Restaurant India News: Rasayyah Opens in Meharchand Market, Brings Awadhi and Banarasi Cuisine to Delhi

Rasayyah has opened in Meharchand Market, Delhi, entering the city’s premium dining segment with a format focused on heritage-led Indian cuisine from Awadh, Lucknow, and Brij Banaras. The restaurant positions itself around reviving legacy recipes, techniques, and flavour profiles that are no longer widely represented in commercial kitchens, at a time when most urban menus continue to move toward contemporary formats. The concept is built by founders Amit and Mukta Tandon, with a research-led approach that draws on long-term documentation of household cooking traditions and regional culinary practices.

Amit Tandon, an FCA and former investment banker with over forty years of international experience, has spent years working with family members to document recipes through travel, direct sourcing from traditional households, and engagement with cooks who continue to preserve these methods. This background has shaped the restaurant’s operating model, which is structured around replicating historical preparation styles rather than adapting them for modern fusion formats. The founders’ stated objective is to present regional cuisines in their original formats within a structured dining environment for Delhi’s market.

The outlet spans three floors with an open terrace and is configured for around 90 covers. The layout and interiors are designed to support longer dwell time and group dining, with a focus on controlled seating density. From a business perspective, the format reflects the growing demand in Delhi for experiential dining that goes beyond standard regional restaurant formats and positions heritage cuisine within the fine-dining and premium casual segment.

The kitchen team includes chefs sourced from Awadh and the Braj-Banaras region, with experience in traditional preparation methods. The menu has been curated by the Tandon family and is positioned around legacy dishes associated with Awadhi dastarkhwans and vegetarian culinary traditions from Banaras and Brij. The offering includes non-vegetarian preparations such as Rampuri Tar Qorma, Nihari, Murg Mussalaam, Mahi e aab Zafrani, Lucknowi Galouti, Chapli Kebab, Mewa Bharey Gosht Pasandey, Maithani Laal Maas, and Awadhi Burra. The vegetarian portfolio is positioned as a core revenue stream rather than an add-on, with dishes such as Brij ki chenna khas khas tikki, Khoya, Matar, Kaju Makhana, Paneer Anjeer Kakori Seekh, Chena chukandar sabz galauti, Gobi Musallam, Gulbadan Pasanda, Hazrat Mehal kofta, Paneer Padmini, Paneer Kanti, and Banaras ki matra tamatar chaat. The dessert portfolio includes Nazaquet e Awadh. The beverage menu is structured around Indian spice profiles and traditional drink references to support menu pairing and average bill value.

From an industry perspective, Rasayyah reflects a shift toward heritage-led concepts being positioned as differentiated premium dining formats in high-footfall urban markets such as Meharchand Market. The model focuses on authenticity as a core product strategy, rather than reinterpretation, targeting consumers seeking region-specific Indian cuisines in a formal dining environment. 

Commenting on the concept, founder Amit Tandon said, “Rasayyah was born out of a personal longing, a desire to reconnect and humbly try and revive the cuisines and flavours we have heard , read in legendary cookbooks in royal libraries or tasted in traditional homes of our family, friends and the region. These recipes belong to a time when food reflected identity, pride and understated artistry. Bringing them back, with full authenticity and respect, felt like a responsibility and invoked a deep sense of gratitude . Delhi appreciates culture, nuance and depth and Rasayyah is our offering to a city that values heritage in all its forms. Rasayyah is a tribute to not only the greatest cuisines and their practitioners of past, pay reverence to the authentic cuisines but also a place where the friends and families while indulging with our food and drinks shall bond, have conversations, enjoy togetherness in a setting with most positive and vibrant vibes … Isn’t sharing a table always meant to be this way?”

Rasayyah adds another format to Delhi’s premium dining landscape, focusing on regional heritage cuisines presented within a structured fine-dining framework. The opening indicates continued interest among operators in developing concept-driven restaurants that leverage cultural authenticity as a differentiation lever in a crowded market.