best biryani in delhi (2026) - honest rankings

tldr: delhi’s best biryani is not where the signage suggests. nasir iqbal (nizamuddin basti, mutton, rs 200-300 for two in published write-ups), taufiq’s dil pasand (chitli qabar, rs 400 for two, 4.0 from ~3,469 reviews), al jawahar (mutton achar biryani, rs 400-700 for two), andhra bhavan (hyderabadi dum, sundays, ~rs 450 for two) and dum pukht at itc maurya (rs 4,500-6,000 for two) lead. karim’s biryani and behrouz are the two to skip.

here is the uncomfortable argument this guide rests on: delhi is not a biryani city. it is a kebab city, a korma city, a chaat city, and a biryani also-ran. the local tradition - nizamuddin biryani - was historically cooked in bulk as an offering at the nizamuddin dargah and distributed to devotees, which meant cheaper cuts and a lighter spice hand. that is exactly how reviewers still describe nizamuddin biryani today: mild, subtle, rice-forward. it is a genuinely good thing, but it is not hyderabadi dum and it was never trying to be. the other authentic delhi style is bade ki biryani, the buffalo biryani of old delhi, which is heavier, cheaper and almost completely ignored by the restaurant lists.

what fills the gap is a layer of chains and cloud kitchens selling the idea of hyderabadi biryani at rs 300-1,200, and this is where the quality collapses. the single most consistently praised hyderabadi biryani in delhi is served from a state government canteen near india gate, on sundays, by token number. that should settle the question of whether the expensive options are earning their money.

a note on prices. every figure here comes from recent published listings - zomato, swiggy, eazydiner, district, magicpin, tripadvisor and food-blog write-ups. indian food prices online go stale quickly, and some of these numbers (particularly the rs 200-300 for two at nasir iqbal) come from blog posts that are already a few years old. counter prices have almost certainly crept up. use these as the right bracket, not as a bill.

and to be straight: nobody from this site has eaten at these places. the verdicts below are composites of published reviews - food blogs, aggregator ratings, tripadvisor threads and review summaries - cross-checked where sources disagreed. the x/10 figures are composites of what reviewers reported, not anybody’s personal score. for the rest of delhi’s heavy eating, see best kebabs in delhi, best mughlai restaurants in delhi and best butter chicken in delhi.

the awards

• best overall: nasir iqbal, nizamuddin basti - the mutton biryani food writers keep naming, cooked in large steel pots, chutney included
• best old delhi biryani: taufiq’s dil pasand biryani point, chitli qabar - 4.0 from roughly 3,469 reviews, about rs 400 for two
• best hyderabadi: andhra bhavan, ashok road - sunday chicken dum biryani, around rs 450 for two, get there before 12:30 pm
• best single dish: al jawahar’s mutton achar biryani, matia mahal - the one biryani in old delhi with a distinct identity
• best value by weight: matka peer mughlai foods - a full kilo of mutton or chicken biryani at roughly rs 450-550
• best splurge: dum pukht, itc maurya - mutton biryani done by the lucknowi dum pukht method, rs 4,500-6,000 for two
• best mid-range sit-down: al kauser, vasant place market - biryani with sheermal and phirni, about rs 1,200 for two
• most overrated: behrouz biryani - roughly 1.8 stars on pissedconsumer with about 71 percent unfavourable feedback
• most overrated famous name: karim’s biryani - the worst-reviewed dish at delhi’s most famous mughlai address

the full list

nasir iqbal, nizamuddin basti

what to order: mutton biryani, with the chutney. mutton barra and kadai chicken are the two other dishes reviewers single out.

what reviewers say: the restaurant was opened in 1986 by nasir, son of iqbal, who migrated after partition, and started out selling only paratha and boiled eggs before moving into mughlai. until 1995 it served only beef; now it is chicken and mutton. food writers describe a modest outlet in the cramped lanes of nizamuddin serving what they call the best mutton biryani in the city, cooked in huge steel pots, with succulent meat and aromatic rice. one blogger noted the flavour was mild with a subtle impact, the meat perfectly cooked, and the chutney adding another dimension - which is the nizamuddin style working as intended rather than a weakness.

