looking for restaurant rec.'s from fodorites who have recently been to india. in agra, would love to have a rec. for a place that overlooks the taj mahal.
in either city, looking for nice places with atmosphere and good food.
price is not an obstacle, but don't want to spend the whole trip in 5* restaurants in hotels.
thanks

the last time we were in Jaipur our Indian friends took us to Niro's it is on Mirza Ismael road.( I think it is called MI road) the food was good, we were told by our indian friends not to eat seafood in Jaipur, they said it is not fresh.

we ate in many of the 5* hotels and they were uniformly excellent

celeste60-thanks for your rec.
rhkkmk- i read your india trip repory when doing my initial planning. very helpful.
i see that you enjoyed esphahan rest. in agra at amarvilas. isn't there another rest. in that resort with a view of the taj?
what was your favorite rest. in jaipur?
i saw your comment about difficulty with ATM machines, was that throughout india?
thanks.

I suddenly remembered that we ate at Samode Haveli, a small hotel in quiet area of Jaipur. We ate lunch there in an outdoor garden with a musician and a tinkling fountain and were the only guests at the time. The food and service were fine and it's a very pleasant setting.

We found both of the restaurants in Amarvilas to be excellent, though neither has views of the Taj Mahal. However, the bar has a terrace with great views. In Jaipur neither restaurant in the Rambagh Palace was noteworthy. The "fancy restaurant" was both overpriced and mediocre, a sad combination.

We stayed at Samode Haveli as well. While not "fine dining", it is, like Indiana[earl sayd, a nice setting, and decent food. At dinner they often have local musicians.

We had dinner on our balcony one night at Amarvilas. That was a very, very nice location!

As we were leaving, paying by credit card at Samode Haveli, the waiter peered over MP's shoulder to see if he was including the tip on the credit card charge. MP discerned there was some difficulty and asked if the waiter was concerned he wouldn't get his tip if it was included in the credit card charge. MP gave him a cash tip and he seemed very happy. One has to have several layers of sensibility while traveling in India, but it was well worth it.

Have you looked at chowhound.com? They have a south Asia board which you might find helpful.

hello deperry i can rec. you the copper chimney restaurant in M.i road close to GPO AND HANDI restaurant IN JAIPUR AND in agra there is pirya restaurant and only restaurant