A Guide: Eating out in Hyderabad/Secunderabad

[mobike008]

I searched the forum and could not find any thread on eating joints in Hyderabad. If there is one, mods, please merge this into that thread.

I thought to start one as like most of us, apart from cars and bikes, i am totally in love with other two important aspects of good life. Great food and liquor!

Let me start with a few joints that i like :

Biryani
Paradise, Hyderabad House and most of the hundreds of old biryani outlets are past its glory days. And, i typically find good meat biryani in mid-sized bars. Hyderabad's second biggest past time being drinking ( after movie watching) and like we all know bars run only if they serve good food as liquor is available anywhere.

For Biryani, my recommendation goes to "Four Seasons" in Mehdipatnam areas. Absolutely lip-smacking stuff and they are winners in Biryani contest 2 years in consectively.

Rating 3/5

North Indian

"Angeethi" gets my vote. Very nice dhaba theme but in an up-market way. One of the best chicken, meat and fish dishes that i ever sampled. Cooked to near north indian style perfection.

Must dishes to order are Dabha Murg, Chicken Tawa, Mutton Tawa, Fish Tawa ( Please don't think i am tawa fanatic). And, their Meat Roganjosh is to die for. Their Dal Makhani is as near NI style perfection as it is possible.

I usually prefer the Paan biryan rather than the Hyderabadi Dum Biryani, fantastic stuff. Dishes are priced in the range of Rs.160-Rs.225. Veg in range of Rs.120-Rs.160. All these listed out in a menu which is like a newspaper ( quite unique, i must add)

Rating : 3/5

Reshmi's

Another favorite haunt of mine. It is opposite to Nanking in Secunderabad. A very homely place and i am frequenting this place for over 2 years and have been experimenting with each of their dish on the menu and i am yet to complain.

It is run by a punjabi couple and has a lovely homely atmosphere to the resturant's ambience and the food is scrumptious to say the least.

My favorite dishes here are Chicken Drumsticks, Tandoori Chicken, Veg Cheese Balls, Reshmi Special chicken, Kheema Biryani.

Pricing is extremely reasonable and they range between Rs.90 to Rs.150 per dish

3.5/5

South Indian

"Chutneys" is undoubtedly one of the best when it comes to south indian dishes, I would rate "Minerva" as second best in this category. Both are slightly expensive by hyderabad standards. To give an example. A dosa would cost upwards of Rs.75 and Idli's are priced around Rs.45.

Rating 2.5/5

Chinese
My all time favorite is "Mings Court" at Basheerbagh. I have tried chinese in almost all popular chinese restuarants but, somehow i still like this restuarant the best. Prices are in range of Rs.160-Rs.250 per dish
Rating: 3.5/5


Haleem
How can i complete this post without atleast mentioning about Haleem which is the current flavour of the season. This dish is made of wheat and mutton. They both are grounded together and pounded for over 6 hours in a hot tandoor so it is ready by the time people complete their roza in the evening. My favorites are Pista House, Hyline, Naigara, Garden, Paradise.

I have a lot more restuarants to pour in my feedback as eating happens to be one of my favorite past time and i must have visited almost 75% of well-known restuarants in the city already. But, let this thread take it's own shape

Ok, guys, please pour in your experiences of favorite places to grab a bite in Hyderabad/Secunderabad and why?

[sreedotk]

A few Additions from My side

1. Utsav in Secunderabad - Very good Vegetarian Fare and a good spread in Buffet for lunch.

Cost around 300-350 per head

2. Barbeque Place on Road no 1 - Opp City centre mall- Unique concept and Buffet style. They bring Meat or veggie skewers and barbeque it on your table. Rest of the food you can grab from the buffet.

Veg - 250 Non veg -300

3. Our Place- Need to take a right on road no 10 after the botique shops-

They have a huge place to dine - Food is average but ambience is good.

I am not sure of the rates on the above but they are in this range

[mobike008]

@Sree, I agree with you.
Utsav can be easily rated the best vegetarian resturant in hyderabad. But, they are too expensive and their bill is usually inflated with so many taxes ( which are normally found in * properties). For Rs. 500 bill you pay Rs.100 in taxes. I don't think i am going to go there often.