honest caveat: the aggregate rating is only 3.7 from about 579 reviews, and the reviews are genuinely mixed. some diners were disappointed specifically by the mutton biryani and the chicken tandoori, and service gets called lousy more than once. several reviewers praise the cleanliness, which in basti nizamuddin is worth noting. the practical advice that recurs is to go off-peak to avoid the wait. the address is 268-a basti hazrat nizamuddin, opposite markaz nizamuddin, roughly noon to midnight, with parking near nizamuddin police station about five minutes away.

taufiq’s dil pasand biryani point, chitli qabar

what to order: mutton biryani. mohd taufiq started out selling only bade ki biryani (buffalo), so the buffalo version is the historically honest order if it is available.

what reviewers say: rated 4.0 from roughly 3,469 reviews, which is the strongest review base of any old delhi biryani counter on this list. the shop is tiny and tucked deep in the bylanes of chitli qabar and is known locally as taufeeq ki biryani. published roundups put cost for two at rs 300-400, which makes it the best value-per-rupee biryani in old delhi.

honest caveat: this is a counter, not a restaurant - do not expect seating, and the lanes of chitli qabar are hard to navigate the first time. address is 735, gali haveli azam khan, bazar chitli qabar, near jama masjid. it is also a single-dish operation, so if biryani is not what the group wants, there is nothing else here.

andhra bhavan, ashok road

what to order: hyderabadi chicken dum biryani on the biryani day. the unlimited veg or non-veg thali is listed at rs 160-200 and is what most people actually come for. chicken and mutton fry and prawn fry get praised.

what reviewers say: rated 4.3 from about 326 reviews on district. the system is a token: you buy one, get called by serial number, and reviewers describe the service as amazingly fast with food arriving in about five minutes once seated. the biryani is the sunday draw - one reviewer says chicken biryani is only available on sundays and advises arriving early since it runs out by 12:30 to 1 pm, with another suggesting 10 am. sunday queues run to 100-plus people with waits up to an hour; friday and saturday are closer to five minutes.

honest caveat: this is a state government canteen, not a restaurant, and reviewers are clear that you should not expect ambience. critics call it not worth the hype, with thali quality described as mediocre and hygiene and ambience flagged as weak. chicken fry gets called dry. timings differ across listings - eazydiner lists 7:30-10:30 am, noon-3 pm and 7:30-10 pm, district lists noon-3:30 pm and 7-9:30 pm. the thali is unlimited and officially cannot be shared, though reviewers report waiters allowing biryani orderers to pick at a tablemate’s thali.

al jawahar, matia mahal

what to order: mutton achar biryani - the pickled-spice version is the one published roundups single out, and it is the only biryani in old delhi with a genuinely distinct identity. nihari with naan in the morning is the other reason to come.

what reviewers say: family-owned since independence and run by three brothers, at 8 matia mahal road opposite gate 1 of jama masjid, listed at rs 400-700 for two and open roughly 10 am to midnight (other listings say 7 am to 11 pm, with nihari roughly 7-11 am). the recurring practical point is that it has spacious seating and, unlike karim’s next door, you are not expected to share a table with strangers. one reviewer framed the reputation gap bluntly: jawahar is the smoother establishment for simple gravies, and it is too bad karim’s has outdone them in marketing over the years.

honest caveat: biryani is not really why al jawahar is famous - chicken changezi and nihari are. a delhi food blog comparing the two neighbours noted that nihari authenticity claims at both are shaky, since a true version uses beef and both serve mutton. if biryani is the single goal, taufiq’s four lanes away is better value.

dum pukht, itc maurya

what to order: dum pukht mutton biryani, kakori kebabs, gulab jamun.

what reviewers say: rated 4.6 and ranked second among delhi mughlai restaurants in a 2026 roundup, behind only bukhara in the same hotel. the appeal is specific: the lucknowi dum pukht technique, sealed-pot slow cooking, done properly by a kitchen with the time and the staffing to do it. cost for two runs rs 4,500 in some listings and rs 6,000-8,000 in others.

honest caveat: this is twelve to twenty times the price of taufiq’s for a difference that is real but not proportional. reviewers praise the room as much as the food, which is a fair warning about what the money buys. the practical read: worth it once as an occasion, not a biryani benchmark.

