This guide is built from the live tour page of Delhi Food Tour on A Chef’s Tour — price, start time, group size, tastings and dietary notes come straight from the operator, never invented.

Three Indian Cities, Three Very Different Food Tours

A Chef’s Tour runs one small-group food walk each in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata, all capped at eight guests, all led by a local food host, and priced at US$35 (Delhi), US$45 (Mumbai) and US$35 (Kolkata) per person. India is a country where “first-timer” and “food tour” belong together — the choice of street, the order of dishes and the question of what is safe to try are exactly what a visitor can’t easily work out alone. But the three tours aren’t interchangeable.

How we wrote this: we are Joona and Alla, family travellers based in Rovaniemi, Finland, and we have not taken any of these tours. We research food tours from the live tour pages and send readers to the ones that hold up, so every fact below comes from A Chef’s Tour’s own pages. Where a page is silent, we say so.

India Food Tours at a Glance

On price the cheapest are Delhi and Kolkata. On transport, Delhi is the simplest and Kolkata the busiest, with four modes of transport in one evening. None of the three pages lists a child policy.

Delhi: Old Delhi, a Sikh Temple Kitchen and a Cycle Rickshaw

The Delhi tour is the one the page pitches at first-timers: “For a first-timer, Delhi’s a culture shock.” It runs for four hours, starting either at 10:30am or at 4:00pm, through the maze of Old Delhi with a “foodie expert”.

The named stops are generous: creamy paneer tikka masala with freshly fired chapattis, pani puris, chilli pakoras and jalebi; a Sikh temple’s 24-hour kitchen, which the page says feeds over 30,000 people every day (you can try your hand at making chapattis and stirring enormous pots); stuffed parathas from a place that has been making them for almost a century; “a secret little restaurant with no sign outside”; a walk and talk in the spice market; a Mughal vermicelli dessert with a creamy nutty topping; and a paan made by your guide to finish. A cycle rickshaw takes the group back to the start.

That is a lot of variety for US$35, but note the practical details: the page describes narrow streets, passing cows and tiny vendors, so a buggy is a bad idea, and no dietary line is listed. The page also says your guide can help you find transport back at the end of the tour.

Mumbai: Colonial South Mumbai, a Parsi District and Zaveri Bazaar

The Mumbai tour, 16h00 to 20h00, starts “from the grand colonial heart of Bombay” and winds through two districts “both by foot and by train”. The page names a Parsi district — exploring the flavours of the city’s “historic Irani community” — and the khau galli alleyways of Zaveri Bazaar, with food the page calls “legendary street food in the South of India”: crispy masala papads, chutney-spiked pudla, cheese-dripping dosas and creamy moong dal halwa, plus chaat snacks, buttery aubergine curry and slow-cooked curries.

The page says to skip lunch. It also notes that the tour is limited to eight, with private tours on request. Pescatarians should read the line carefully: “Tastings are limited for strict pescatarian diets, as meat is present in 5-6 savoury tastings (out of 15 total) with no alternatives available.”

The train is the thing to plan around: the page doesn’t say which line, how long the ride is or how busy it gets, so ask the operator if you are travelling with a buggy, a baby or limited mobility.

Kolkata: The Northern Districts, a Coffee House and Four Modes of Transport

The Kolkata tour is the least touristy of the three, and the page leans into it: a “neighbourhood rarely visited by foreigners” in the north of the city, “known for having the best places to eat in Kolkata”. It runs 17h00 to 21h00 with 14 tastings, and meets at Esplanade metro station’s main entrance (Gate 4), where the guide wears an A Chef’s Tour t-shirt; the page also says it is easy to reach from Park Street.

Named food: slow-cooked mutton kosha, pani puri chaat snacks and deep-fried prawn cutlets; sandesh, sherbet soda and a visit to “a grand old smoky coffee house” in the old book district to finish. Transport is listed as “Subway, bus, train + rickshaw”, a lot of vehicles for four hours.