I found a sweet alternate, it is called " Chillies", they serve real good veg grub but, not as good as Utsav though.

@Barbeque Nation. Their afternoon spread @ Rs.275 is VFM which includes a pint. However, their evening fare at Rs.450 bucks does not make it worthwhile. That's why i am visitor to that place on weekday lunches.

@ Our Place, i agree with you completely. Food, according to me is the pits. I happened to visit this place on the day it opened some 4-5 years ago and since then the food quality has only been going down. But, the ambience is out of this world.

[phamilyman]

Sahib sindh Sultan.

Truly kickass. That roti pe boti is to die for. Lovely ambience, lovelier food. Expensive but hey, THIS place is worth it. 5/5.

What about the nice pub next door - saw so many IPL matches there!!

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Sahib sindh Sultan.

Truly kickass. That roti pe boti is to die for. Lovely ambience, lovelier food. Expensive but hey, THIS place is worth it. 5/5.

What about the nice pub next door - saw so many IPL matches there!!

. Sahib Sindh Sultan is indeed kickass. Not surprisingly as they are the same owners of Angeethi but, much much more upmarket. Also, the kick on the *** after the bill arrives is also needs to be mentally prepared. Their dishes are mostly starting from Rs.250 bucks.

Next door pub is Phirangi Paani, i can say they have the best sound system there and food is horrible to say the least even though it is owned by the same group of Angeethi and SSS.

Entries on Saturday is possible for stags and me and a male friend paid 2K cover charge on a saturday evening and that was a horrible experience. I don't intend to go there anytime soon.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by mobike008

.
Next door pub is Phirangi Paani, i can say they have the best sound system there and food is horrible to say the least even though it is owned by the same group of Angeethi and SSS.

Isn't that the BJM group?
As regards buffet lunches, I find the one at Angeethi the best. I really savour the spread of Bengali sweets they have for dessert, apart from the items that mobike008 has already listed!
Ambience in Our Place is the best, though there has been a downswing in their quality.
BTW, is Ming's Court in the Ohri's complex at Basheerbagh?

[sriturl]

I may not present an up to date information about eateries, but here are some of my favourites from olden days

North Indian - Papaji Dhaba(Near GPO) true VFM
Biryani(I am veggie, but accompanied loads of non-veggies) Paradise.
I used to like the roof top restaurant of Paradise, and veg food was also decent enough there.

On my last month visit, I had been to Taj Tristar, I had been to the restaurant at odd time of 3:30 PM. They were closed for lunch, but they had a "high tea" buffet, which had vada, upma, dosa, chats, pav bhaji, juices, coffee etc at less than 100 per head. Thought it was a pretty decent thing. We landed there after shopping(had to skip lunch because of Secbad market shopping with wife and mother )
They had vallet parking, which sounded great to me considering the traffic in that area.

[furioussphinx]

My gf is an encyclopedia of restaurants in the city Been to Exotica with her, lovely ambiance (Its a candlelight rooftop rest) and lovely food. Heard even 100degrees (or 99 or Fahrenheit, whatever the name) and Koyla are good. Heard about Angeethi but the name dint sound luring enough for me, will check it out. Been to Papaji Dhaba last Sat, food was good.

[phamilyman]

Koyla is nice. As is even tandoor. It is very very decent north indian stuff and tooo much helpings. Reasonably affordable if one doesn't drink - that ofcourse can mess up budgets anywhere.

What about F-Bar? How can hyderabadis forget that, or do delhiwala like me have to do all the homework?

And that rooftop south Indian Chettinad joint in Lumbini mall, Banjara Hills, that serves completely yum/heavy food?

[bblost]

My fave spots: (Part 1)

Alhamdu Illah: Mallepalli
Wikimapia - Let's describe the whole world!
Beef and more beef. Talahua, bhunahua, sheesh kabeb and such kind of non veg delights.
They also serve chicken but I have never bothered with it.
A typical meal will cost about 120 bucks for two.
Its an all male joint. Never seen any lady customer.

