Ambrai is the restaurant of Amet Haveli — a converted seventeenth-century nobleman's residence on the western bank of Lake Pichola, whose terrace sits at a unique elevation: directly at water level, with the Lake Palace floating two hundred metres away in the middle distance and the City Palace visible across the lake to the east. The view is what every arriving visitor photographs first, and the restaurant has organised its service around the understanding that the view is the reason people have come.
The menu is Rajasthani and North Indian with enough of the international-visitor classics to put first-timers at ease. The laal maas is fierce in the proper Mewari way; the dal baati churma is the authentic version, with the wheat-ball dumplings soaked in ghee and served with the sweet crumble on the side; the tandoori platter is the non-vegetarian order-of-choice, and the paneer tikka is the kitchen's vegetarian set-piece. The house is not aiming for palace-hotel fine-dining — it is running an excellent heritage restaurant at a third of the palace-hotel price, and the honest register is part of its charm.
The terrace seating is arranged in three tiers: the ground-level water-edge tables (book six weeks ahead for sunset); the mid-level haveli terrace (where the kitchen wheels out a carved candlelight arrangement); the rooftop (first-come, first-served before 6pm, with a small bar). Live classical Indian music — usually sitar with tabla accompaniment — plays from a raised platform at the water's edge, timed to sunset and carrying on through dinner.
Service is traditional-Rajasthani warm, less protocol-heavy than the palace hotels, with a reliable English fluency at the senior-captain level. The restaurant sees a mix of international honeymoon couples (staying at nearby boutique havelis), Udaipur-based families on special occasions, and returning Indian-diaspora visitors who have made Ambrai their Udaipur regular across decades. Reservations are essential — the restaurant has been consistently busy since its opening, and during November–February peak season the sunset seating requires booking ten days ahead minimum.
Best for First Date
Ambrai is Udaipur's correct restaurant for the proposal or first date where the budget does not extend to the palace hotels. The water-level terrace with the Lake Palace in view delivers the most photographed proposal shot in India at a fraction of the Taj's price; the restaurant will coordinate rose-petal table dressing and pre-timed music. For solo dining, the rooftop tables are the correct single-diner reservation — the best sunset seat in the city, at a price that does not require a luxury-hotel justification.