Walking through the doors of the iconic Moti Mahal in Daryaganj is like stepping into a time machine that transports you back to the early days of independent India. The light pink arched doorway features an old-fashioned navy blue sign that has the photo of a chicken (yes, a literal chicken) and the words “Moti Mahal” in a script that has been lost to modern typography. It leads you inside the restaurant, whose quiet and dated ambience is accentuated by its pastel-pink walls, softly decorated tables with plastic flowers and simple maroon tablecloth, reminiscent of an era before the many fancy cafes of Greater Kailash or the grand 5-star hotels of Chanakyapuri opened up. Just like its interior, the restaurant is well past its prime, as up till the 1970s it was the star attraction of Dilli’s cuisine, frequented by political personalities such as Nikita Khruschchev, Maulana Azad, Jawaharlal Nehru and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, but soon was outshined by other eateries that popped up across the city.