This tastes just like home

You can spend a year, eating well around the world, and find that the best food is still in India. Here are some favourites from across the country

- VIR SANGHVI

It was only when I was researching this piece that I realised that because I had travelled so much this year, some of my best meals were eaten abroad. When I wasn’t travelling, I was less enthusiastic about going out, partly because it’s nice to be home, and mostly because my wife's cooking is so perfectly attuned to my preferences that I eat much better when I don’t go out.

Nevertheless, here is a list of some of the best meals I ate in India this year. I have excluded street food, delivery food and meals cooked by such visiting superstars as Massimo Bottura.

Perhaps a little unfairly, I have also excluded the great superstars of Indian food. You don't need me to tell you yet again that Hussain Shahzad, Kavan Kuttapa, Ebenezer Johnson, Alex Sanchez and Manu Chandra are superstars. Or that the Delhi trinity of Indian Accent/ Bukhara/ Dum Pukht is still wonderful. Or that Avartana is one of India’s best restaurants.

I didn’t go to many of the restaurants I should have gone to this year — Masque, Naar, etc — and so this is not an objective list. It's just a collection of meals that I remember with affection, many of them at the hotels I stayed at.

Megu. I have seen Shubham Thakur grow from his Wasabi days and his food has never been better. He collaborated with Gresham Fernandes on an American Express Centurion dinner a fortnight ago and the food was fabulous.

Gresham Fernandes. The reason I mention Gresham personally is because his wonderful Bandra Born in Mumbai showcases only one aspect of Gresham's range. At his Megu collab, he was blown away by Shubham’s food and redid his entire menu to reflect East Asian flavours. It was all the more delicious for its spontaneity. And, of course, for his versatility.