the mid-range tier

al kauser at vasant place market, rk puram is one of delhi’s oldest mughlai establishments, about rs 1,200 for two, with chicken and mutton biryani, sheermal, kakori kebabs and phirni, and indoor and outdoor seating. zaika in daryaganj near golcha cinema is about rs 800 for two and is described as a small place making traditional korma without tomatoes - chicken biryani, mutton korma, raan and mutton burrah. matka peer mughlai foods sells mughal-style biryani sealed in handis at roughly rs 450-550 for a full kilo of mutton or chicken, which is the single best rupee-per-gram deal on this list. salman biryani center in batla house does hyderabadi and moradabadi biryani at around rs 200 per kilogram. anand restaurant at 15/96 scindia house in connaught place sits at rs 450-600 for two and gets called the best value in central delhi at around rs 550.

the ones to skip

karim’s at 16 gali kababian is a serious kebab and korma address and a weak biryani one. biryani is the most frequently panned dish on its own menu - one reviewer objected to rs 400 for a half plate, calling the rice quality pathetic and saying cheaper neighbourhood biryani was far better. aggregate sentiment on the restaurant is split rather than glowing: kebabs and butter chicken draw the praise, biryani draws the complaints, and the non-old-delhi branches draw noticeably worse reviews for high prices, small portions and declining quality, with one review alleging old, microwaved nihari. order kebabs here and buy biryani elsewhere.

behrouz biryani is the clearest skip on this list. pissedconsumer shows roughly 1.8 stars with about 71 percent unfavourable feedback, citing high prices, poor food quality and frequent delivery failures including orders cancelled without notice. a quora thread asking directly whether it is overrated concluded it is for sure overrated at around rs 300 a plate. delhi tripadvisor reviewers report orders not cooked properly with taste missing, matka phirni arriving frozen like ice cream, and hardly any meat - more rice than meat.

biryani by kilo is a softer no. aggregated summaries describe it as decent but not exceptional, with long waits the most common complaint and genuine inconsistency across outlets - mutton biryani short on meat pieces, portions smaller than expected, and a kolkata-style version criticised for overcooked rice and undercooked aloo. at rs 600-1,200 for two it is convenience, not quality. bikkgane biryani opposite pvr rivoli in cp is about rs 700 for two and open 11:30 am to midnight, which makes it a reasonable late-night option, but reviewers of its gurgaon outlet flagged bland flavours and insufficient quantity for the price.

tips

• biryani is a daytime dish at the old delhi counters. taufiq’s and the chitli qabar lanes are best worked before mid-afternoon, and nihari at al jawahar is a roughly 7-11 am window only.
• for andhra bhavan, treat sunday before 12:30 pm as the only reliable biryani slot, and expect a token queue. friday and saturday are far faster but biryani availability is less certain - call ahead.
• carry cash. the nizamuddin and chitli qabar counters are cash-first, and card acceptance is rare outside the hotel and chain restaurants.
• nizamuddin biryani tastes mild on purpose. if you want heat and masala weight, go to old delhi for bade ki biryani instead - you will not get it fixed by ordering more at nasir iqbal.
• do not order biryani at karim’s. kebabs, korma and nihari are the reasons to go there; the biryani is its worst-reviewed dish.
• buy by weight where you can. matka peer at roughly rs 450-550 a kilo and salman biryani center at about rs 200 a kilo feed four for the price of two plates anywhere mid-range.
• avoid the cloud-kitchen chains if quality matters. the complaint pattern for behrouz and biryani by kilo is order-level variance, which no amount of ordering again fixes reliably.
• nizamuddin basti and chitli qabar are both dense, narrow and badly parked. use the metro - jangpura or hazrat nizamuddin for the basti, chawri bazaar or jama masjid for old delhi.

related delhi guides

• best kebabs in delhi
• best mughlai restaurants in delhi
• chandni chowk food guide
• best restaurants in lajpat nagar delhi
• best butter chicken in delhi
• best street food in daryaganj delhi
• best nonveg food in north delhi
• best dhabas in delhi