Arif Miyan Ki Rasoi: An Awadhi Affair at JW Marriott, Aerocity, New Delhi

K3, the all-day multicuisine restaurant at JW Marriott, New Delhi, is known as a food theatre with multiple cuisines on display such as North Indian, Cantonese and Italian. It is a big and spacious restaurant with various counters, each serving something different like cold cuts, varieties of cheese, tandoor dishes, pizzas and many more. K3 has a separate dessert counter too for all food lovers with a sweet tooth and a crêpes station.

Amidst these stations is a small but noticeable counter of Chef Arif named "Arif Miyan Ki Rasoi". Aptly named, the rasoi serves rich delicacies from the Mughal, Nawabi and Nizami is a part of a Food Festival, which launched on 28th August and will go on till 6th September.

Arif Miyan Ki Rasoi

Chef Arif, popularly known as Arif Miyan, has an inspiring life story. Chef Girish, Executive Chef of K3, told me about how Chef Arif used to be a streetside chef in Hyderabad and from there how he has grown to this level. It seems Chef Arif knows the art of bringing out the actual flavor of meat in his dishes and is not being overly reliant on spices, oil and herbs.

Chef Arif

Invited for a review, I started off with their Keema and Gosht Nihari with some Sheermal, an Awadhi sweetish bread made of maida.  Most of the Awadhi dishes have an onion base with very less tomato and spices and cooked slowly in a dum pukht style. Dum pukht style of cooking is extremely popular in India, where the vegetables and meat are cooked on a slow heat for a long time in a sealed utensil to get the flavor out of the meat.

Keema prepared here has a very distinctive taste and is cooked with caramelized onion and tomatoes. It is delicious with the aroma of the meat tingling the tastebuds. Sheermal is a small perfectly round bread with a hint of sweetness mostly used in Lucknowi cuisine. It is the perfect companion for both the gravy dishes. The Gosht(Lamb) Nihari which is dum pukht stew along with the bone marrow was quite different from the Nihari we get in Delhi. The meat came off the bone with little or no effort and the subtle flavors were packed right in the meat and the stew.

Keema (left), Ghost Nihari(right), Shreemaal(top)

Next I tried the Chicken Stew, which had similar spice levels as the Keema and Nihari.  Chef Arif knows how to work with meat dishes and bring out the subtlety of its flavors. The chicken has a very different taste than of the Keema and Nihari but was enjoyable nonetheless.

Chicken Stew

I took off to a different counter to taste Chef Arif’s Murgh Tikka Biryani.  Biryani has evolved a lot from its early Persian days, and a lot of regions have their own style of preparing a biryani. Here Chef Arif uses an achaari flavor to add a twist to the perfectly cooked rice. The biryani is simply divine and as you bite into the Murg Tikka, hiding under the bed of rice, you will be taken to whole new level and will not be able to stop yourself from polishing off the plate.

Murgh Tikka Biryani

It was time for dessert and we were offered the Seviyaan Muzaffar as one of the rasoi's special preparations. Muzaffar is the flavor which comes when we use saffron and lots of nuts to slowly cook the main ingredients of the dessert. The dessert was to die for, with mild sweetness and lots of nuts and khoya for garnishing it ends the dinner on a very high note and adds a smile of satisfaction on your face.

Seviyaan Muzzafar

I would definitely recommend all the meat lovers not to miss Chef Arif Miyan ki Rasoi. Although the price is a little on the expensive side, you can additionally try out dishes from the entire range of cuisines K3 has to offer along with the Awadhi delights that Arif Miyan Ki Rasoi provides. Also the menu changes and the rasoi offers new dishes each day. It is available as a dinner buffet from 28th August to 6th September, with timings from 7:30 PM to 11:00 PM.

Address:
K3,
JW Marriott,
Near AeroCity, New Delhi

Price for buffet: INR 2350++

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Breakfast in Bangalore : The American Cafes of Koramangala

Breakfast, which is the most important meal of the day is heavily underplayed in the daily routine of young individuals. Working for excruciatingly long hours, an extra minute of sleep is often given more priority with breakfast taking the backseat and generally consisting of a slice of bread or at best, a bowl of cereal.

