[ranjitp1]

Posting this here since this thread has maximum following from Hyderabadis:

Air India is offering an all inclusive BOM-HYD fare of INR 1395 and HYD-BOM fare of INR 1758 (effective 6th Sep and valid till travel on 30th Sep'12).Fare is available only on the below said schedules of AI.These are international feeder flights of AI and hence these rock bottom fares.

AI964 HYD-BOM Hyderabad at 0710hrs from international terminal and arrives Mumbai at 0840hrs on Tuesday (2) & Friday (5).
AI965 BOM-HYD Mumbai at 1430hrs from international terminal and arrives Hyderabad at 1555hrs on days Tuesday (2) & Friday (5).

[hyd_traveller]

Visited Persis Gold on 2nd Floor of Paradise Food Court at Secunderabad for lunch today.

1) Special Tandoor Platter : Contained 4 pieces each of green coloured chicken tikka, red coloured chicken tikka, regular chicken tikka, mutton boti and sheekh kebab with one roomali roti cut into 4 pieces. Cost 400/-. Very good. Will go again for it.

2) Mutton Rana : Contained boneless mutton with prawns and liver, etc. in a thick gravy. Good quantity. Pretty spicy but delicious. Cost 250/-. Had with 2 Roomali Rotis @ 40/- cut into 2 pieces each to divide over 4 of us. Will go again and again for it.

3) Mutton Biryani : Each grain of rice was huge (as big as at Bahar), very juicy, the mutton was very well cooked. Did not like the bones in the mutton. Found the top half of the biryani to be white rice and balance half to be extremely full of masala. I and one guest ended up with only masala rice while my other 2 guests ended up with only white rice. 220/-. Thumbs down due to the waiter not being able to serve the biryani properly and also because I felt the masala was not fully cooked though mutton was cooked perfect. They should mix and then serve or divide the white rice equally over all guests.

4) Salted Lassi : 90/- each. Expensive, actually, prohibitively expensive.

5) Khubani Ka Meetha : With vanilla ice cream. 130/-. Nothing to say because as good as always. Enough quantity to be divided over 3 people.

Paradise is a "must visit" venue for Mutton Rana if nothing else.

Ranjit, I tried for Hyd-Bom on 18/09/12 and Bom-Hyd on 21/09/12 but am getting 3,619.50 per sector with total 7,239. Can you share with me how and where to book. At the prices you have quoted, I might as well pop into Bombay just to have a plate of pav-bhaji.

[Farukh]

I have been visiting 'The Coffee Cup' in Sainikpuri for more than a year. It is right behind the BP petrol bunk, above the Canara bank. It started as a good hangout place. A rusty ambience with books to read/sale, board games and guitar if you wanna do a jig of yours. They also have paintings/art for sale. Don't expect a Picassa though. The coffees and the eatables are the usual stuff seen in other coffee shops. I go there at least twice a month. From last few visits of mine, no matter what coffee I order, I just don't feel the difference. So me and my friends have decided to order the cheapest coffee they have on the menu next time we go. They have an out door section where you can smoke and a non-smoke outdoor section too. A "cool" place!
Moral of the story - People staying in this part of the city have a nice place to hangout instead of traveling all the way beyond Secunderabad. TBHPians from this part can do quick meets on weekends and display your possession. Nice place around it. Am I going ?

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by hyd_traveller

Visited Persis Gold on 2nd Floor of Paradise Food Court at Secunderabad for lunch today.

You should have asked the waiter to serve the biryani properly. And, they normally serve it mixed. Strange he served it separately

When I go there i ask the waiter to get me additional masala ( i like it double masala) and he happily gets it on the side and does not even charge me for it

All said and done. Paradise Biryani is heavenly and the meat in it simply melts in your mouth.

Btw, in Bangalore they write and pronounce it as " Biriyani". I find it ridiculous

[NoRules]

Originally Posted by mobike008

Btw, in Bangalore they write and pronounce it as " Biriyani". I find it ridiculous

In Colombo they serve biryani rice with fried chicken and call it 'burriyani'. My kids had good laugh at the name.

[mobike008]

Couple of days ago noticed my favorite Biryani joint (Paradise) has opened a new outlet closer to my home.

This outlet is right next to Prasadz IMAX Multiplex

While driving in front of it slowed down and gave it a peep from outside. It has dine in ( looked very plush from outside) and a take-away option too.

Now, I am very scared. Really scared. My biryani consumption seems to be heading north.

[Motormania]

Originally Posted by mobike008

Couple of days ago noticed my favorite Biryani joint (Paradise) has opened a new outlet closer to my home.

