For most of its history, Indian dining has been about abundance and sharing: dishes in the middle of the table and everyone helping themselves. Over the last couple of decades, though, the Indian tasting menu has become a fixture of modern fine dining, in India and around the world. The format is borrowed from Europe, but the flavours are proudly Indian. Here is how it works, why it suits Indian food so well, and what makes a good one.
What is a tasting menu?
A tasting menu, sometimes called a degustation menu, is a series of small, set courses chosen by the kitchen. Each course is designed to show off a particular flavour, texture or technique. The format is familiar from French and Japanese fine dining, and Indian chefs have made it their own.
Rather than committing to one large main course, diners sample many small plates, often moving across regions, styles and ingredients in a single sitting.
Why the format suits Indian food
Indian cuisine is enormously varied. Each region has its own spices, methods and signature dishes. A tasting menu lets a kitchen show that range in a structured way: something from the tandoor, a coastal curry, a slow-cooked braise, a southern snack. Spicy and mild, rich and light, everything gets its moment.
How a tasting menu feels
A tasting menu is designed as an experience. Courses arrive one by one, often with a short explanation of where the dish comes from. Diners are encouraged to slow down and pay attention.
Slower, more mindful eating
Because portions are small, you eat with care, and the pace lets your palate reset between courses. Every flavour gets your full attention.
A visual feast
Presentation plays a big part. Bright chutneys, careful garnishes and handmade crockery are common, turning each plate into something to look at as well as eat.
Regional pride on the plate
Many chefs use tasting menus to bring back forgotten ingredients and recipes. Native grains like millet, ingredients such as jackfruit and moringa, and slow techniques like dum cooking have all enjoyed a revival. A menu might start with a coastal snack, move through a Chettinad-spiced dish, and end with something built on jaggery or filter coffee. For a tour of those regions, see our guide to regional Indian cuisine.
Tea and spice take a bow
Alongside tasting menus, India's wider food scene has been rediscovering its own staples. Speciality tea, from single-estate Darjeeling to robust Assam, is now treated with the kind of care usually reserved for wine, and some kitchens pair teas with courses. Turmeric, long a kitchen essential, has become a star ingredient in its own right.
What makes a good Indian tasting menu?
- Variety: dishes from different regions and cooking styles, with good options for vegetarians.
- A story: a thread that connects the courses, whether a journey across the country or a tribute to home cooking.
- Pacing and balance: no course too rich or too plain, with flavours that rise and fall through the meal.
- Respect for flavour: modern presentation is fine, but the food should still taste unmistakably Indian.
Is it for everyone?
Tasting menus are usually a special-occasion choice and take a good few hours. Many diners still prefer the traditional way: choosing their own dishes, sharing across the table and going back for more of what they love. Both have their place. A tasting menu shows what a kitchen can do in a single evening; a shared table lets you return to the dishes you enjoy most, at your own pace and in your own company.
Other ways to taste widely
We don't serve a tasting menu, but there are plenty of ways to try a wide range of dishes with us. Our Deluxe Dining, for one or for two, brings a mixed starter, tandoori chicken, lamb and chicken tikka, tandoori king prawn, salad, onion bhajee, vegetable samosa, a vegetable dish, naan and pilau rice. The Maharaja Signature Mix Platter is a tour of the starters in one dish. And a table sharing several mains is its own kind of tasting menu; see the best Indian dishes for sharing.
For a group, our group set menu offers three levels, Classic, Maharaja and Royal, each with the Maharaja Mixed Starter, a main, pilau rice and plain naan. Browse the full menu and book a table.
