after I left Delhi. Loved the city on returning later and knowing your way around though, when you can just walk on ignoring all the crap and decidedly head for that Indian eatery you love so well, or do a bit of further exploring. And then even those cheesy touristy rooftop restaurants can suddenly be fun just for hanging around and observing the crowd.

Cyber where is the Metropole? There used to be a great place ignored by most tourists that fits your description somewhat opposite to the right of the Hare Rama called the Grand Sindh. If you were white you needed to specify you wanted Indian food Great and cheap place. Another personal favorite was the Anand Vaishnu restaurant opposite the train station. Some friends reported having gotten the belly however when I sent them there some years later. Maybe just a bad day. Both places may well be gone now.

Old Delhi, within walking distance, is also great for just strolling around and has some great eateries btw. It's absolute chaos but it used to be there was no tourist hassle at all (mostly because there just aren't many tourists), hope it still is like that.

gautam

hey..where exactly r u staying in delhi...
if u in south delhi...u can go to south ex part 1 or part 2 market,sarojini nagar ( best place for cheap & best stuff ),karol bagh
if u stay in west delhi ..u can go to rajouri garden,pitampura,distt centre in janakpuri,vikaspuri for movie theaters..
dont no about north delhi or east delhi...
best of luck

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Hippie at Heart

This remind me of a shop serving north Indian deep fried pan cakes with spicy black gram, Choly Bhature as they call them here and Sita Ram serves the best of it around Paharaganj area, he is little off that T ford on right side when you come from Rly Station and almost exiting out on the other end of main bazaar, Mickey’s on the road to old Delhi station, little past after the over bridge is great with no frills affordable mutton rogan josh. But his stuff is dripping with desi ghee, calorie watchers stand warned on that !

kullukid

The metropol is towards the far end of pahar gange heading away from the station you come to a junction where the fruit & veg market is to the left & the cinema is to the right it is just past this junction on the right on pahar gange itself it has big wooden doors so from the outside you can not tell it is a restaurant. kk

Daikiry

Paharganj is good for cheap shopping, there is nice shop with perfums there, cheap book shops. Restaurant Malhorta with excellent indian food+ european cuisine (nice atmosphere, waiters in black clothes), the best raita i've ever eaten, lassi, shakes, rice and salads. Naan is perfect.
Good place for shopping is Connaught ,but more expensive.

hmm..whatcanthisbe

Depends on your budget and kind of atmosphere you are looking for