Restaurant in Delhi, India
Serious regional cooking, canteen prices.
Andhra Pradesh Bhavan is a government-run canteen on Ashoka Road serving fixed Andhra thalis at some of the lowest prices in central Delhi. Walk-ins only, no reservations needed, and the food is the real deal — fiery, rice-forward South Indian cooking that pulls a loyal crowd of officials and in-the-know food explorers. Go early for lunch.
You can eat an Andhra Pradesh Bhavan meal for a fraction of what you'd spend almost anywhere else in central Delhi — and for anyone serious about regional South Indian cooking, that's the point. This is a government-run canteen attached to the Andhra Pradesh state guesthouse on Ashoka Road, a short walk from India Gate, and it operates as a thali service rather than a restaurant in the conventional sense. Walk-ins are generally easy to manage, bookings are not required, and the crowd is a mix of government officials, in-the-know locals, and food explorers who've done their homework. If you want a deep, unapologetic hit of Andhra cuisine in one of Delhi's most central locations, this is the practical answer.
The format is no-frills: expect a canteen-style room, shared tables, and a fixed thali that changes with the day and the season. The cooking is unambiguously Andhra — fiery, assertive, rice-forward, and built around dal, sambhar, rasam, and a rotation of vegetable and non-vegetarian preparations. There are no tasting menus, no cocktail lists, no mood lighting. Visually, the dining room reads as institutional rather than designed, but the plates are the draw, not the setting. First-timers often underestimate the heat levels; this is Andhra food calibrated for Andhra tastes, not a softened Delhi interpretation. That's the reason food explorers make the trip. For context on how Andhra cuisine compares to the broader South Indian canon, the cooking here sits in sharp contrast to what you'd find at Adaa at Falaknuma Palace in Hyderabad, which presents the same regional tradition in a dramatically different register.
The address , 1 Ashoka Road, near India Gate , puts it in a part of Delhi that most visitors pass through but few stop to eat in. That's part of what makes this a neighborhood anchor in a meaningful sense: a government-linked canteen serving proper regional food in the heart of Lutyens' Delhi is not a category that has much competition. Lunch is the primary service window; going early in the lunch period gives you the leading selection. If you're combining this with broader Delhi eating, see our full Delhi restaurants guide for how to structure the day. For hotels nearby, our Delhi hotels guide covers the central options. Bars and other experiences are covered in our Delhi bars guide and our Delhi experiences guide.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andhra Pradesh Bhavan | Easy | — | |||
| Bukhara | Unknown | — | |||
| Chache Di Hatti | Unknown | — | |||
| Dramz Delhi | Unknown | — | |||
| Indian Accent | Unknown | — | |||
| Rajdhani Thali Restaurant | Unknown | — |
How Andhra Pradesh Bhavan stacks up against the competition.
You do not book in advance — Andhra Pradesh Bhavan operates as a walk-in canteen. Arrive early for lunch service, as the thali sells out once the kitchen is done. Midweek mornings at opening are your best bet for a short wait.
Come as you are. This is a government canteen at 1 Ashoka Road, not a sit-down restaurant with a door policy. Casual clothes are completely fine — the crowd on any given day ranges from civil servants to tourists to food-focused Delhiites.
Groups are workable here because seating is communal and the format is fixed thali — there is no menu to negotiate, which actually makes large tables easier. Just know that space is shared and turnover is fast, so arriving together matters more than any reservation.
There is no bar. Andhra Pradesh Bhavan is a dry, canteen-format dining room — the draw is the food, not the drinks. If a meal with wine or cocktails is part of your plan, this is not the venue for that.
The thali format means you eat what is being served that day — no substitutions, no a la carte. The location near India Gate puts it in a part of central Delhi most visitors pass through without stopping to eat, which keeps the crowd local and the price low. Go for lunch, go hungry, and go with low expectations for the room and high ones for the food.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
