The name is Khan

The Commonwealth Games are not doing much to make us Delhiites proud. However, Khan Market definitely is. According to the annual global survey by real estate consultants Cushman & Wakefield, this central Delhi market has been declared the world’s 21st most expensive retail high street. HT City
takes a look at what makes Khan Market so cool.

1 This is one place in Delhi where stray dogs and cats feel loved. They are well looked after, vaccinated,
well fed and are also wrapped with coats during winters.

2 The Khan Market crowd is the upper crust of Delhi society. It comprises of diplomats, book lovers, foodies, politicians and the rest of the fashionable.

3 The market’s middle lane is rutty but who cares... it is lined with cool restaurants — from cafes to fine diners — offering cuisines from all over the world.

4 Khan Market is pricey and is a natural ‘home’ for the rich but the good thing is that it has free parking for your car and there are attendants to guide you.

5 Khan Market is known for its bookshops. Their number has dwindled to four (KD Singh’s The Book Shop is terribly missed) but the remaining shops are still some of Delhi’s best bookstores. Even if you don’t like books, just step in for people watching.

6 Yay, the Metro is coming to Khan. The soon-to-be-opened Humayun Road metro stop will, for all purposes, be known as the metro station for Khan Market. Commuting to the place will become easier.

7 Khan Market is the favoured destination of Delhi’s famous people, all coming from different walks of life. Sample the regulars: MP Rahul Gandhi, singer Shubha Mudgal, J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah, dancer Shovana Narayan and author William Dalrymple. Heartthrob Ranbir Kapoor, too, has been spotted here.

8 The landmark eateries of Khan Chacha’s and Salim’s Kabab enables fashionable Delhiites to get Delhi’s best kathi rolls and kebabs without venturing into Old Delhi, the traditional haunt for kebabs.

9 Khan Market is more than just the sum total of its showrooms. Delhi’s only Parsi cemetery lies just behind it. Its backyard also boasts of Delhi’s only synagogue.

10 Khan Market has some of the few good, clean places in Delhi, other than 5-star hotel coffee shops, that offer early breakfasts. Choko La, for instance, offers lovely choices as early as 8am.

11 The public toilets in the Middle Lane maintain hygiene standards that rivals that of the nearby 5-star hotel.

12 You can find the world in Khan Market. And we don’t just mean the expat crowd. When it comes to shopping for foreign cheeses, chocolates, hummus, juices, fruits and even flowers, moneyed Delhiites drive to Khan Market.

13 Khan Market is the place to pamper your pets. The Market has two shops selling all that you need for your Poopoo.

14 Khan Market gives you freedom from the ‘shady’ crowd. The rich dad’s poor girl can walk around without worrying about the stares of ‘perverts’. For there aren’t any such men in Khan Market, or so it seems.

15 Come to Khan Market to check out what’s the latest in high-street style. Divas who come to shop here are dressed in their sartorial best.

16 Khan Market has a dizzying wide range of footwear. You can buy a sandal worth R10,000 or a chappal from street side stall here for less than Rs 300.

17 “My name is Khan and I’m not a mall.” In a city where the shopping public is being swept by the first-world glamour of malls, Khan Market still remains fashionable.