Saturday, July 26, 2014

Eating out In Hyderabad

A few places I have eaten out recently. I seem to be doing a lot of that recently.

Ruci and Idoni, Banjara Hills
I enjoyed the Sunday lunch I had with Shobhs and Anjali at Ruci and Idoni. I like the place and its ambience. The menu was good, service was fine. Being a Sunday it was a bit loud owing to a bunch of youngsters celebrating some event in their eventful lives. Fish and chips was good so was my chicken strognoff and Anjali seemed satisfied with her fried chicken. Most boxes ticked off.

Testa Rossa, Banjara Hills
I like this place for its ambience. Though i have not ventured beyond capucchino and sandwiches at times, the menu looks good. I like the ambience. Service is snail pace and they have a habit of not looking in your direction at all. If you wish to be left alone, enjoy some quiet talks and decent food, its the place.

Beyond Coffee, Jubilee Hills
Bang on Road No 36, Jubilee Hills, it has a chatty outdoor environment, space on top and indoors too. Capuchino was decent. Okay kind of place. Service is okay. Must be some kind of an adda for the locals because many of them seem to be hanging out there. Haven;t tried much else but not terribly impressed yet.

Paradise, Begumpet
Tried biryani of both varieties from Paradise, Begumpet last week and was hugely disappointed. Am going off Paradise for a while.

Garden Restaurant, Secunderabad
It is so old world that it transports you back into the 80s. The dull lighting, old table cloth, kind of oldish waiters, cutlery - it really is rather old worldly. Biryani was nothing to write home about nor was the roti and mutton kheema, butter chicken. Not a huge draw and it might be a long time before I venture there again.

Heard from my co-visitors that Alpha at Secunderabad station has made an impressive comeback and is the place to go to for biryani now.

Sarvi, Banjara Hills
Made a midnight visit a couple of days ago and must say that almost everything tasted good. The roti and chicken was good, biryani and haleem excellent. I liked the ambience of the restaurant. Service was decent though rather delayed - the late hour perhaps. It is certainly the go-to place in Hyderabad.

Mohini's, Basheerbagh
Mohini's would serve the best biryani some years ago but now they are not consistent. Reason why I stopped going there. It's been years since I have had that lip smacking biryani they'd serve. But despite all that the place was filled up at 2 in the afternoon and people standing to get in. The mutton biryani guys complained about the mutton quality, the chicken biryani was passable. Nothing to write home about again. The kulfi however was outstanding as always.  

Nalabheema, Jubilee Hills
New restaurant opposite Chiarnjeevi Blood Bank. Liked their meals. Decent ambience, very functional, old Telugu film music. Good service, very attentive. Could give it a shot for a meals. Value for money in my opinion. 

Novotel, Shamshabad Airport
The quality of a vegetarian meal is judged by me by the recourse we have to take to the papads. How can one mess up a simple bhendi fry with onions I cannot fathom. Old and stiff bhendi spoilt the experience. Papads were consumed much. Disappointing. Service was good. It was the one place where the guy got us the bill in under a minute unlike places where they seem to be making some complicated calculations and taking a few hours to get the bill.

Roadside dhabhas, ICFAI Campus
Roti and egg bhurji was the decided menu but we had to walk in and out of at least five dhabhas before one consented to serve us. The smart man made his killing too. I do wonder why people are so dumb. Food was nothing to write home about again and we did not expect it either. Service was total campus style - ignore until you shout them down. Ambience all Uni style. Cigarette smoking, gaali spewing youngsters all around.

Hard Rock Cafe, GVK One, Banjara Hills
My first here. I went all the way down to Parking level 4, parked, got back to the ground floor, got out of the building, walked back to the cafe in the drizzle and wondered why its so difficult to get into a place for a meal.  We were accosted by a happy and loud youngster who welcomed us and bid us well on or way in. The interiors were nice and huge and I did not get a chance to walk around and appreciate it because there seemed to be much to see there, memorablia and stuff. Met my old MBA mates - Vijay, Biiju, Shrini and Visa (and PV whom I met on the way out). Nice old rock music - most of the80s stuff we grew up on. Surprisingly the food wasn't all that great. Bit too loud to converse. Service was decent, attentive and quick. Anjali got a balloon and a separate menu with some games which made her happy. Once in a while the boys at the bar shout out loud and keep the energy going, or that's the idea perhaps. All in all, ok. Or perhaps, am too old for this.

Haveli, Lifestyle
Raja and I were looking for Malgudi in the Lifestyle building. Apparently Malgudi wound up shop some years ago. I don't know why restaurants wind up like that. We had a good experience then and were surprised to hear its shut. The other option was Haveli which was crowded as hell. But the service was excellent. The chaps gave us a seat, took the order quickly, heeded our request for quick service and gave us good food with really good service. Full marks on all counts. Lunch time was a bit crowded but no complaints really and I must congratulate the chap who served us.

N Asian, Jubilee Hills
Suresh took me out to lunch at this Nagarjuna owned restaurant. Nice ambience, lots of space, quiet and good for a chat. We ordered some veg stuff which was ok. Everything was passable that day. Or was it the mood?

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