Ins and outs of dining in 2025

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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The new year has kicked in, dry January for some is coming to a close and resolutions to eat better, eat healthy are, well... let’s just say they’re still staying resolutions for now.

As we settle into 2025, I’d like to take a cue from Instagram to list my version of “ins and outs" in the world of dining out. Going wide is out, going deep is in: Multi-cuisine is out. Trimming the fat (off menus and concepts) is in.

Instead of going wide, restaurateurs and F&B entrepreneurs will go deeper into cuisines and niches, to give us establishments that feel more wholesome. Last year, we saw a flash of this with the opening of spots such as Mumbai’s Across (that champions Nepali cuisine) and Bumipura with a cocktail menu that draws from eight culturally significant Malaysian and Singaporean dishes; Bengaluru’s Kopitiam Lah, India’s first Malaysian eatery and coffee shop, and Gurugram’s The Brook that interprets staples from the Himalayan kitchen, in a glass and on the plate. Fuss is out, fuss-free is in: By the end of the decade, India’s market for eating out and ordering in is set to nearly double to touch ₹9 trillion, from the current ₹5.5 trillion, as per a report by Swiggy and Bain & Co.

As we eat outside of our homes more, we’re going to seek conviviality—that comforting blanket of personalised service, soulful food and intimate set-ups that blend friendliness, value and flavour. Hotels and restaurants are going to lose the starch to allow for more intimate, freer dining experiences that don’t intimidate or overwhelm. Diets are out, protein is in: Driven by the diner’s overwhelming desire to eat better even when eating out, chefs are embracing the reality of us counting our calories and