Arrey mian, mein boltu na....
So i have been asked by Adi to comment on my favourite eating joints in Hyderabad. Quite a tough task cuz i believe that Hyderabad sorely lacks variety in its cuisine and it has a long way to go before it can catch cities like Delhi,Bangalore, Bombay or Goa when it comes to dishing good food. Note since this is an ask to rate restaurants, i will try and stick to places that specialise in food only and stay away from waterholes that also happen to serve food.For me a restaurant is good only if it tries to stay away from being one of the regular run of the mill kinda places. It has to have its own SOUL, y'know. It might come from the ambience but in more cases than not, in my case, it comes from the good food that it offers. Every good restaurant has some kind of food that it absolutely specialises in and thats what i am going to highlight here. I dont believe that any of those multi-cuisine restaurants can work cuz i just dont understand how you can have a cook that happens to specialise in North Indian,Chinese and Andhra fare for eg. Also, i have a slight bias i guess, cuz i love trying out different cuisines, so if a restaurant has a dish that is not served in most other restaurants, it automatically goes higher in my opinion for just trying something else. Also, i dont mind paying good money for good food so value for money may not exactly figure high here, but its not like as if i dont eat in street side joints also, so i guess that makes up for it. Also did i mention that i am veggie, so that might also create an inherrent bias :). Enough said, here's my list, in the order of my recollection:
1. Roll Call - simply the best rolls and mughlai paranthas in town sold in a nondescript tiny hole in Nagarjuna Circle.Extremely popular with the ICFAI crowd around i hear. Their pudina paneer tikka roll is to die for and from what i hear from the people who go there with me, so is the chicken tikka roll. The fish rolls are good to, however they always seem to be not in stock. And the best part is that its not to heavy on the pocket too. Only wish is that if they were to move to a more clean area and provide better seating.
2. Tewari Bros - a heaven for northie street food lovers like me that masquerades as a sweet shop located bang at the Khairatabad junction. Their gatta subji ranks second only to what my mom makes and their chaats are simply amazing. The real surprises on their menu though is their lassi and their tawa pulao, since i never thought that the pulao could be made this exciting. Go there on sunday evenings to see the gujju and maaru crowd hog the pure veg fare.
3. Four seasons - well the first thing that anyone ever does when they get to Hyderabad is try and find out what the fuss about Hyderabadi biryani is all about. I sampled the fare at all possible places Paradise( sucks), Hyderabad House( okayish), Bawarchi(not that great), Ohris(way too heavy), etc etc. And I had made up mind that Biryani is way too overrated. Then somebody took me to this place in tolichowki called 4 Seasons. Boy, the biryani there is something to be sampled. The smell itself is bloody intoxicating. Am yet to sample Shadab which people tell me is better, but as far as the places that i have tried this is the place in Hyderabad for good biryani.
4. Bombay Vihar - a relatively new addition to my list of nice hyd restaurants simply for the fact that it serves different food. Good Gujarati, Marwari and Maharashtrian thalis. Much like the Rajdhanis and Mayurs of bbay and pune. Besides that they have some delicacies from Marwar and Gujju cuisines too. Nice ambience, efficient service and good quality food. Try out their Bajre ki Khichdi which absolutely rocks!
5. Dadu's - well again a sweet shop that serves some food, their pani puri and kulfi are the best in town in my opinion. Thronged by the Secunderabadi hordes the only downside is that its too crowded and serves food only at certain timings.
6. Dosa Plaza - 100 + varieties of dosas...what more can i say. I never have had the same thing there twice and each time i am absolutely amazed by what all they can do with a dosa. Mexican beans in dosa, chopseuy dosa, schezwan uttapam, you name it they got it. Surprisingly, it is always empty and i have a strange feeling that they are going to close down soon :(
7. Kafulok - best chinese food in town. Period. Their weekend brunch is a treat if there ever was one. And the best part is that each dish on the menu actually tastes different which is surefire sign of a good chinese place
8. Fusion 9/Grill room - above average continental and grilled food and laid back interiors. Nice place to lounge with a meal that will surely delight you.Thanks to ashanka for reminding me of this one :)
Honorable Mentions
1. Mainland China - decent chinese food. Very predictable, safe tasting fare though.Could do with more variety.
2. Friday night buffet at Taj Krishna - an all you can eat Italian and sea food buffet for 800 bucks!! The desserts itself make it worth the money in my opinion. But just one day in a week :(
3. Ohris Jiva - best veggie buffet for its price. Everyday seems to have the same menu and you quickly get bored of the place though.
