Shikaar Bagh Jaipur is a newly opened restaurant cum bar at the popular Narain Niwas Hotel. Shikaar Bagh replicates the atmosphere of bygone days of royalty and hunting. In some ways, it also depicts life during the Raj era!

Shikaar in Hindi means hunting. Bagh means the garden. Hunting sport was banned long ago and it is a criminal offense now. This place has nothing to do with hunting sport but it recreates the ambiance of old days with interiors. Even then Shikaar Bagh doesn’t have feel & look of Indian Hunting lodges which erstwhile kings commissioned in their states. Hunting was a favorite sport of Rajput rulers. They also hosted many hunting parties for visiting British agents and officers since India was a British colony until 1947.

As per written accounts hunting by royalty lead to the extinction of the Tiger population in India.  The Tiger population was wiped off by the 1950s from most hunting reserves in Rajasthan. Royalty and British officers continued to engage in their favorite sport at the cost of the Tiger population! Many believe Britishers were responsible for wiping out of the Tiger population across the Indian subcontinent.

I visited Shikaar bagh during late evening with friends; the best time to soak and enjoy the perfect weather. Evenings in October are famed for perfect weather in this part of the world. Despite not advertising Shikaar Bagh was buzzing with people. Word of mouth publicity, perhaps!

With just a table left to accommodate our entire gang at an outdoor seating, we didn’t have many options! We opted to seat at upper deck which is open to air from all four sides. We heard that indoor lounge on the ground floor has a great interior too.

The furniture and setting make a departure from the trendy and casual seating arrangement which is popular nowadays. The dimly lit place with wood and leather furniture reminds us of pre-1980’s era.

With menu cards delivered at the table soon, everyone placed the orders. There’s quite a bit on the offer. Unlike Bar Palladio which has a limited menu, Shikaar Bagh offers the full menu in both drinks and food.

First drinks were delivered along with potato wedges. People who ordered beer were the happiest. The ones who ordered Sangria were really unhappy. They found it a towards a sweeter side! Maybe the choice of wine that goes into making Sangria wasn’t that good!

And then the pizza arrived which was not edible as the base wasn’t baked well.  Steward was called and explained. He promptly agreed to re-do it! Our pizza was given another shot of oven and brought back.  The taste, however, wasn’t that good. I’m sure making a good pizza is not difficult these days; even small cafes in Jaipur make excellent thin crust pizzas! There was no problem with potato wedges though. The service was excellent.

Located next to Bar Palladio, another popular hangout place with beautiful interiors inspired by peacock-blue color interiors. Here is a picture of Bar Palladio. You can check out my earlier post on Bar Palladio – Bar Palladio Jaipur | Chic bar of Jaipur

Overall, Shikaar Bagh is a great place. I hope that the team takes care of food, our only grouse! Even though Bar Palladio offers distinctive and stunning interiors, it fails in providing choices in its menu. The seating option at Bar Palladio is limiting as outdoor seats are neither comfortable nor it can accommodate large groups. Shikaar Bagh fills this void!. Shikaar Bagh is worth visiting for the ambiance and yore!

check out my earlier post on Bar Palladio – Bar Palladio Jaipur/ Chic bar of Jaipur/ iphonography. Read more on Jaipur Food Guide

Location

Hotel Narain Niwas near Police Memorial, Jaipur

Place Like Shikaar Bagh

A good alternative to Shikaar Bagh is newly opened Townsend Kitchen on MD Road. Townsend also replicate the ambiance of hunting lodge. In many ways, its ambiance is better than Shikaar Bagh. On the flip-side, Townsend is much smaller. Here is a picture of Townsend Kitchen.

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