Mama I'm Coming Home at the Hole in the Wall Cafe

Although, there is no concept of a standard breakfast in India due to the regional diversity in cuisines, the staple breakfast in Bangalore generally consists of a variety of idlis, dosas, bisibele bath and other items from the Udupi cuisine. However lately, there has been a shift in the preferences of the common IT professionals, with more number of cafes and coffee shops opening up in Bangalore serving wholesome American breakfast options. These cafes, which remain open throughout the day, have gained a lot of prominence and are thronged by techies who yearn to take a bite from the delicious menu.

The Goan Sausage Breakfast

Walking around in the Koramangala area to satisfy hunger pangs in the morning, I found quite a few cafes which serve great breakfast options, albeit being a bit slow. My friends who have been in Bangalore for a more time say that these cafes translate with lazy atmosphere of the weekends and hence, once shouldn't desire a fast service from them.

The Hole in the Wall Cafe

The most famous cafe in Bangalore, getting a seat here in the weekends is as hard as booking tatkaal tickets through IRCTC, unless you are prepared to wait quite long. Located in the prime area of Koramangala 4th Block, this two floored cafe is a small place but perfect for brunches on weekdays and weekends.

Porky Fella Breakfast

They have a huge menu offering about 15 different types of breakfast meals with options for vegetarians, egg fanatics and meat lovers including choices in beef and pork. My favourite here is the Porky Fella Breakfast which has salami, bacon and sausages served with two eggs sunny side up, some sauteed mushroom, mashed potato and a grilled tomato, along with toast and butter.

Walk-the-Chilli Dog is a must try for those who love a bit of spice in their food. Layered with spicy beef kheema, cheese and a bit too many onions, this is the American answer to the Bombay Kheema Pav. As the masala is a bit different, the overall end product is quite different and delicious .

Walk-The-Chilli-Dog

Other interesting dishes (with even more interesting names) include the Meatzza Omelette, a kheema pizza with a thick 4 egg omelette as a base, the Double Hammy Burger, a burger with the goodness of pulled pork and pork ham and their wonderful range of pancakes which are some of my personal favorites. The Goan Sausage Breakfast has spicy sausages covered by mashed potato and fried egg. It is a hot option in the menu.


Mustard Cafe


Located on the 80ft Road, Mustard Cafe is a small establishment with a handful of chairs but great food. They have an in house gift shop in addition to the regular cafe setting which has an interesting set of items ranging from books to decorations. Their location however is quite problematic. Situated quite close to the Mustard Food Court, their Google Maps location is a bit off and caused quite the confusion in tracking them down.

Blueberry Cheesecake at Mustard Cafe

The food at Mustard Cafe is extremely simple and homely. They don't aim to do anything extraordinary but believe in selling what they make the best. My experience with them always ends in their famous Blueberry cheesecake which is of optimum sweetness.

I am also a bit partial towards their Caribbean Jerk Chicken. Though the taste doesn't exactly translate with the popular Jamaican Jerk sauce, their version isn't exactly bad either. Soft and tender boneless chicken served with caramelized onions, vegetables and garlic bread.

Caribbean Jerk Chicken

Cup O Joe

This is one of the most laid back cafes in terms of service, so make sure you have plenty of time to while away till they prepare your food. With more of a Dice and Dine concept, their shelves are stocked with books, cards, Monopoly and a variety of other games which can be played while waiting for the food to arrive.

Grilled Fish in Lemon Butter Sauce

The biggest attraction to the cafe is its rooftop setting. Filled with a variety of couches, sofas and beanbags, the soothing music playing in the background makes it one of the best places to enjoy a quiet evening with a book while sipping on a cup of java. The only fallback is that the rooftop is assigned to only a single server who simply cannot handle it all, further slowing down the process.

