Cafe Lota

Cafe Lota is the café of the National Handicrafts and Handlooms Museum, usually known as the Crafts Museum, on the edge of Pragati Maidan, and it has become a destination in its own right. Its arrival is credited with helping to bring new life to the museum, which dates from the 1950s and sits facing the Purana Qila.

The café occupies the museum courtyard. It is designed to evoke a roadside dhaba, with a roof of dried natural materials providing shade, ceiling fans for a breeze, and a mix of indoor and outdoor tables. It is a calm, attractive place to eat, with the museum's craft collections a few steps away.

The menu draws on regional cooking from across India, often reworked with traditional local grains such as ragi, finger millet. Dishes that have appeared include an Uttarakhand black bean curry served with a chutney made from bhaang, hemp seeds, and an inventive fish and chips with an amaranth crust and Amritsari spices. It is a good place to try flavours from states you may not visit on your trip, and the menu changes over time, so ask the staff what they recommend on the day.

The café has no air conditioning, so lunchtime between May and July can be very hot; in summer, go early or for an evening meal, and in the cooler months the courtyard is pleasant at any time. Weekends are busier, so expect to wait for a table at peak lunch hours.

It suits food-curious travellers, families and anyone visiting the Crafts Museum or Purana Qila. Combine lunch here with an hour in the museum, whose collections cover the handicrafts and handlooms of India; the museum has traditionally opened from 9.30am to 5pm and closed on Mondays, so check current times before planning to visit both. Coming early also means you see the galleries before the lunchtime rush in the café.

The Crafts Museum is on Bhairon Marg at the corner of Pragati Maidan, opposite the Purana Qila, and a short drive from India Gate and Humayun's Tomb, which makes the café a convenient lunch stop on a day of central Delhi sightseeing.