EIGHT hours at Dr ZOMBIE restaurant on our first full day in New Delhi
Updated: Apr 7
The food here is absolutely epic and the vibe and ambience is awesome. A fascinating concept too! Great service and a great spot, get yourself here if you are in Delhi!!!
Tired and weary after a chaotic few hours getting to Connaught Place (where Dr Zombie is), we were all feeling like we just wanted to sit down and relax. Our journey to this point had involved crossing a major intersection, fitting 6 in a rickshaw, being dropped off at the wrong spot, visiting an electronics store and failing to find a sim card. Not to mention the searing heat, encountering several (and in some cases verbally aggressive) misfortunate beggars on the streets, and the endless honking that fills the air in New Delhi. More on that in our previous post, links to that to come later!
When we decided on finding a place to sit, hopefully drink one (or three) nice cold beers and grab some food, we did not really know where to start. We did not exactly look it up anyway. We are in Connaught Place! There must be tons of restaurants and bars here! Sure enough, within just a few minutes, we happened across the bright green illumination of DR ZOMBIE, perhaps one the most intriguing entrances and concepts we have seen on our travels.
With more curiosity than hesitation we all instantly knew this was the spot, and signalled to the lady at the entrance stand that we would like to head up. The stairwell was quite the spectacle, with what we assume to be keyhole shapes filled with white and green stuff. Honestly apart from the bottle, and what could be a strawberry in the one closest to the right, we have no idea what is going on. At this point, we had to turn left up another stairwell, and our early optimism and curiosity was now seeming like a 'are we in the right spot here?' feeling.
Nonetheless, we came to a big heavy red door, with large bolts and bars on a small window, complete with haphazard black tape streaking across it, feeling like something out of a crazy asylum movie. Yes, actually we are in the right place. A place that lives up to its name, and a place that we will not leave for the next EIGHT HOURS!
Read on for our highlights, the wonderful food we tried, how to find Dr Zombie restaurant in New Delhi, our YouTube video, and our restaurant rating! Plus find links to our previous posts in this INDIA SERIES, and our comprehensive Country Guide to visiting India.
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Our Dr Zombie Restaurant highlights
With the aforementioned red door opened, it was like walking into another world, far beyond where we had just come from outside. The first thing that struck were the different materials all around, from concrete to brick, wood to stone, and industrial metal in some places. It felt like a zombie movie, like one of those warehouses or something with the render only patchy on the walls, the bare concrete adding a heavy and slightly dark and onerous feel to the scene. It was super cool!
In almost every spot available on the walls and available spaces there was some sort of reference to the theme. It kind of felt like an odd amalgamation of Halloween, zombies, and what I would imagine Hard Rock Cafe would look like with a zombie theme. The frames of random movies and general scary stuff add that part.
The lighting was excellent for this vibe, and there were several levels to it. Dr Zombie is almost like a multi-faceted spot with different places and floors for a mix between a coffee shop style workspace, eatery and hangout place during the day. As the evening and night draw near, it becomes a zombie-themed Italian restaurant, with pizza, beer and food aplenty flowing from its kitchen at the rear and extensive bar at the front. We were able to secure a spot in-front of the pizza oven station, obviously our starting point being a very quiet 2pm in the afternoon (turns out this was a premium table in the evening).
We even had this cool water feature behind us to really add the the setting! If you look at the sides, they almost look like some sort of south American totem poles. Another element to add to this intriguing place called Dr Zombie.
Although we are unaware of who this guy below is, we would like to thank him for his wonderful singing and renditions throughout the evening part of our visit here too. He had such a soothing voice, and brought the vibe of India to our table for sure. He is really talented! Not sure if he comes every night, but either way having live music is always a great feature of any restaurant. Would you agree? Let us know in the comments!
From the moment we arrived here we felt highly comfortable and although we did not exactly expect to be here for so long, we are more than happy we were! It did feel a tad on the expensive side, but more so in the context of being responsible full-time travelers than being the restaurant prices. They were very reasonable for where we were actually.
We did take full advantage of happy hour on the beers, and ended up having both lunch and dinner! The food was excellent too, perhaps even the best meal we could say we had in India in the entire time we were there. Having eaten twice for four, and had 16+ beers in total, at £40 a head it was a cracking night. The service and vibe was excellent, and we could not have asked for more really. Spot on Dr Zombie!
Read on for the menu, how to find the restaurant, highlights in our YouTube video, and our in depth experience rating.
We spend 12 days touring 5 cities in the world's most populated country using public transport, hostels and homestays. Yes, there was drama!
The food at Dr Zombie
There are many things that we feel go into making a top class, Jenn & Leon 5-star rated restaurant. You can find all of them in our experience rating later on. But above all of the factors, atmosphere, price, service etc, we would say the number one of utmost importance is the food. The product. The main thing we come for. In that regard, Dr Zombie has it pretty spot on.