The cafe serves some really good and crispy burgers. Though a bit dry, the beef and bacon cheese burger is quite heavenly and filling. The Grilled Betki too is quite ravishing with the soft but crispy fish fillet playing a great foil to the tangy lemon butter sauce.

Beef and Bacon cheese burger

Though these American Cafes are some of the best in Koramangala, my list of good cafes run long. Also every month there are new places coming up to cash on the change in palate of the locals as well as techies. We shall cover a few more of my favourites in a later post.

Addresses:

The Hole in The Wall Cafe
4, 8th Main Road,
4th Block, Koramangala, Bangalore

Cost for two - Rs. 900

Mustard Cafe
1053, 1st Floor,
80 Feet Road, Koramangala, Bangalore

Cost for two - Rs. 700

Cup O Joe
483, 1A Cross Road,
5th Block, Koramangala, Bangalore

Cost for two - Rs. 700

Also Read: Some more Cafes of Koramangala

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The Dakshin Executive Express Lunch at ITC Kakatiya

On a typical weekday, corporate executives are hard pressed to take out time for lunch within their busy schedule. Often, they wish is for a quick turnaround at a fine dine restaurant for a meal which needs to be also very satisfying. Dakshin, the exclusive South Indian cuisine restaurant at ITC Kakatiya has come up with the concept of Executive Express Lunch, where you can complete your lunch enjoying all the delicacies of a thali within 30 minutes.

Interiors of Dakshin

The Executive Express Lunch is available every weekday for lunch, and the Executive Chef Noronha and Chef Sankar make sure that the menu is changed every day providing variety to regular customers. The fare incorporates delicacies from all five South Indian states. There is a live counter called Iyer’s Trolley which prepares delicious appams, banana flavored dosas, paniyarams, and uthapams to be served hot on your plate.

Brass Tableware

Invited to try out the set lunch, I could not but appreciate the décor –with large paintings adorning the walls, the bell shaped ceiling lights and the exquisite brass tableware. I started with a hot bowl of Melugu (pepper) Rasam, which was tangy and flavourful. This was followed by a set of starters – the highlight of which were the Paniyaram and the Masala Vada. The latter went famously with an awesome Vankai Gochu or brinjal chutney served with it. The paniyaram had some delightful coconut chutney as its foil. Raw mango with garlic chutney and Tamarind Chutney were the other chutneys in the platter. The assortment of chutneys had been planned in such a way, that the taste of each was distinctly different.

Melugu Rasam

The Express lunch has three versions – Vegetarian, non-vegetarian and seafood. I asked for a seafood version and within ten minutes a thali brimming with delicacies was on my table.  The thali had a limited number of vegetarian items too- the Andhra style Pappu and Murugunkai (drumstick) sambar were the first two. The highlight here was the Urlai Roast – a baby potato preparation with onions and spices.

The coconut milk served in the thali was perhaps to be enjoyed with an appam – but I loved the taste of it as it is.

The Starters

There were three non-veg preparations in the thali - Royyala Iguru, Kodi Koora and Chapa Vepudu. The fish in the vepudu was big piece of soft murrel fried to the optimum texture with the marination having a distinct touch of garlic and lemon. A hot appam from Iyer’s Trolley was soon devoured with the Andhra style chicken curry, which unlike to its reputation was not fiery hot but rich in both color and flavour. And finally, a Tamil special Veechu Parota (where dough is rolled out and then folded) was tried out with the iguru, which had spicy and delightful masala sticking to the large prawn pieces.

The Delicacies in the Thali

Next I tried, their Prawn Pulav, an Andhra preparation with a delicate combination of spices.  None of the Andhra preparations in the thali had an overdose of chillies, making it very palatable for people from other parts of the country. A South Indian meal is never complete without rice, ghee and podi, but I used part of that rice to polish off the remaining Prawn Iguru.

One needs to mention about the special packaged water which I tried out with the lunch. ŚūnyAqua (or Shunya (zero) aqua) is a special herb-infused water which is bottled inside each ITC hotel. The variant I tried was infused with Fennel and Cinnamon, whereas there is another variant with Tulsi or basil. This is available as an add-on to any meal here, as a healthy option to the usual packaged water.

