DAWATPUR FOOD COURT AT OMAXE CHOWK, CHANDNI CHOWK
Delhi’s iconic Chandni Chowk is now home to India’s largest food court, Dawatpur
Designed by Chromed Design Studio and The Melange Studio
Flooring: KG Tiles
Branding Design: The Neat Trick by Shubham Torani
Hand Painted Art: Rahul Kumar
Ticker Signage: Kanwar Sahib
Photography: Avesh Gaur
Writeup: Aishwarya Khurana
Built-Up Area: 1,00,000 sqft
Location: Omaxe Chowk at Chandni Chowk, Old Delhi
Dawatpur: A Culinary Landmark in Chandni Chowk
Chandni Chowk is more than just a place—it’s an emotion. A vibrant confluence of history, culture, and flavors, it captivates visitors with its mouth-watering delicacies, bustling bazaars, and iconic landmarks. Embracing this essence, Mr. Jatin Goel, Executive Director at Omaxe Ltd., envisioned Dawatpur—India’s largest food court in the heart of Chandni Chowk. Spanning 100,000 square feet, Dawatpur welcomes over 2,000 visitors daily, offering 45 food outlets and five fine-dining restaurants.
Bringing nostalgia to life through design was no small feat. Inspired by the rich heritage of Chandni Chowk, the space seamlessly blends historic charm with modern functionality.
Design Inspired by Shahjahanabad
Rooted in the planning principles of Old Delhi (Shahjahanabad), Dawatpur is divided into four major zones, each offering a unique experience with food retail, a children’s play area, digital screens, performance stages, and anchor stores. To capture the spirit of Chandni Chowk, key elements like movement nodes and water features were reinterpreted, bridging the old city’s charm with a contemporary setting.
At the heart of the design lies Chaand Gali, a central axis inspired by the historic water channel that once flowed through Chandni Chowk during the Mughal era. This pathway, lined with a series of fountains, ties the zones together, evoking the ambiance of a bygone era. Above, a ceiling inspired by traditional metal jalis filters natural light, casting intricate patterns that enhance the space’s visual appeal.
Concept & Planning
For nearly 400 years, Chandni Chowk has been a cultural and culinary hub, known for its street food, spices, shopping, and monuments. Dawatpur’s design reflects this legacy, incorporating heritage planning principles such as a central axis, movement nodes, and water features—blending history with a modern experience.
Each of the four zones is thoughtfully themed:
- Laal Bagh – Inspired by the red sandstone walls and arches of the Red Fort.
- Sunehri Nagri – Echoing the rhythmic cusped arches of Meena Bazaar.
Neel Nagar & Panna Puri – Featuring bold flooring patterns, stained glass chandeliers, and hand-painted columns, reminiscent of ancestral homes in Chandni Chowk.
Design & Craftsmanship
The design process mirrors Chandni Chowk’s organized chaos, ensuring intuitive navigation and immersive experiences. Landmarks at intersections, centrally located seating, and carefully curated aesthetics make the space welcoming and memorable.
Authentic hand-painted artworks and locally sourced lakhori bricks infuse nostalgia into the lift lobbies, while traditional kadi tukda stone slab ceilings—a hallmark of old havelis—add to the historical authenticity. Every detail, from heritage-inspired materials to handcrafted finishes, ensures that Dawatpur stands as a landmark destination, celebrating the soul of Old Delhi while offering a contemporary, world-class dining experience.
Each zone of Dawatpur is named after a unique design theme— Sunehri Nagri, Laal Bagh, Neel Nagar, and Panna Puri—each celebrating its own cultural inspiration.
Sunehri Nagri – Adjacent to Laal Bagh, this zone captures the vibrant energy of Chandni Chowk’s street food culture. The flooring showcases distinct patterns and cobblestone designs, while wrought iron railings define secondary movement axes, guiding visitors through the bustling, market-like environment.
Laal Bagh – Drawing inspiration from the iconic red sandstone buildings of the Red Fort, this space pays homage to its grandeur. The expansive double-height area features a “bazaar lane” with charming food kiosks, reminiscent of the Meena Bazaar. Graceful arches, faux balconies, and intricate patterns in the tiles enhance the visual appeal, while red sandstone clads the columns up to the dado level, complemented by textured exterior paint in two contrasting shades.
Neel Nagar & Panna Puri – These two zones are characterized by distinct colour palettes—indigo in Neel Nagar and green in Panna Puri. Mughal-inspired motifs, rendered in digital art, adorn the columns, which are clad in Indian Makrana marble and Baroda green up to the dado level, complementing the overall colour scheme. The spaces showcase intricately hand-painted designs by local artisans, with a central dome painted by artist Rahul Kumar in fresco as the focal point.
The lift lobbies of Dawatpur are thoughtfully designed to evoke nostalgia and historical charm, featuring original lakhori bricks and imitation stone slabs reminiscent of Chandni Chowk’s historic havelis
Vintage doors, carefully sourced from Jodhpur, Rajasthan, add to the authenticity.
Arched panels display historical information and Red Fort paintings, some doubling as wayfinding signage. Inspired by traditional haveli aesthetics, the flooring patterns divide the food court into distinct zones, with custom tiles bordered by cobblestone and black granite, guiding foot traffic while narrating a story. Custom signage, created by Shubham Torani from The Neat Trick, reminiscent of Delhi’s road signs, appears in a “vandalized” style, adding to the raw, urban vibe of the space.
Dawatpur is a culinary world unto itself. It pays homage to the rich history of its surroundings while offering patrons a contemporary experience. This “organized chaos” brings together diverse textures, patterns, and design elements in a visually captivating way.