This outlet is right next to Prasadz IMAX Multiplex

While driving in front of it slowed down and gave it a peep from outside. It has dine in ( looked very plush from outside) and a take-away option too.

Now, I am very scared. Really scared. My biryani consumption seems to be heading north.

You are one lucky soul. The nearest takeaway is around 35kms away but still it has helped me pile on 4 kgs in the last 3 months

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by Motormania

You are one lucky soul. The nearest takeaway is around 35kms away but still it has helped me pile on 4 kgs in the last 3 months

Well, its has become closer by a couple of kms thats all.

Paradise is 5.5kms-6kms from home and Prasadz IMAX is 3 or 3.5kms from home


Last night went to "Sholay" for dinner

It was a pleasant surprise to see the restuarant totally packed. We waited for 5 minutes and got a seat. I want this restuarant to suceed as decent pricing, good ambience and great food.

We ordered :-

Tomato Soup
Mocktails
Veg Platter
Tandoori Chicken (1/2)
Amritsari Kulcha and Cheese Kulcha
Some Veg curry that I dont remember

Each and every item was fantastic and loved the taste.

When I was leaving the guy in suit ( Maitre'd?) came over and asked me i came after a long time. I dont remember seeing him before. I told him lot of guys from Team-BHP still come to which he confirmed.

When i told him, nice to see place packed. He said, I am working really hard to bring it to this level. I noticed he didnt give me any credit as i was the first person to discover Sholay and send over a lot of business to them....Btw, his name is Siddiqui !!!

[ranjitp1]

Originally Posted by mobike008

This outlet is right next to Prasadz IMAX Multiplex

Is the outlet open and functional?The place has been caught up in some controversy(whats new anyways) over building of restaurants near the lake(its anybody's guess where all the waste is going to land up!)

Originally Posted by Farukh

I have been visiting 'The Coffee Cup' in Sainikpuri for more than a year.

The place has steadily run down IMO,thanks to maintenance not being their strong points!CCD has opened down the lane below Dominos(ofcourse expensive coffe)and closer home you could try out the new Daily Bread Cafe that has opened next to Baskin Robbins in Sainikpuri.Decent place but no outdoor seating,and the eats and drinks are expensive.

[Zappo]

Has anyone tried out The Village at InOrbit mall? It has been opened by Kambala Hospitality. I was at InOrbit this weekend and decided to have lunch there as that was the easiest thing to do considering the amount of shopping that missus was still left with.

They have managed to create an entire village out there. Good execution. You hear the loud beats of ddhol right from the ground floor when you enter the mall. Basically, Ohri's Nautanki Galli might very well have been the initial inspiration but they have taken it a step ahead. Food is all veggie and is just about ok although I felt some of the stuff was good. However, it is the complete package that gives it a differentiator.

The entry has a small village hut with the front porch that has a Munim jee perched on it. This is where you pay the entry charges and post that they put a hexagonal rubber stamp on your palm. Inside it's a complete Village setup. There are shops which look like what you will come across in a village. A pakwan shop on the porch of a house where the sweetmeat seller is frying jalebis. There is this guy on a bicycle who is ferrying around ice cream in a small pot tied on the bicycle's carrier. There is a quinessential village banyan tree under which there are bangle sellers, jyotishi (fortune teller) and even a mehendi-walla strutting out his stuff. There is a small stage setup on one corner for a puppet show ala villages, that starts impromptu. They also make their partons play games.

The food ranges from pakodis, chaats and paav bhaaji to daal baati churma, chinese bhel and for that matter even a theka that doles out the same kind of green glass bottles filled with milky colored stuff... only that instead of bhang it is chhaas (buttermilk). You even have a chai ki dukaan. Main course has paneer, pulaos, daal makhnis and stuff.

All in all a pretty good one time experience. And at 350 bucks a pop on the weekends its pretty good deal (weekdays are even cheaper).

[NoRules]

Originally Posted by Zappo

Food is all veggie and is just about ok although I felt some of the stuff was good. However, it is the complete package that gives it a differentiator.

Why only veg? Why cannot they have non-veg too? Grrrrrrrrrr

Sounds interesting. Will check it out soon.

Had a visitor from Delhi and had a meeting near Basera hotel. Took him to Paradise for lunch and followed all the tips given by mobike008 - went to Persis gold, ordered double masala mutton biryani (they do not have double meat biryani) which I asked the waiter to mix well.

As usual, totally disappointed. Just not the kind of biryani I like. Meat was over cooked, portion was too small, had that Paradise-ish flavor which is a big turnoff for me and mirchi ka salan was tasteless and oily. I was still hungry but did not have the courage to order another portion of biryani or any other dish.