Fennel and Cinnamon Flavoured ŚūnyAqua 

The desserts in the thali were Semiya Payasam and curd. Chef Noronha specially got some Badam Halwa from the kitchen – which had badam mashed and soaked in ghee. The halwa was very heavy but delicious. The meal ended with a signature Dakshin coffee – the Tamil Nadu style filter kapi served in the traditional way.

Overall, the Dakshin Express Lunch is a great option to catch for a quick but delightful fare of South Indian traditional food. Whereas it may be a good option for busy executives, it may also serve as an introduction to the varieties of South Indian cuisines for a person visiting Hyderabad.

The Dakshin Express Lunch is available Monday to Friday. There are three variations of the thali – vegetarian, non-veg and seafood, and prices range from Rs 1200- Rs 1800.

Address:
Dakshin
ITC Kakatiya
Begumpet
Hyderabad

Telephone: 23400132

Disclaimer: The review is based on an invite by the restaurant. However the opinions expressed in the post are honest and unbiased.

Also See: The Mangalorean Food Festival at Dakshin

Chettinad Chronicles at Dakshin

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Vividly Vietnamese Food Festival at Seasonal Tastes

Seasonal Tastes, the all-day dining restaurant at The Westin Hyderabad is very popular for the vast spread of its buffet. Apart from this, the restaurant periodically organizes food festivals to augment the experiences of their loyal clientele. Vividly Vietnamese is one such initiative to showcase authentic Vietnamese cuisine to the food lovers in Hyderabad.

Pho with Chicken and Vegetables

At the outset let me state that I had very little prior experience with food from Vietnam except for attending a few festivals here and trying out some Vietnamese restaurants in Pondicherry, a place which like Vietnam has a bit of French connection. So, for me the visit of Chef Nguyen Hung Thong from Sheraton, Hanoi provided a great opportunity to learn about this cuisine. Addressing the bloggers invited for a preview, the chef stressed that Vietnamese cuisine is not oily at all, and it is known for the freshness of the ingredients as well as the simplicity of preparation and subtle flavors of the food. He had specifically brought over herbs and spices from his country for this festival.

Vietnamese Rice Paper Spring Rolls

To demonstrate his point, Chef Nguyen took us to the Pho counter and prepared a version of the signature noodle broth of Vietnam which had chicken, herbs and lots of diced spring onions. He told us that the beef version is more popular in his country, and the soup had originated from North Vietnam. The light soup looked very appetizing with the red chilli pieces on top and tasted divine too. A perfect example of a healthy recipe which is the hallmark of Vietnamese cuisine.

Next we turned to the starters and salad counter. I had decided to mainly try the Vietnamese items on the menu, which also had the normal buffet items. The Vietnamese Spring Rolls were the first thing on my plate – a whole lot of shredded vegetables and noodles rolled in rice paper. The raw flavours of the vegetables were apparent as I dug into it, along with the dip kept just next to it.

Banana Blossom Salad

There were around four Vietnamese salads at the counter – my favorite was the Banana Blossom and Shredded Chicken Salad, an unlikely combo of banana flower and chicken breast. This was a a refreshingly new way to use a mocha (as banana flower is called in my native Bengali). The Sesame Flavoured Seafood and Vermicelli Salad were also flavorful. There was a Shredded Green Mango salad which looked appetizing, but the taste was not to my liking.

My next stop was at the live Wok Station. I picked up some fresh prawn and squids along with some sprouts and spring onions. I wanted to see how spicy Vietnamese sauces are, and asked for a spiciest version to be prepared. The output was tangy and brown in colour but not very spicy. I also tried a few experimentations done at the wok by fellow bloggers and some of them tasted really nice. Chef Mukesh sent us some prawns with his own combination of sauces, and that was brilliant.

