Best restaurants in Maharashtra

Top ChoiceRestaurants in Pune

Maharashtra's shining culinary moment is a fury of Southeast Asian fantasticness; trying to choose one dish among the delectable stir-fries, noodles and curries – all strong on seafood, vegetarian options, chicken, duck and mutton – is futile. Dine alfresco under colourful tree lights and relish the spicy and intricate flavour cavalcade from star chefs reared on a Slow Food, stay-local philosophy.

Top ChoiceRestaurants in Lonavla

A bit of a dhaba Disneyland, but therein lies the fun. About 5km east of Lonavla, near Karla and Bhaja caves, is this fun-for-all restaurant/entertainment venue. Dine under traditional shamiana huts amid festival lighting, camel and donkey rides, jalebi (deep-fried batter dunked in sugar syrup) carts, fish pedicure pools and Rajasthani astrologers. Live ghazal (Urdu love songs) nightly (7pm).

Top ChoiceRestaurants in Mahabaleshwar

Way too hip for Mahabaleshwar, this classy restaurant/wine bar is unmissable. Chef/owner Raio's culinary pedigree includes Taj Hotels and his creative takes on Parsi and fresh seafood are divine. The monstrous Mediterranean lamb burger (with feta and harissa mayo) and the soft-shell crab burger are worth the trip here alone, but there's also spicy tiger prawns, lamb shanks and lobster.

Top ChoiceRestaurants in Pune

This modern, fiercely regional South Indian restaurant champions the best of India's bottom half and isn't afraid to tell you if you are ordering the wrong bread with the wrong curry. Listen to the staff and you'll have one of the region's best meals.

Top ChoiceRestaurants in Nashik

If you're looking for a spicy kick in the gut, this local hotspot is the place to come for authentic Maharashtrian food that'll make your nose run. Under an atmospheric, lantern-lit bamboo canopy, locals devour the special mutton thali (₹290; could be more generous) and rustic à la carte countryside dishes bone-in, grease, fat and all. Tasty stuff.

Restaurants in Sevagram

This rustic organic cafe, behind the Sevagram Ashram museum, serves organic thalis made with produce from 2500 farmers in nearby Samudrapur, all of whom have vowed a chemical-free farming lifestyle. The stylish bamboo structure has pleasant, low-slung seating and water is poured from natural ceramic filtration pots. However, it was closed at the time of research due to renovations at the art gallery.

Top ChoiceRestaurants in Nashik

This rustic institution on the edge of town serves Nashik's best breakfast of champions, misal pav – an unusual Maharashtrian dish prepared with bean sprouts and pulses, topped with flattened puffed rice, crunchy chickpea flour noodles, onions, lemon and coriander and served with a buttered bun – to the tune of up to 5000 people on weekends. Cash only. Unmissable.

Top ChoiceRestaurants in Nagpur

This stylish all-day breakfast-only hotspot in a residential building 7km southwest of the centre is worth a diversion. English, American and Belgian breakfast combos, sandwiches, pancakes and waffles, along with daily chalkboard specials, are served up on artsy wooden tables covered in comics. Cassette tapes, newspapers and other pop art line the walls, completing the cosy, trendy atmosphere.

Top ChoiceRestaurants in Nashik

This excellent branch of Pune's best restaurant is hands-down the most scenic spot to dine in Nashik wine country, with postcard-perfect views across Vallonné Vineyard, Lake Mukane and the dramatic Sahyadris mountains beyond. Tack on a cavalcade of Southeast Asian flavors and a Slow Food, stay-local philosophy and it all adds up to a dining destination worth travelling for.

Top ChoiceRestaurants in Pune

Foodies in the know often tout this modern bistro on Pune's upscale west side as the city's best place to eat. Sydney-trained chef Siddarth Mahadik keeps it real – nothing flashy, nothing fake is his mantra – and his wholesome fusions creations are well executed, artfully presented and taste great. Worth a trip.

Top ChoiceRestaurants in Aurangabad

Aurangabad's favourite modern vegetarian is loved for delectable pure-veg dishes that really pop with flavour (try the veg handi or off-menu paneer Hyderabadi) and come with spice level indicators (one chilli pepper equals medium – they don't offer an explanation for the four chilli pepper offerings...). It's 400m north of CIDCO Bus Stand.

Top ChoiceRestaurants in Kolhapur

The city's Kolhapuri thali specialist. Meals come in a number of mutton variations as well as chicken and veg. The vibrant curries, the spiced-up dhal, the rich aakkha masoor (Kolhapuri-style whole lentil curry), the intricate tambda rassa (spicy red mutton curry), the perfectly flaky chapatis – it's all delicious.

Top ChoiceRestaurants in Malvan

On Malvan’s main drag, this great, family-run place specialises in Konkan cuisine including bangda tikhale (fish in thick coconut sauce), prawns malvani and very flavoursome crab masala; portions won't thrill you, but it's first-rate seafood. Its vegetarian dishes are also excellent. It’s always packed with locals and has an air-con section.

Top ChoiceRestaurants in Nagpur

No English inside or out, but this simple but super Maharashtrian stalwart is absolutely excellent for the state's fiery regional cuisine. Try jhunka ( chickpea flour porridge with chillies and spices) and kacha bharit (a fire-roasted aubergine dish with chillies and spices similar to baba ghanoush, served cold). Both can be scooped up with the house bhakri (sorghum bread). Cash only.

Restaurants in Nashik

This wildly popular restaurant known as Panchavati around town (but actually called Dhaba) will take your tastebuds on a roller coaster of flavour via its Gujarati thalis spruced up with local touches like mini bakri (bread made with sorghum) and served with bullet-train efficiency. Great dhal tadka (dhal flavoured with tempered ghee and spices), too. It's inside Hotel Panchavati.

Restaurants in Aurangabad

Though prices are similar, always-packed Swad is the simpler, more local and slightly greasier counterpart to some of our other favourite spots in town. Waiters clad in always stylish, seasonally-changing uniforms sling spicy sabzi (vegetables), dhal and other Gujarati-Rajasthani thali delights – an endless flavour train under the benevolent gaze of patron saint swami Yogiraj Hanstirth.

Top ChoiceRestaurants in Pune

At the rear of Hotel Sunderban, this Italian-run veg paradise is one of Pune's most elegant dining experiences, providing you plant yourself in the gorgeous and intimate courtyard for an alfresco meal. Homemade pastas, very good pizzas and fine salads (try the Bosco; ₹490), including wholewheat, vegan and gluten-free options, fill the extensive menu of delectable remedies for homesickness.

Restaurants in Ramtek

This new adventure-sports outfitter and campground whips up tasty Marathi cuisine, such as patodi (a curry made with chickpea flour) and dal bhaji (spinach-laced lentils), for road-weary travellers – with an hour's notice. They can get you out on Khindsi Lake in a kayak as well, in addition to other adventure sports. It's a 1.5km walk down from the Ramtek temple.

Restaurants in Nagpur

Numerous street vendors line the roads outside Nagpur Civil Court, each hawking their own variation of the city's most famous snack, sambarwadi, a fried treat filled with coriander, pulses and spices, crumbled up and served with curry and rassa (a soupy red masala-laced liquid). It's often eaten for breakfast, but the vendors do a brisk business from dusk to dawn.

Restaurants in Pune

This eclectic and friendly Sikh-run European bistro has rave reviews seeping from its pores. Indeed the food, a lengthy list that includes rarely seen proteins like turkey and duck in addition to extensive choices of veg, fish, chicken and actual beef, presents a tantalising opportunity for a sophisticated curry-free evening. Most dishes fall in the ₹310 to ₹410 range.