Shadab and Nayab
Wikimapia - Let's describe the whole world!
very similar joints. Although Shadab has recently been renovated and looks like good.
The food is typical of hyderabad. Great Shorba and Sheermal.
Chicken roast is good but very very dry.
Veg guys would rather avoid these joints.
Also try the Falooda and meetha paan after your meal.
In 2003 as a bachelor living alone in Hyderabad, I used to ride down for Saheri.
Ramzan that year was in December. I would start my shorba shivering in the cold.
Would be sweating by the time I am done.
Meal may cost upto 250 for 2 people.

Spice6
Wikimapia - Let's describe the whole world!
A new restaurent. I like the food here.
Decent humous but no Pita bread.
The garlic naan was an ok substitute.
The chicken tikka was very juicy and well cooked.
Its more a take away than a sit and eat restaurent.
Parking will be a problem. BUt the food is worth it.


Tirupathi Bhimas
Wikimapia - Let's describe the whole world!
Excellent Veg thali. I love the Raja Bhojanam.
Sambar that a guy from Madras approves of.

Saravan Bhavan
Wikimapia - Let's describe the whole world!
No connection to the one in Chennai.
Decent food Tamil Nadu style. Which means smaller vadas and excellent Sambar.
Feels like a udipi joint from Chennai.

Paradise
Everyone knows where it is. But I like it for breakfast and thats it.

Little Italy
Wikimapia - Let's describe the whole world!
Great italian food. Veg.
Expensive but a good place to spend a nice evening.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Isn't that the BJM group?
As regards buffet lunches, I find the one at Angeethi the best. I really savour the spread of Bengali sweets they have for dessert, apart from the items that mobike008 has already listed!
Ambience in Our Place is the best, though there has been a downswing in their quality.
BTW, is Ming's Court in the Ohri's complex at Basheerbagh?

Yes, its the BJM group. I love their buffets too. Last time, i had it was Rs.175 per head. Heard they jacked it up a bit to around 190 or so. But, it is still cheap. I dig only on the tawa fish and meat roganjosh, yummy

your right about Ming court at Basheerbagh.

Originally Posted by sriturl

I may not present an up to date information about eateries, but here are some of my favourites from olden days

North Indian - Papaji Dhaba(Near GPO) true VFM

On my last month visit, I had been to Taj Tristar,

papaji ka dabha used to be walking distance from my older house. The owner was a friend of my dad and my dad used to sit on the counter and order tandoori chicken there.

I have been going to papaji from around 12 years of more and their food taste has not changed till date. Their speciality is Ginger Chicken and Butter Chicken, that taste is unique to papaji ka dhaba.

And, is about 2 km from my current home. I visit this place 2-3 times a month. Infact, i am going there for dinner today evening and go for a movie thereafter.

[Zappo]

A few small correction guys.
1-> Its Saheb Singh Sultan
2-> The name is spelt 'firangipani'

Avi, I know you love Ming's Court. Afterall your organization's name fetches a hevy corporate discount there naa! Or is it that you are not aware of the deal? :-/

[benbsb29]

I used to enjoy the buffet lunch at 'Angeethis'. Considering i used to stay close by as well, it was all the more inviting.

'Chutneys' is good for breakfast, although prices are certainly not on the lower side.
For hyderabadi biriyani, i just love 'Hyderabad House'. Used to visit that place very frequently.

During the month of Ramazan, haleem was almost like a staple diet for me. Sadly, i miss it here, in Bangalore. Although haleem is available almost everywhere, i used to be a regular at 'My Friend', located under the Masab Tank flyover.

[phamilyman]

Zappo saab, kya. hyderabadi ho ke spelling wrong!!

BJN Group - Sahib Sindh Sultan

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by Zappo

Avi, I know you love Ming's Court. Afterall your organization's name fetches a hevy corporate discount there naa! Or is it that you are not aware of the deal? :-/

Opps, didn't know that. So all this while i was paying through my nose for the lovely food that i have there.

Did you know, i order 2 repeats of "Phuket Fish" in Ming Court, as the fish is quite small and amazingly delicious. And, only for these 2 plates of fish, i am poorer by over Rs.400