Steamed Fish with Soya Sauce

The main courses had a fish dish – Steamed Fish with Soya Sauce. I went for it first, but for me the sauce was too subtle to enjoy.  I tried this with some Wok Fried Flat Noodles with vegetables, which was quite nice though. The highlight of the main courses was Grilled Duck with Galangal – in a sauce which had diverse flavors of lime, turmeric and fish paste. But it was not true to its name, being low on galangal. The duck meat was fibrous, but I loved the loads of flavour in the masala so much that a second helping along with some more noodles was difficult to resist.

Grilled Duck with Galangal

After trying out all the Vietnamese dishes I went for a recce of the regular buffet and ended up going berserk on sushis, dumplings, pita bread with hummus, roasted chicken and a few other beef and fish main courses. The sheer variety of spread in the Seasonal Tastes buffet never disappoints you.

Roast Chicken

It was dessert time. For me the litchi like Longan fruit infused with Lotus seeds and in a sweet syrup was easily the best. The Vietnamese candies which were not very sweet suited my palate.  Friends liked the Green Bean Cake, for me it was average. I did not like the Ginger and Caramel Flavored Sticky Rice based dessert. The usual caveat – I am not a sweet lover, even my wife does not take my dessert recos seriously.

Vietnamese Dessert Counter

Overall, it was a very worthwhile afternoon. If you like subtlety of flavours in your food,  Vietnamese cuisine is for you. Also, even after a hearty meal, you feel surprisingly light.

The Vividly Vietnamese festival is on till August 23rd as part of the buffet at Seasonal Tastes. The buffet is priced around Rs 1450 for lunch and Rs 1650 for dinner.

Address:
Seasonal Tastes
The Westin Mindspace
Hitech City, Hyderabad
Telephone: 67676888

Longan and Lotus Seeds in Syrup

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An Elaborate Sunday Brunch at Radisson Blu Plaza, Banjara Hills

Radisson Blu Plaza Hyderabad Hotel at Banjara Hills used to be one of my favourite places about three years back. I used to especially love the fare dished out by their Pan-Asian restaurant Holy Basil.

Sushis

However over the last couple of years, the hotel had somehow dropped out of the radar. The chefs and the other staff had changed, and a few visits had been disappointing.  When I received an invite to review the Sunday brunch here recently, I must say I did not have huge expectations. However, I was informed that a new team is in place and they are in the process of revamping the place, and a lot of efforts have gone into designing the new brunch.

Spicy Chicken Skewers

So, on a Sunday I joined some of my friends to sample their brunch. We met the Executive Chef Mr Chandra Sekhar Pandey, who briefed us in detail about the brunch buffet. They now have a theme for every week and this week the theme for the brunch was coconut – which means that in every cuisine that they offer on this day, there would be some dishes based on coconut.

A Glimpse of the Brunch

The brunch at Radisson Blu is spread over their two restaurants – Chill and Holy Basil. Totally the brunch can accommodate more than 200 covers. On that particular day, Holy Basil was booked for a private function, so the spread was restricted to Chill.

Oysters

As we were entering the restaurant, oysters and prawns were displayed on a counter to our right. The street food live counter on the left had a range of India’s favourite street food – from pani puris to keema pavs and samosas. A friend had briefed me about their amazing Hyderabadi live counter serving Bheja Fry, Gurda and other delicacies – but we were told that it is served on alternate weeks, and this was the wrong week.

Slow Roasted Pumpkins with Beetroot

After stepping inside, we went around the restaurant looking at the elaborate spread – an oriental counter, an Indian counter, fruits, salads and desserts. Among the food displayed, I liked the presentation of the Roast Chicken and Slow Roasted Pumpkin and Red Beets.

Fish at the Live Grill

At the Chill Terrace outside, a number of different meats were kept ready for the live wok, the dim sum counter had chicken, prawn and veg dimsums, and finally a live fish counter where about ten varieties of local seafood were kept ready with a choice of six different sauce options including kasundi and Sriracha chilli paste.

Holy Basil was always known for sushis. Today the brunch had prawn, salmon and veg sushis as well as Prawn Tempura. The tempura or batter fried prawns were classy. The prawn sushi was not far behind. The dimsums however were a disappointment for me as they lacked juiciness. I tried the oysters – it is not for everyone as it has a strong smell of seafood. The Grilled Chicken Skewers were spicy – everyone relished them.

