In Photos: Delhi 'Tastes the World' at G20 International Food Festival

Food aficionados taste cuisines from around the world, under one roof, at the 2-day G20 International Food Festival.

Visitors enjoyed food from India and other countries at the two-day G20 International Food Festival in Delhi. 

(Photo: Verda Subzwari/The Quint)

The two-day G20 International Food Festival, themed "Taste the World," concluded on Sunday, 12 February. The food festival was inaugurated by Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri on Saturday.

China, Turkey, Japan, and Mexico are four G20 nations that took part in the festival. Additionally, visitors had the joy of tasting cuisines from 14 Indian states and union territories, including Delhi, Bihar, Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Manipur, and Meghalaya. Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Punjab. 

There were more than 11 hotels with their distinctive menu items, including Taj Palace, Taj Mahal, The Connaught, Taj Ambassadors, Le Meridian, ITC Maurya, and The Park.

"This is the first time I am trying various Indian dishes. I am very curious and excited about trying all the Indian states. I was really looking forward to the G20 International Food Festival as I wanted to try dishes that are out of North India. My personal favourite Indian food item is jalebi as of now," Elvyi Roque from the Philippines told The Quint. 

"Our experience was great at the festival, we are almost sold out now, but one dish that people were most  fascinated by was The Lalit signature bao," said Raju Malla, a chef at The Lalit.

"I am always on the lookout for things that include food. I loved the kombucha from the Japanese stall, which is basically fermented tea and it's delicious. So far we have tried all the international stalls like Mexican, Japanese, etc but now we are circling back to our Indian food," Manav Gupta from Noida said.

Honda, who has been in India for more than 7 years now and runs a restaurant named 'Kuuraku' all over India, said, "It has been extremely exciting to work in India. Our restaurant name 'Kuuraku' means 'eat and enjoy' and that's what we received here from the people. People loved our items and were also very keen to know about the preparation and ingredients of our dishes."

"My husband and I are big foodies, we are from the 'live to eat' category. We loved the Gujrati and Rajasthani stalls the most here," Mukut Poorna Sharma from Rajsthan told The Quint.

The Delhi Prison Department with Tihar Baking School also participated in the festival. "The most unique feature of this stand is that all of the things are handmade by prisoners. Diet namkeen, pickles, and other food items are among them. Ex-offenders are here serving and cooking meals like jalebi and sarson ka saag for the customers, which is another noteworthy aspect of this stall and another reason we have been receiving a really nice positive response from the crowd," said Neetu Yadav, who works at the Delhi Prison Department . 

"We all are big foodies, it took us hardly five minutes to convince the entire family to visit this food festival. The litti chaukha is fantastic here. We tried ramen noodles, chholey bhature, Korean ice-creams, but the litti chaukha topped the list," Kunal from Delhi said. 

Mamta and Anoop, both teachers by profession, visited  the Food festival to spend a great Sunday together. They enjoyed the musical festival throughout at the G20 food fest with Korean icecream cones.

"Our restaurant 'Al Mahir Mughlai Foods Delhi-6' is in Sadar Bazar since 1962. We received a great response from people here, they loved our food," said Mahir Qureshi from Old Delhi.

"We are here to enjoy the atmosphere of different cuisines displayed here. First thing we tried are the jalebis. Mughlai is our favourite cuisine," Sabina, Ayaan, and Amit from Delhi said.

"India's presidency in the G20 summit had been circulating in the news lately, that is how I found out about this food fest. The theme of "taste the world" seemed really appealing to me, so I was really looking forward to coming here. Out of all the dishes I tried here, the sushi from the Japan stall stood out for me," Anusuya Chakraborty from Delhi said.

"I am a restaurateur and hence, my relationship with food is quite serious. My restaurant is in California where we master Mughlai cuisine. I love how I am able to try different cuisines all at once. I tried the the chicken guacamole and chicken tacos which was something new and delicious," Anil Gupta from California told The Quint. 

"Alaturka's shawarma is one item I am hooked to. I never miss any food festival as I love tasting and judging different cuisines," said Priyanka. 

"We loved the Mizoram thali, the food items were different from what we find in Delhi usually," Mansi Mishra from Rampur said.

India is hosting a series of events across the country since it assumed the group's presidency on 1 December 2022 for a year-long tenure. The G20 Leaders’ Summit is set to be hosted by India during 9-10 September 2023 in New Delhi.