best butter chicken in delhi (2026) - honest rankings

tldr: delhi’s three famous butter chickens are not three versions of the same dish - they are three different styles, and the “best” one depends entirely on whether you want sweet. moti mahal (daryaganj) is the least sweet and most tandoor-forward at around rs 630 half. gulati (pandara road) is the creamiest and sweetest at around rs 899 half. daryaganj (aerocity) is the smoothest and most comfortable at around rs 600 half. the one most lists skip - aslam’s near jama masjid - is the smoky outlier worth the detour. and the origin story is literally in court.

butter chicken is the most searched dish in delhi and the most confidently mis-recommended. almost every list ranks the same three names in the same order without mentioning that they taste nothing alike, or that two of them are suing each other over who invented the thing.

that lawsuit is the most useful fact for anyone choosing where to eat. moti mahal’s family claims founder kundan lal gujral created the curry in the 1930s in peshawar, before the restaurant moved to delhi after partition. the daryaganj chain - founded in 2019 and named after the neighbourhood - counters that its late family member kundan lal jaggi partnered with gujral to open the 1947 delhi restaurant, and has produced a hand-written partnership document registered in 1949. a delhi court is working through it.

the point for you is not who wins. it is that “authentic” is a contested marketing word here, and it should not decide your dinner. the gravy style should. for the broader delhi picture see best dhabas in delhi, and for the old delhi street version best street food in daryaganj.

a note on ratings below: nobody from this site has eaten at these places. the scores are composites of published food-critic write-ups and aggregate diner ratings, and the verdicts are attributed to whoever actually made them.

the awards

• least sweet, most tandoor-forward: moti mahal, daryaganj - the heritage pick, charred chicken in a tomato gravy that stays savoury
• creamiest: gulati, pandara road - thick, buttery, openly sweet, and the family favourite for that reason
• most consistent: daryaganj, aerocity - aircon, predictable, no queue roulette
• best smoky alternative: aslam’s, jama masjid - ultra-buttery and street-style, the one the lists forget
• best value comparison trick: havemore, pandara road - directly next to gulati, so you can taste both styles in one outing
• most overpaid-for-story: moti mahal - still good, but a share of that bill is the origin claim
• skip if you dislike sweet: gulati - this is not a flaw, it is the house style, and it is not for everyone

the full list

full portions run roughly rs 1,110 at moti mahal and rs 1,169 at gulati.

the top tier

1. moti mahal, daryaganj

the heritage pick, and the one whose gravy has aged best. reviewers consistently describe it as velvety without being overly sweet - charred tandoori chicken pieces sitting in a rich tomato base rather than a cream base. that char is the difference. the chicken has been in a tandoor before it ever met the gravy, and you can taste it.

what to order: half butter chicken (rs 630), dal makhani, two butter naan. that feeds two for around rs 900.

the honest caveat: part of this bill is the story. the old delhi original gets genuinely crowded and the standing advice is to arrive early and beat the dinner rush. if you want the dish without the pilgrimage, you have cheaper and calmer options below.

rating: 8.5/10

2. aslam’s, jama masjid

the one that does not appear on most “best butter chicken” lists and probably should. this is the old delhi street version - ultra-buttery, smoky, served without ceremony. it is a different proposition from the sit-down restaurants: less refined, more aggressive, and considerably cheaper.

what to order: butter chicken with tandoori roti. skip the sides.

who it suits: anyone who finds gulati too sweet and moti mahal too expensive. if you want smoky over creamy, this is the answer.

rating: 8.5/10

3. daryaganj, aerocity

the modern version, and the one that trades romance for reliability. positioned around holding the original butter chicken and dal makhani recipes, it serves a noticeably smoother gravy than moti mahal’s in a plush aerocity setting at roughly rs 600 a half portion.

who it suits: travellers near the airport, anyone with a flight to catch, and anyone who wants the dish with air conditioning and a table that exists. reviewers describe the profile as smoother and the experience as comfortable and consistent.