From the “Taka Tak Tawa” counter I tried the Panipuri and Keema Pavs. The keema pav had a low keema content and the taste had also not come up to the acceptable level. I tasted the paniyarams which some of my friends brought – they were soft and one of the best I had accompanied by some delicious chutney.

Veg Dimsums

After this we gorged on some Crisp Fried Bacons. They were delicious. One of my friends asked for a less crisp version and that was also good. We also had a number of fish items served from the Grill Counter especially the prawns, basas and ladyfish. Some of the items were served with risotto as a side. However the grilled seafood needed a little bit more sauce, and more marination to become really tasty. The chef explained that in a live counter since they are providing a choice of multiple sauces, marination was out of question.

There were more starters served on the table, where again coconut flavor was added – Gosht Copra Shikampur was soft and had a slight coconut flavor in the mince. Apart from this Machhi Amritsari, Subz Tikki and Tawa Paneer were the other ones.

Roast Chicken

Finally I decided to go for the main courses. The Sunday Chicken Roast was a winner for me and it became more delicious by adding the thick sauce kept alongside. Some of my friends loved the Slow Roasted Pumpkin and Beetroot. The Potla Gosht Ke Raan was another dish which I loved – the lamb mean was succulent and the gravy spicy and nice.

Potla Gosht Ke Raan

Among the other Indian dishes, the Goan Coconut Fish Curry went well with rice, but the Bengali Prawn Malai Kari was surely a disappointment. It did not taste at all like the Bengali dish. Among the vegetarian fare, the Til Nariyal Ka Dum Aloo was distinctly different from the normal alu dums which we see, other items of note were Paneer Naryali and Kopra Waali Dal.

The Pan-Asian section had a number of Thai and Vietnamese dishes. There was a noodle dish in coconut sauce (called Creamy Coco Noodles) which went well with the Salt and Pepper Fish. The Coconut and Raisin Rice had a distinct flavor, and the Chicken Penang Curry was quite decent too.

Fresh Fruit and Health Shot Display

As people who are familiar with this blog know, I am not much of a dessert lover. There was a Fresh Fruit and Health Shot Display, from where I tried various fruit juices such as papaya and musk melon.  The dessert spread had items like Red Velvet Pastry, Ras Malai, Rasgullas, Mysore Pak and Coconut Rabdi. I only tried the first two and liked the rasmalai.

It is good to see that the restaurant strongly back in reckoning. A few of the items definitely need to be looked at, but overall, I enjoyed the innovative spread and the warm hospitality and service at the restaurant. The brunch is priced around Rs 1800 inclusive of tax and with unlimited IMFL.

Address:
Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel
Road No 6, Banjara Hills
Hyderabad
Telephone: 67331133

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Quick Bytes: The Sizzler Festival at Melange, The Golkonda Hotel

Melange, the global cuisine restaurant at The Golkonda Hotel is organizing a Sizzler Food Festival. Aptly named during the monsoon as Sizzle in the Drizzle, the festival incorporates contemporary/fusion sizzler recipes ranging from continental to Indian to Pan-Asian.

Invited to sample a few of the offerings, we were very enthused after having a look at the menu. The concept is quite different from the conventional sizzlers that we are familiar with.  Each item is a complete meal by itself and includes a number of sides. For example, all Indian sizzlers are served with biryani rice, kaali dal and naans - which one would not have encountered in an usual sizzler fest. Totally there are about 20 different items, priced between Rs 375 and Rs 575 (plus taxes).

Tulsi Paneer Tikka Sizzler

We started with Paneer Tulsi Tikka Sizzler. The sizzler had large chunks of soft paneer flavored with basil and cooked over charcoal.  Whereas in isolation the taste rustled up was good, the basil flavor was very very mild, which was a dampener. The biryani rice served with the sizzler was flavorful.