With Leon a massive fan of curry, keen to try one in every country we visit, India is the best place to be. No matter the style of restaurant, you will find some sort of curry on the menu. Dr Zombie is officially classed as an Italian, although there are plenty of Indian dishes to choose from. So with much excitement and clamour Leon went for the Kadai Chicken Curry, Jenn went for chicken, vegetables and Indian spices, and Jackson and Marjo ordered Sushi. Yes sushi! Dr Zombie does Japanese too!
As the minutes turned to hours, and hours turned from afternoon to evening, we also ordered dinner of sorts, with nachos and salsa, Cajun dusted fries, a couple of pizzas being added to our burgeoning bill.
The food was all excellent. High quality, rich in flavor, beautifully presented and kindly served. It had everything we were looking for, and every plate and chopping board went back empty. There were several highlights from our time here, and the food is most certainly one of them, if not the best of all.
Dr Zombie food menu
With £1 GBP converting to 100 Indian Rupees at time of writing, that should give you a good idea of the prices here. The menu is extensive, and full of intriguing things, and this is by no means all of it! Tap the arrow and swipe across for more, and feel free to download it if you want to.
The water was so bad we couldn't even shower! The hotel totally different to the photos online too. Our review of this budget hotel in Delhi.
How to get to Dr Zombie Restaurant, New Delhi
Dr Zombie is pretty easy to find once you are in Connaught Place. Most transportation services should easily know how to get to CP, but it is a big area, so even if you make it there you may have to walk if the driver does not know it exactly. Here are some starting points if you are in New Delhi:
⪢ By metro: Take the Yellow Line metro from Karol Bagh to Rajiv Chowk. Rajiv Chowk is the closest metro station to Dr Zombie Restaurant. Once you reach Rajiv Chowk, you can walk to Dr Zombie Restaurant in about 5 minutes.
⪢ By bus: Take the bus number 502 from Karol Bagh to Connaught Place. The bus stop is located right outside the hotel. Once you reach Connaught Place, you can walk to Dr Zombie Restaurant in about 10 minutes.
⪢ By auto rickshaw: Auto rickshaws are readily available outside the hotel. You can ask the driver to take you to Dr Zombie Restaurant. The fare should be around ₹100.
Address: First Floor, C Block, C 35, Rajiv Chowk, Connaught Place, New Delhi, Delhi 110001, India
Opening Hours:
Monday to Sunday: 12pm to 12am
Contact: +91 6909090905 / +91 989112868
Instagram: @dr.zombie
All major credit cards are accepted, although bring cash in case the card machine is not working.
Don't miss: Our first scam in India, SIX in a rickshaw, Connaught Place, and a VERY unique restaurant!
Experience the chaos and charm of Connaught Place in New Delhi! Join us as we navigate through scams, rickshaws, and a very unique eatery!
Our Dr Zombie Bar & Restaurant experience rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5
There has been plenty of praise for Dr Zombie's restaurant throughout this post; it feels only right to add even more here! We absolutely recommend Dr Zombie with 5 -stars and a heap of praise for creating such a cool, unique and bespoke establishment in the heart of New Delhi. From the food to the service it ticks every box and is THE place to go if you are in Connaught Place!
✓ Atmosphere: 5/5
What is there not to say about the atmosphere here?! With so much to capture the attention and imagination, Dr Zombie has an abundance of VIBE. Careful not to be tacky, the team has done an excellent job with the decor, and the live music is a great touch.
✓ Cost: 4.5/5
✓ Food: 5/5
✓ Service: 5/5
Coming up: A FAILED trip to Akshardham Temple, but an unexpected trip to the INDIA GATE!
Having woken up fairly weary after our Dr Zombie shenanigans, we decided to take a slow morning on Day Three. We ordered room service, edited videos and just chilled in our hotel until early afternoon. The food was decent, and with us all fully recovered we decided to head out to what looked like a very special light show at Akshardham Temple. So off we went, and after nearly 90 minutes of traffic we got there only to be refused entry. Cue the India Gate to step in and save the day!
The India Gate was a great experience, not least for the dozens of people asking for photographs with us. Jenn even got given someones' baby! Be sure to tune in for more on that, and the India Gate itself.
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Our New Delhi itinerary
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Our India Series on YouTube
Day one of exploring NEW DELHI, India! Delhi is the most populated city in India. This city is BUSY! Join us as we visit Connaught Place, see inside Dr. Zombie, ride the rickshaws through the streets of Delhi, visit the Akshardham temple, Delhi Gate, KFC and check out our accommodation. We met so many incredible and friendly locals BUT we also met some pushy ones too!
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