Dietary lines: gluten in 2–3 tastings (“OK if a mild intolerance”, not advised for coeliacs, with unavoidable traces of soy sauce in some tastings), and limited options for strict pescatarians, with meat in 5–6 savoury tastings and no alternatives.

Which India Food Tour Should You Book?

Our reading of the pages:

• First-time visitors to India: the Delhi tour. The page is written for them, the route has the most varied menu, and it has a set meeting point and a rickshaw ride home.
• Travellers who like a story: Mumbai, for the Parsi and Irani food and the mixture of colonial streets and market alleys. It’s the dearest, at US$45.
• Repeat visitors who want something off the beaten track: Kolkata, for the northern district, the book district and the coffee house. It’s tied with Delhi as the cheapest, but with a lot more transport.
• Travellers with a long trip: all three. The menus are quite different and there’s almost no overlap other than pani puri chaat snacks.

Timing matters too: Delhi gives the only choice of start time (10:30am or 4:00pm); Mumbai and Kolkata are late-afternoon-to-evening tours that finish at 8pm and 9pm. That’s a late finish for children under six, and none of the three pages lists a child policy, so ask before booking with children.

Dietary Needs and Allergies Across the Three Tours

This is where the India pages are thinnest, and it is worth being plain about it.

• Delhi: no dietary lines at all. A Chef’s Tour doesn’t list vegetarian, vegan, pork, beef, halal, gluten or allergy information for Delhi — ask before booking (info@achefstour.com).
• Mumbai: one line, on pescatarians, as quoted above. Nothing on vegetarians, vegans, beef, pork, halal or allergies.
• Kolkata: gluten and pescatarian lines only.

Given that India is a major vegetarian food culture, it is striking that none of the three pages says anything about vegetarians. The named menus include mutton, prawns and paneer; we wouldn’t assume a vegetarian or vegan will have a full tour, and we’d ask. For severe allergies, remember that street food in any country is cooked in shared oil and on shared surfaces, and that no tour can promise an allergen-free dish.

Practical Notes for First-Timers

A few points that apply across the three tours, from the pages and general travel knowledge:

• Eat light beforehand. The Mumbai page says to skip lunch; the numbers (14–15+ tastings) support it for the others too.
• Wear closed, comfortable shoes for narrow, uneven streets and train platforms.
• Dress modestly, particularly in Delhi, where the route includes a Sikh temple. Check with the operator on head coverings.
• Water and drinks: bottled water is included on all three tours.
• Getting home: not included. The Delhi guide helps with transport and a rickshaw takes you to the start; in Mumbai and Kolkata, ask your hotel how long the return takes at 8–9pm.

All three tours are walking-heavy and busy. We’d suggest a carrier rather than a buggy.

How to Book

You book directly with A Chef’s Tour on achefstour.com — we never take payment. Open the tour you want through our links above, pick a date on the live calendar, add your guests and pay. Confirmation is instant and the details come with your booking.

• Book early in your stay, as groups cap at eight.
• Flag diets and allergies when booking, and email info@achefstour.com about anything the pages don’t cover.
• Private groups: contact A Chef’s Tour directly.

Cancellation, from all three tour pages: “Cancel any time up to 48 hours before your tour and receive a full refund.”

We are an A Chef’s Tour affiliate and earn a commission on bookings made through our links — it does not change the price you pay.

FAQ

Our Honest Final Word

Which is the best food tour in India? For most first-time visitors we would start with Delhi: it is the cheapest, the clearest and the one the page itself pitches at first-timers. Mumbai suits travellers who like history in the mix, and Kolkata those who have already done the big cities. The weak points are consistent: dietary information is thin, there is no listed child policy and the late-finishing evening tours need planning. We haven’t walked any of them ourselves, and we send readers to them because the facts on the pages add up.

Book the Delhi Food Tour, the Mumbai Food Tour or the Kolkata Food Tour. Heading on to Sri Lanka? The Colombo Food Tour costs US$35 per person too.