Chapli Gosht 

The Chapli Gosht was one of the best for the day. The minced meat patties had the strong mutton base coupled with the aroma of the spices. The dish can be enhanced with adding a pudina based dip along with the sides.

Kasundi Jhinga

A bite into the Kasundi Jhinga (prawns in Bengali mustard sauce) leaves you with a strong aftertaste. The quantity of mustard used was optimum and the prawns were just done to the right texture and softness. I would have preferred replacement of biryani rice by ghee rice in this dish, as that goes well with Bengali style prawns.

Barbeque Chicken Drumsticks

Barbeque Chicken Drumsticks were the next to arrive, served with sides of noodles and fried rice. I liked the dish as the barbeque sauce tasted nice.

Singapore Corn Cakes were a miss for me. The corn patties had no taste, and the sauce provided on top was very little.  I would have loved some hot and spicy dip with it.

Singapore Corn Cakes

We ended the session with Minced Meat Steak, which had few patties minced meat grilled and served with pepper sauce. This continental fare had pasta, bruschetta and veggies as sides. The lamb dish was liked by me, but the friend accompanying me did not like it as the patty was breaking off.

The presentation of each dish served to us was very appetizing. The menu has a lot of other seafood options such as River Salmon Steak, Paprika and Basil Basa Fillet and Ginger Lemon Grass Fish. Murg Tikka Mirza Hussain and Creole Spiced Grilled Prawns also looked interesting.

The festival is on from 1st August to 16th August, 2015.

Address:
Melange – The Golkonda Hotel
Masab Tank
Hyderabad
Telephone 66110101

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Quick Bytes: Alhumdulillah and beyond at Nampally

Tucked in the bylanes behind Niloufer Hospital at Nampally is a heaven for beef eaters. Many people in Hyderabad actually believe that the quest for Hyderabadi food is not complete without a visit to Alhumdulillah.

Tala Hua Gosht at Alhamdulillah

The restaurant is very unpretentious – if you are a stickler for cleanliness, this is not the place to go. But once you tuck into their Tala Hua Gosht, you just forget about all these. Tala Hua Gosht is essentially a Hyderabadi stir fried meat with abundant masala and green chilllies. The masala sticks to the soft meat and makes a delightful combination with the roomali rotis.

The Seekh Kabab here is another dish not to be missed. Served with cut onions and the brown chutney, these kababs are a bit on the drier side, but they find their perfect foil in the warqi paratha. The seekh kababs are prepared right in front of the hotel, and you can see a small crowd eagerly waiting for these.

Seekh Kababs being prepared

Alhumdulillah also serves a pretty decent Beef Biryani at an unbelievable price of Rs 90. One very important thing to remember at this place is that all the items which are mentioned under mutton in the menu are actually beef. For people who avoid beef for religious or other reasons, they have a list of chicken based items – but frankly this place is not known for these. The restaurant is open till 4 am at night, thus providing a good option for late night hunger pangs.

Seekh Kababs

Beef Biryani

Bang opposite the main hotel, there is a small place named “Alhumdulillah Chatpat”. This joint specializes in Lukmis, the square shaped Hyderabadi snack stuffed with meat. They are made right in front of you, and one likes the fresh snack, though a little bit of extra filling would have done it a lot of good.

Lukmis

The Shammi Kababs here are soft and delicious and for me the chutney here tasted even better than Alhumdilullah.

Shammi Kababs

As you proceed about hundred metres from here to the left, you reach Feel In Saudia, one of the oldest shawarma joints. Beef Shawarma here, priced at Rs 75, is really big, a couple of them will be sufficient for dinner. The shawarmas are in soft breads which look like subs, and the stuffed with beef, cabbage and cucumber and mayo. They are served on a newspaper piece instead of a plate, but the taste makes up for all that.

This is a very small place with hardly any seating, but there is always a large crowd outside standing and enjoying the food. One bite into the soft bread, you get the taste of the beef stuffing, and you cannot just stop munching on.

All the food outlets are located very close to Tekki Masjid, Nampally. Ask for Alhumdulillah, and anyone will direct you to the place.

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