At 220/- bucks it was a total ripoff. How I wish these visitors do not have the Paradise fixation.

Abhiruchi is under renovation. Hoping to see a swanky place soon.

[hillram]

While returning from office today,due to slow traffic,my eyes fell on this small joint at Tolichowki (before Ford Showroom)selling Arabic food.Being a lover of Felafel,i couldnt resist and decided to taste.It turned out to be a huge portion of Felafel wrapped in a nice soft Pita bread loaded with onions,lettuce,tomato,homuus and chickpea patties nicely made.All this for a jolly good price of Rs.40.
Next to try is Zaatar.

[hyd_traveller]

Originally Posted by mobike008

When I was leaving the guy in suit ( Maitre'd?) came over and asked me i came after a long time. I dont remember seeing him before. I told him lot of guys from Team-BHP still come to which he confirmed.

I noticed he didnt give me any credit as i was the first person to discover Sholay and send over a lot of business to them....Btw, his name is Siddiqui !!!

Maybe he does not know that important information and, yes, I do remember Siddiqui there.

Originally Posted by Zappo

Has anyone tried out The Village at InOrbit mall?

So it has opened. Thanks to the review, I know what I am in for. Sounds a perfect place to take my 100% pure veggie mom.

BTW, how much is the price on a weekday?

Originally Posted by NoRules

Meat was over cooked, portion was too small, had that Paradise-ish flavor which is a big turnoff for me and mirchi ka salan was tasteless and oily.

Looks like you are having pre-conceived notions as is obvious from my question which follows. Even I did not enjoy the biryani last week but I am willing to treat that as an one-off incident.

BTW, what is "Paradise-ish flavour" which turned you off?

Originally Posted by hillram

While returning from office today,due to slow traffic,my eyes fell on this small joint at Tolichowki (before Ford Showroom)selling Arabic food.

Try Hummus with Pita Bread and give a feedback. I still have not found hummus worth eating in Hyderabad.

Originally Posted by srimath

These fares can be availed by booking a oneway ticket for each sector.

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

I have sent you the email I received from Air India to your gmail.

Thanks Srimath & Ranjit. Found the fares and also got the email.

[NoRules]

Originally Posted by hyd_traveller

Looks like you are having pre-conceived notions as is obvious from my question which follows. Even I did not enjoy the biryani last week but I am willing to treat that as an one-off incident.

BTW, what is "Paradise-ish flavour" which turned you off?

It is well known that I am not a big fan of Paradise but when it comes to food I am honest about what I feel. When I eat biryani, whether it is in Dine Hill or Bahaar or Astoria or Southern Mirchi or Paradise or Al Sabah I look for that taste which comes from the masala, that flavor which makes you want to eat more. The Paradise-ish flavor I was talking about is something which does not make me go yummmm. It is not just dine in at Paradise but even my experience with take away from Masab tank is similar.

It is a personal taste and my personal opinion.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by Zappo

Has anyone tried out The Village at InOrbit mall? It has been opened by Kambala Hospitality. I was at InOrbit this weekend and decided to have lunch there as that was the easiest thing to do considering the amount of shopping that missus was still left with.

Deb since when you eating out? Good to see you here. Come here more often and share your dining escapades

Originally Posted by ranjitp1

Is the outlet open and functional?

Very much functional. They got themselves a regular customer ( me and wifey...lol)

Originally Posted by NoRules

As usual, totally disappointed. Just not the kind of biryani I like. Meat was over cooked, portion was too small, had that Paradise-ish flavor which is a big turnoff for me and mirchi ka salan was tasteless and oily.

The Paradise-ish flavour is what makes people throng their restuarant like bees to a honey pot....I enjoy their biryani due to that consistent and aromatic flavour which is not found in any other biryani in Hyderabad.

With regards to meat. Majority of people love the meat to be soft, melt in mouth ( be it boneless or with bone). I doubt if majority would like hard as stones and chewy meat in their biryani

Paradise is a super amalgamation of long grained flavoursome rice, lovely masalas and awesome melt in mouth boneless meat.

I give them some credit if their biryani goes awry once in a while considering the amount they dole out each day.

Originally Posted by NoRules

At 220/- bucks it was a total ripoff. How I wish these visitors do not have the Paradise fixation.

Me and wifey always have 1 biryani and thumbs up and is more than sufficient for both of us. Their quanity is decent if not enormous like Bahar, Bawarchi etc.

NOTE:

How about having kind of a soft POLL of who likes Paradise Biryani and who does not? Would interesting to see what other foodies think?

Come on guys, each one of your please come forward and share a brief paragraph of why you LIKE or DON'T LIKE the Paradise biryani.