New Delhi, June 20 -- It's 5am and I'm hunkered down before a bowl of steaming fish ball soup. Moments ago, I watched the chef toss noodles into a boiling vat before adding a handful of fish balls that puffed up instantly. He ladles herbaceous broth into a bowl, adds the springy noodles and fish balls, then gestures towards the toppings: fried shallots, green onions, silken tofu and a few other ingredients I don't recognise. The seafood-rich aroma is enough to make me point at everything on offer.

I grab another plate, skipping past the fruit, patisserie, dairy and buffet spreads in favour of gyoza, siew mai (pork dumplings) and har gow (shrimp dumplings), paired with a steaming cup of TWG's Vanilla Bourbon tea. This isn't some after-hou...