the honest caveat: despite the name, this is a 2019 brand, not the old delhi institution. you are eating a claim to the recipe, not the restaurant that made it famous.

rating: 8/10

4. gulati, pandara road

the creamiest butter chicken on this list, and the most divisive. gulati started in 1959 as a small dhaba with wooden benches and is now a full fine-dining north indian and mughlai restaurant. the butter chicken is thick, rich and openly sweet.

what to order: half butter chicken (rs 899), butter naan. the full portion at rs 1,169 only makes sense for three or more.

who it suits: families, first-timers, and anyone who likes a sweet gravy. it is the most expensive of the three famous names.

who should skip it: anyone who dislikes sweetness in a savoury curry. this is not a quality problem - it is the house style, consistently delivered.

rating: 8/10

5. havemore, pandara road

the useful one, because of where it is. havemore sits directly next to gulati on pandara road, which makes the single best butter chicken experiment in delhi possible: order a half at each and taste the sweet style against the less sweet one in the same hour. havemore’s version is creamy but pulls back on the sugar.

rating: 7.5/10

how to judge a butter chicken

useful if you are eating somewhere not on this list, which in delhi you will be.

• the chicken should have been in a tandoor before it met the gravy. that char is the whole technique — the dish exists because leftover tandoori chicken got put into a tomato and butter sauce. if the chicken tastes boiled or poached, you are eating a curry with butter in it, not butter chicken.
• tomato should lead, cream should follow. the gravy’s backbone is tomato. when cream and cashew paste take over you get the sweet, heavy version, which is a legitimate style but a different dish from the daryaganj original.
• sweetness is a choice, not a fault — but it should be deliberate. gulati leans sweet on purpose and does it consistently. a kitchen that is sweet one visit and savoury the next is just inconsistent.
• it should not break. a gravy that separates into oil on top and solids underneath has been reheated hard or held too long. this is the most common failure at the tourist-facing places.
• ask what the half portion actually weighs. half portions vary enormously between these restaurants, and the price-per-gram gap between the famous names and the street places is far wider than the menu suggests.

the pandara road cluster

worth treating as its own destination rather than a single restaurant. pandara road market holds gulati and havemore next door to each other, with a handful of other north indian kitchens along the same short strip, and it stays open late by delhi standards. the practical value is the side-by-side comparison: a half butter chicken at each tells you more about what you actually like than any ranking will, and it costs less than one full portion at either.

it is also the most convenient butter chicken in central delhi — close to india gate and the surrounding government quarter, with none of the old delhi parking and crowd problem. for that reason it is where a lot of delhi residents take visitors, rather than making the trip to daryaganj.

the honest caveat: this is the comfortable, air-conditioned, sit-down end of the dish. nothing here will taste like aslam’s.

tips

• the standard order is not just butter chicken. at every place on this list, a half butter chicken plus two butter naan plus a dal makhani feeds two for roughly rs 900. ordering butter chicken alone at these prices is how people end up feeling cheated.
• half portions are the right call for two people. full portions at rs 1,110-1,169 are built for three or four.
• go early at the old delhi places. moti mahal’s original crowds up, and the published advice is unanimous on beating the dinner rush.
• pandara road lets you compare. gulati and havemore are neighbours. two half portions across both is cheaper than one full portion at either and tells you far more.
• ignore “authentic.” with the origin claim in active litigation, the word means nothing on a menu board here. pick by gravy style.
• sweet or not sweet is the only question that matters. gulati and daryaganj lean sweet and smooth. moti mahal and aslam’s lean savoury and smoky. decide that first and the list shortens itself.

related delhi guides

• best dhabas in delhi - where butter chicken sits in the wider delhi mughlai picture
• best street food in daryaganj - the neighbourhood the dispute is named after
• best non-veg food in north delhi - the north campus side of the city
• best chaat in delhi - what to eat between the heavy meals