EZTrip.com International Destination Guide and Hotel Listings

Jaipur has an excellent choice of quality restaurants , both veg and non-veg, although options are more limited at the bottom of the range. If you're on a tight budget and staying at a small or family-run guesthouse, eat in where the food is likely to be fresher and more tailored for tourists' sensitive taste buds. Whatever your budget, though, find time for a lassi at the legendary Lassiwalla pavement café on MI Road.

Annapurna , down the lane behind Raj Mandir cinema on Bhagwan Das Road (look for the red sign in Gujarati). Keep-it-coming, tasty Gujarati veg thalis at low prices (Rs50). The best cheap meal in Jaipur, although the dining room's a bit gloomy. Open noon-3pm & 7-10pm.

Anokha Gaon , 14 Vishwakarm Road, opposite Jodla Power House, 12km north of town along Sikar Road. Unquestionably the best and most authentic Rajasthani restaurant in town. The approach (through an industrial estate) is unpromising and the furniture rudimentary (you sit in rows on the floor and eat with your hands off leaf plates set on low plank tables) but the food, prepared on wood fires and old clay ovens, is out of this world. Rs90 for the full works, including four kinds of rotis and wonderful keer (saffron-flavoured rice pudding). For kids, there's a desultory puppet show and camel rides.

Chanakya , MI Road. Top-notch pure veg restaurant specializes in carefully prepared Rajasthani thalis (though you can also order dishes and breads separately). For a quick snack, try their superb stuffed parathas . Open noon-11pm.

Chitra Café , Arya Niwas Hotel , Sansar Chandra Road. Busy self-service restaurant that does good-value veg thalis (Rs70), and a range of delicious side dishes (with display samples so you know what you're getting). Also cold drinks, tea and coffee, and delicious mango lassi , on the lawn.

Copper Chimney , MI Road. Swish glass-fronted restaurant on the main drag, renowned for its top-notch Mughlai cuisine (including a matchless rogan josh ). They also offer a better-than-average choice of Western dishes, and all the north Indian standards. Count on Rs250 per head.

Chowki Dhani , 22km south of Jaipur on the Tonk Road. Well-heeled Jaipuris flock in droves to this famous out-of-town restaurant. The Rs150 entrance fee covers a slap-up traditional thali and cabaret (folk dance, acrobats, musicians and puppetry). Well worth the long drive for the atmosphere, but the food's not as good as Anokha Gaon's . Taxis charge around Rs400 for the round trip (Rs250 for auto-rickshaw). Open Mon-Sat 6.30-11pm & Sun from 2.30pm.

Four Seasons , D-43A Subhash Marg, C-Scheme. The most popular vegetarian restaurant in town, tucked away in a residential area that's well off the tour group trail. Its south Indian dosas and uttapams are as good as you'll eat anywhere, and they serve a full selection of top north Indian specialities, snacks, ice creams and shakes. Most dishes cost around Rs80. Expect a short wait for a table.

Indian Coffee House , MI Road, 100m west of Ajmeri Gate. The usual fine coffee (try their "special"), south Indian snacks, and decent breakfast options (including unusually good plain toast), dished up by waiters in cotton cummerbunds. Open 7.30am-9pm.

Lassiwalla , opposite Niro's , MI Road. A gastronomic institution in Jaipur (during the summer, you have to queue for thirty minutes to be served), famous for its sublime lassis, still served in old-style, hygienic terracotta mugs. Be sure to order one without ice.

LMB , Johari Bazaar. Scrupulously pure-veg, high-caste cooking ("No onions, No garlic"), served in a large, cool dining hall whose classic early Peter Sellers movie-set decor was, tragically, under threat of renovation when we last looked. This has long been regarded as the best restaurant in town, but the food is no longer what it was, drenched in sickly deshi ghee and too spicy for most tastes. However, their famous paneer ghewar (honeycomb cake soaked in treacle) and potato-and-cashew nut tikkis dished up piping hot (in spicy mango sauce) at the sweet counter outside are a must. Open 11.30am-3.30pm & 7-11pm, snacks only 4-7pm.

Mediterraneo , Hotel Vijeet Palace , Sansar Chandra Road. Lively Italian terrace restaurant with views of the fort. Their pizzas (Rs120-200) are wood-fired, their pasta dishes fresh every day, and the coffee excellent. Beer is served in Prohibition-style teapots pending a liquor licence.

Natraj , MI Road. The Chanakya's main competitor, famed for its paneer dishes and superb sweets (try their melt-in-the-mouth rasmala , flavoured with cardamom and saffron).

Niro's , MI Road. Along with Copper Chimney , this place gets the local vote for best non-veg food in Jaipur, although they offer a full multi-cuisine and veg menu, too. No alcohol. Open 10am-11.30pm.

Pizza Hut , 109 Ganpati Plaza, MI Road tel 0141/388627. Doubtless not what you came to Jaipur for, but the food and decor's just the same as back home, the prices low by comparison (Rs100-200), and they'll deliver free to your hotel room or guesthouse.