When was the last time you decided to eat out in Mumbai and ended up encountering a new dish or a cuisine? Long considered to be the cosmopolitan, culinary trendsetter, Mumbai is slowly being viewed condescendingly by most informed foodies as a place with safe and boring restaurants dishing out pizzas, milky pastas, burgers and of course, the ubiquitous chicken handi and kadhai.

Delhi, on the other hand, once called an overgrown village known for its rich Moghlai and Punjabi fare, is fast adapting its taste buds to cuisines from the North-east of India, Vietnam, Korea, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Israel and lesser known parts of southern India like Coorg.

Long discussions with food consultants, hospitality chains — running brands in both cities — and food critics yielded one common explanation: restaurateurs in Delhi can afford to experiment.

“The rentals and deposit in Delhi is about 30% lower than Mumbai. Even the labour cost in Mumbai is higher so the risk of running into losses is higher, which is why entrepreneurs like sticking to tried and tested concepts in Mumbai,” says Sameer Uttamsingh, brand head of Dish Hospitality, that runs Sanchos and Tasty Tangles in both Delhi and Mumbai and is planning to launch a European restaurant in Mumbai soon.

Nikhil Merchant, a food consultant, also believes that the sheer investment required to open up a restaurant in Mumbai deters people from taking the risk of experimenting with newer cuisines. “Mumbai doesn’t leave you with room for error or experiments because the consequent losses are so much higher,” he says.Convenience factorOne reason why experts believe Delhi is an easier and cheaper city to run standalone restaurants is the space provided to entrepreneurs. “In terms of physical space, Delhi is double the size of Mumbai. Pot Belly, the Bihari restaurant in Delhi, runs on the top floor of an old building that houses garment manufacturing units on the lower floors,” explains food writer Antoine Lewis. Mumbai has not managed to create such spaces. There is a clear distinction between commercial space, restaurant space and residential space which, in turn, results in less space and higher real estate prices.

The geography of the capital has also encouraged a fresh generation of chefs and entrepreneurs to open creative kitchens and boldly strike out alone with small, relaxed spaces in parts of the city not typically known for its experimental cuisines or high real estate prices. “Can you imagine yourself going from work to your home in Bandra and then heading to Andheri or Colaba for dinner? The very thought can tire you out. In Delhi people travel very easily.

The roads are wider, there is less traffic and the city is round so reaching the heart of the city from any part, even from Noida and Gurgaon, is way quicker and less stressful than getting from Thane or Navi Mumbai to, say, Dadar,” says Siddhartha Mathur, director and head of food and beverages of Impresario Entertainment and Hospitality that runs Smoke House Deli in both cities.Community cultureAnother important factor most experts point out to is the diversity in demographics in the national capital. The National Capital Region (NCR) is full of embassies, international cultural institutions like Max Mueller and offices international development sector organisationss.

Add that to the massive student population that comes to Delhi each year and international conglomerates from countries like Korea and Japan that have set up manufacturing units in Gurgaon and Noida. The presence of different communities has supported a variety of cuisines, providing restaurants with steady business. “Mumbai is largely made of working professionals as compared to Delhi,” says Lewis. And the working professionals in Mumbai, says Nikhil Merchant, want to be seen eating Italian and American cuisine because it’s trendy and completely different from any kind of Indian food.

Mathur explains with an example. “I live in Safdarjung in Delhi with the popular Korean restaurant Gung Palace right around the corner. Each time I visit the place 45 out of the 50 people having a meal are Koreans, who work in one of the conglomerates in Gurgaon. How often do you see a person from Nigeria, North-East or Korea walking on the streets of Mumbai?”

The coastal or Gujarati restaurants in Mumbai do well because there are enough people from the community in the city to support these restaurants on a daily basis. Cuisines like Manipuri, Naga or even Korean are acquired tastes. We will go to these restaurants once in fifteen days, or maybe a week, but that’s not enough for them to make a profit. A steady community backing is essential for these restaurants to survive.”