As Chef Manish Mehrotra Makes His Comeback With Nisaba, Here's Looking At What Truly Makes It Work
After a year-long pause, the celebrated chef has opened a new restaurant that channels comfort, clarity, and Indian food as it exists now
Anyone who pays even casual attention to Indian dining knows the name Manish Mehrotra.
For almost three decades, he has been one of the most formidable forces in the country’s culinary conversation, reshaping how Indian food is spoken about, plated, and understood—both in India and internationally. Whether at Indian Accent in Delhi, Mumbai and New York, or at Comorin in Gurgaon, his cooking never chased drama or leaned on nostalgia for effect.
So when Mehrotra stepped away from Indian Accent about a year and a half ago, it felt like an era had come to pass. The restaurant had been inseparable from his identity for years, and his exit left behind more than a vacancy. It raised a question: what does a chef do after defining an entire category so thoroughly? The industry waited. Diners speculated. And Mehrotra stayed largely quiet.
Now, that wait is over.
Nisaba, his newest restaurant, opens on January 17 at the Humayun’s Tomb Museum Complex, and it feels less like a comeback and more like a return on his own terms. “This isn’t about reinvention or rewriting the rules again,” Mehrotra says. Nisaba is grounded, deliberate, and deeply personal, an expression of how he sees Indian food today, shaped by time away from the spotlight.
The food is stripped of any labels; it isn’t “modern,” “inventive,” or “progressive” Indian food. “I am doing Indian food of today’s India,” he says plainly. The menu draws from across the country rather than a single region, shaped by memory, travel, and everyday eating. “It’s hardcore food but done slightly differently so that people can enjoy and relax,” he adds, stressing that it’s meant to be approachable, not intimidating or gimmicky.
That thinking carries into the format, which is devoid of any tasting menus. Dishes are rooted in what he loves eating himself—a good butter chicken or a hearty seekh kebab—often drawn from street food, dhabas, and bylanes, but elevated without losing their soul.
Refined Indian Comfort
At Nisaba, the food arrives as something recognisable, then reveals its layers slowly. This is where Mehrotra’s idea of “Indian food of today’s India” becomes most tangible—dishes you know, nudged forward with restraint rather than reinvention.
A mushroom chop comes layered with mushroom makhani and mushroom achar, each element reinforcing the other without overpowering. Butter chicken—arguably the most overworked dish on Indian menus—lands with smoked makhani, onion rings and achari mirch, rich yet controlled. The mutton seekh kebab, paired with blue cheese butter and baked naan, is quietly decadent, while the village mutton roast leans into comfort, served with papad, chilli crisp, and soft reshmi paratha. Even the Belgian pork ribs, glazed with mango chunda and sharpened by sour fennel, feel grounded rather than flashy.
The mains continue in the same register. The raan anchors the non-vegetarian spread with slow-cooked confidence, paired with shakarkandi and hara chana onion chaat for contrast and texture. There’s a nod to coastal flavours in the chilli tomato crab ghotala, scooped up with butter buns. Vegetarian mains aren’t treated as an afterthought: chanar paturi kofta sits comfortably alongside cauliflower kasundi curry and hing kachori, layered with flavour rather than richness alone.
Desserts follow the same logic—familiar, but gently reworked. A baked rasmalai arrives with fried chironji and nolen gur makhana, warm, nutty, and deeply comforting. The treacle tart, paired with Gurgaon doda and pecan ice cream, closes the meal with a sense of measured indulgence.
Balanced Beverages
The drinks menu follows the same stripped-back, thoughtful approach, favouring balance over spectacle. Mocktails lean on tea, fermentation, and gentle botanicals—think fennel-thyme paani with lemongrass and tonic, chamomile blended with passion fruit and mint, quinoa milk brightened with citrus and green chilli, or a probiotic-forward mix built around yakult, oat juice, and banana.
Cocktails stay equally grounded, borrowing familiar global forms and nudging them with Indian accents: bourbon meets curry agave and pineapple, tequila is paired with pickled pear and chamoy, mezcal is softened with strawberry and Assam tea kombucha, while banana, chilli, and gin come together in a drink that’s playful but controlled. Across both lists, the emphasis is on drinks that sit comfortably alongside the food rather than compete with it.
What really stands out is how cohesive it all feels. Nisaba’s menu reads like a chef cooking with clarity, editing instinctively, and trusting that good food done honestly doesn’t need explanation.
A New Chapter, Clearly Drawn
Nisaba is designed to feel open and welcoming through the day, with warm, natural light, and clean lines setting the tone, before shifting into something more intimate by evening. Lighting does much of the work here, drawing attention to the quieter details across the bar, lounge, and dining room rather than dominating the room. Mehrotra was clear about what he didn’t want: “It had to be elegant, comforting. Not too funky or overpowering.” The setting is deliberately respectful of its heritage surroundings of Humayun’s Tomb and Sunder Nursery, places that carry their own sense of history and scale. The restaurant feels like an extension of that landscape rather than a disruption of it.
Anchoring the dining space is an installation by artist Dhananjay Singh, a sculptural meditation on grain, growth, and return. It’s a statement piece that reinforces Mehrotra’s long-held belief that food, space, and art should speak to each other without excess. The main dining room with about 110 covers is complemented with a private dining room for up to 14 guests.
Named after a Sumerian goddess of grain and writing, the name ‘Nisaba’ is rooted in ancient history yet chosen for global ease. Mehrotra wanted a name that travelled easily—international, simple to pronounce, and uncommon—while still signalling sustenance and creativity.
The chef is also candid about the shadow of his past work. “The influence of Indian Accent or comparisons with it will always be there,” he says, acknowledging that years of cooking and lived experience inevitably surface, sometimes in small, personal ways. Yet Nisaba doesn’t feel like a continuation of Indian Accent. It’s warmer, more relaxed, and less concerned with defining anything at all. Instead, it settles into something more assured, a restaurant confident enough to stand on its own, shaped by where its chef is now, and by an India that continues to evolve every day.
Address: NISABA, First Floor of the Humayun’s Tomb World Heritage Site Museum, Nizamuddin, New Delhi – 110013
Restaurant Timings: 12 noon to 12 midnight
Price for Two: INR 5,000 without alcohol plus taxes