4. Angeethi - good north indian place. Too bloody crowded in my opinion.
5. Jeet's Dhaba - a quaint place in Trimulgherry with awesome Anda Tadka Daal. Service leaves a lot to be desired though :(
6. Little penang - good chinese and continental food but the place feels absolutely dead with no ambience and mood to speak of. I actually get depressed when i go there.
7. Koyla/Our place - decent food, but outdoor restaurants just cannot work in a hot city like Hyderabad
8. Dine Hill - supposed to be the best Grilled Chicken place in town,located in Masab Tank. But is strictly non-veg so haven't had the good fortune of going there.
9.Sahib, Sindh, Sultan - their paneer dishes are the best in town and their karara palak chaat is so good that i can almost make love to it. A new entrant to hyderabad so lets hope that it can maintain its quality and service.
Addendum- sigh sahib,singh,sultan could not keep up...see the ps below :(
Most overrated places in Hyderabad
1. Ohri's Banjara - could they please design a buffet that is actually worth the 250 bucks that they charge from a veggie. I am not gonna pay that much money and eat roti dal. And their service is the worst ever. I just cannot understand why Hyderabadi's love ohri's so much !!
2. Zafraan Exotica - a good ambience alone does not a good restaurant make. You cannot have 5 dishes on the menu and expect me to choose from that.
3. Al Fresco, Taj Krishna -ditto as Zafraan Exotica
4. Terrace Bay - ditto as Al Fresco. Could somebody please actually taste the food that their chefs make..it tastes of only chillies!!
5.Bombay Blue/Copper Chimney/Noodle Bar - just need to go to these places to see how bad a restaurant's service can get!
6. Chutneys - Have they heard of telephonic reservation ...i am not waiting 1 hour outside a restaurant no matter how good it is. 60 bucks for a dosa - i dont give a shit if Chiranjeevi gave them its recipe, maybe they should ask him to pay for it also then!
7. Mocha - food is again manageable, but could a place get anymore pretentious. The bright pink and blue make me puke the food that i manage to ingest there.
8. Ofen - Man, can somebody please make them understand that cheese alone does not make a good pasta. And no, their portions aren't worth the money they charge. You cant charge money for being cool.And could they please hire more people to serve ...
9. The buffet at Novotel - Rs.1000 for a 10 dish buffet - are you kidding me??
Where are they now??
1. Chawla's Chik Inn - i got the most pleasant surprise of my life when i saw a franchise of this famed Delhi based chain in Somajigudda. They had the best butter paneer,dal maakhni, tikkas and from what i heard, butter chicken,in town. I didnt speak for full 15 mins when i was told that it had closed shop.
2. Indian Harvest - a precursor to Bombay vihar and used to serve really nice Gujarati thalis. Was a little ahead of the hyderabadi palate i guess.
3. What's Kooking? - used to serve nice Sindhi food. Their service was pathetic though and their end was nigh..
Sigh, it doesn't take rocket science to figure out that i am quite a foodie now does it :-). Also did anyone notice the absence of any Andhra joints in the list...well that's primarly because i frankly have been hughely disappointed by the Telugu food places in Hyderabad, none of them can match the Bangalore andhra joints in food,taste,variety or value for money. Surprising,eh??
Hmm...and who do i tag now..well i leave it for my discerning readers to do as they please. Anyone willing to do this can pick up the gauntlet...just drop a line in the comments so that i took can learn about some more restaurants.
Some day i will write a similar one on my favs in Delhi and Bangalore. And include watering holes too :)
PS. Just heard that Saheb, Sindh Sultan has stopped taking telephonic reservation...i had a fight with their manager and his manager for over 20 mins on the phone trying to make them understand how it made more sense to have an organised system where in you give preference to telephonic reservations and reduce the rush outside their joints. But no...they just would not listen ...those numbskulls!! So they are being bumped to being an also ran...
Current Music: Stone Temple Pilots - Plush
posted by Nitish @ 4:01 AM
Comments: 20
