When it comes to fine dining, Indian cuisine comes out as a favourite followed by Italian, according to a recent survey
For a third straight year Indian Accent – located in the capital bagged the fine dining restaurant award in the Travellers’ Choice™ awards as gastronomic getaway trend is quickly catching up in the country, reads a survey by a travel portal.
This year’s awards recognise 528 restaurants overall, including the top 25 fine dining in the world and dedicated lists for Asia, Canada, Europe, India, Mexico, South America, South Pacific, the UK and the US.
It has also awarded some of the best bargain dining and local cuisine establishments around the world. Award winners were determined using an algorithm that took into account the quantity and quality of reviews for restaurants around the world, gathered over a 12-month period.
While Indian Accent continues to reign supreme in the Indian ‘Fine Dining’ list, Hari Garh Restaurant from Udaipur takes the #1 position in the ‘local cuisine restaurants’ list which has been introduced this year.
“This year the Travellers’ Choice Awards for restaurants serves up not only the list of ‘fine dining’ establishments but also a ‘local cuisine’ list for travellers to savour authentic local fare,” said Nikhil Ganju, Country Manager, TripAdvisor, India.
In addition, three Indian restaurants have been awarded at Asia level too: Indian Accent, New Delhi(#13); Villa Maya, Trivandrum (#15)and Peshawari, Mumbai (#25).
“These restaurants, recognised by millions of travellers from the TripAdvisor Community will surely inspire foodies to go on a gastronomical journey when they travel around India,” added Nikhil.
The survey was conducted amongst users to uncover habits and preferences of Indians when they dine out. According to the findings, Indians frequent restaurants often (34 per cent 1-2 times per month and 33 per cent once per week) but gastronomy is especially top of mind when going on trips — 51 per cent said dining out and restaurant selection is important to their overall trip experience.
73 per cent have either planned or intend to plan a gastronomic getaway soon to a destination specifically to try the food it is famous for and 67 per cent have plans to visit a particular restaurant.
In fact, 63 per cent of Indians will plan a gastronomic getaway in 2017.
“It’s no secret that Indians love to eat and the multitude of cuisines in India makes the gastronomic journey right here in India even more interesting,” explained Nikhil.
When it comes to fine dining, Indian is a clear favourite, followed by Italian when it comes to cuisine. Most Indians go to fine dining restaurants once or twice per year (31 per cent), mainly to celebrate a special occasion as well as enjoy eating great food and experience. 35 per cent said they have visited a restaurant because of its celebrity chef.
More travellers are shopping for restaurants via mobile. The survey found that 57 per cent of respondents look to the reviews and opinions on via mobile when it comes to researching restaurants, out of which 60 per cent said that they did so often. 54 per cent say they use the app when on travels and 42 per cent use on-the-go both when in their local area, as well as on travels.