[dre@ms]

Originally Posted by autotranny

I can truly understand that feeling.

Btw, in case you live in or around Madhapur

I stay near ghatkesar on the warangal highway. I would say I am not even an hyderabadi. This distance issue pissed me off. Travelling almost 50-60km and not getting good food.

Originally Posted by mobike008

Sorry to know that. Been frequenting this place regularly now for about 2 years and it never disappointed me. Give it another shot. If you still dont like it then most probably your taste buds is different than the majority of us here

I am still not sure what went wrong. May be the server didnt get the frys properly. We have seen oil floating on one side and the other side is generally dried and this guy took our parcel portion from there. When we asked him to put some juicy gravy he denied saying that it is only oil.

I am planning to try it one more time, but not for the fries but for the cereal podi they have in the dining section. We call this paruppu podi which I am actually searching elsewhere and all I can get is this kandi podi. But I am sure that is not the one I am looking for. I need the exact podi kept in each table in the dining section. I did see one kind of a podi displayed in the menu at KDM parcel section. Is that the one ?

[NoRules]

Originally Posted by dre@ms

This distance issue pissed me off. Travelling almost 50-60km and not getting good food.


I am still not sure what went wrong. May be the server didnt get the frys properly.

Feel bad your first experience at KDM was bad. Having eaten there / got a parcel more than 100 times I can confidently say it was a rare occurence. So far I got bad food only once - that was murrel fish fry and I thought the fish smelt bad.

Try once more. Give KDM a chance to redeem.

One of my college mate was in town from US and we had a mini meet of 6 people for lunch today. As Banjara Hills was central location to us, I suggested we go to new Town Cafe in Lumbini Jewel Mall.

We were the only people in the restaurant when I went there at 1 and when we left at 2.30, we were still the only people to have come for lunch today. Felt sad because the food was pretty decent.

We all opted for the combo meal and chose to order different combos so that we can taste them all.

I ordered sweet corn chicken soup which was thick and tasty. Liked it.

For starters we chose Chicken Satay and Buffalo Chicken Wings. The satay was good, nice and juicy tasty pieces of chicken but the quantity was very less. Chicken wings were awesome. The heavily pungent and spicy taste was heavenly with our lips burning. Will order this as take away soon. Decent portion size.

I ordered Malay main course of Mee Goreng, Roticini and malay chicken curry. Couple of friends opted for chinese and another friend ordered Indian where he was served paratha with kheema curry. 2 of us were vegetarians and I did not bother with what they ordered

All the main course dishes were very good. For dessert we had ice cream with fresh fruits. A bit disappointed with fruit as they did not really seem fresh.

Overall it was a good lunch and at Rs.350/- + taxes it was filling. I would be very happy to pay 250-275/- + taxes for that meal but even at 350/- it was fine.

Pics:

Buffalo Chicken Wings:



Chicken Satay:



Malay Combo:



Indian Combo:



Chinese Combo:

[harshaguduru]

Hi

Long time lurker here

New updates:

Shadab Takeway- Banjara hills

I felt like an idiot yesterday when I was browsing this thread after ages and realized that Shadab has a takeway 2km from my office and I never went there.
To right my wrongs went there immediately and luckily there were no lines/rush.
Ordered one special chicken Biryani (boneless is the special) and had it at home.

Taste: It was wonderful , the salan was especially awesome and Only grouse is that the salan was very little in quantity.
quantity of the biryani was sufficient for 2 healthy people and the meat was very tender and flavorful.
Pricing was fine at 210Rs for a pack
The regular biryani is 150 Rs

Overall 4 stars IMHO.

Looking forward to trying various other items. Any special recommendations?
I have never been to the original Shadab so I don't know what is good.


2) Cream Centre:

I am one of the those people who reply "i am pure non veg" whenever i am asked if i eat meat.
So when I had to go there along with my colleagues I went in mentally prepared to not enjoy it.
What happened was an eye opener.
Every item we ordered was great
Chana Batura
Methi-aaloo paratha
2 different Pastas
Ice-cream sodas
Sizzling fudge brownie.

Everything was so good that I have been there 2 more times in the past month and always had a great experience.
Must try for anyone.

Pricing is reasonable given the ambience and the food.(approx 400/head)


3) Buffet Breakfast at Marigold.

I am a big fan of breakfast buffets.
So when i found a coupon on groupon for the buffet at marigold for 299 I purchased a few.

Food:
The number of items are not too many, however there is more than enough to enjoy the meal. (50items including juices)

Their breads are fantastic (includes croissants/danish/doughnuts)

Special mention to the pancakes which were fluffy and absorbed the syrup very well when compared to what is given at the Marriott.

yoghurt/juices had a few options each though most were of the bottled variety.

The cheese platter was surprising with very good option.

Another gem in the menu was the vermicelli upma. probably the bet I have ever had in my life.

Bacon was not very crisp though but it was tasty.

Pork/Chicken sausages were routine( I think everyone gets them from the same source)

Coffee was a surprise. Thick and strong. However I was the only one at my table who enjoyed it. Everyone else complained that it was too strong and left it.

Ambience:
Very pleasant. Especially loved the spiral things hanging from the ceiling.
Chairs while comfortable make too much noise while moving them.
I mean it was loud enough to be noticable


Overall it was good and at 299/head it was great value for money.

Any other good breakfast buffets? Preferably less than 700/head.

[Rajesh Rawal]

Originally Posted by NoRules

Ulavacharu - a new restaurant serving coastal Andhra cuisine opened at Jubilee Hills

Nice discovery.Went there with office folks for lunch (5 of us)

We had:-

Allam Kodi Vepudu- Spicy dry chicken (bones)
Raju Gari Kodi Pulao-Signature dish to be eaten with gongura curry and some red paste(its bland so the curry/paste is required to spice it up) ,very nice
Mamsam pappu charu- okiesh

Food was served on banana leaf(leaf was placed on a ceramic plate )

Complimentary pan and khaaja (sweet) served in the end

Total bill- Inr 2536


Folks who like spicy coastal andhra food will love the place

[NoRules]

Originally Posted by Rajesh Rawal

Mamsam pappu charu- okiesh

I wanted to try it too but we already ordered lot of other dishes. Will definitely try this novel dish during my next visit.

Was at Blues restaurant, Road no.14 couples of times in last 10 days. Their starters are decent but the best they serve is the kheema biryani. Bajaj saab is a big fan and now all my friends are hooked. You have to order for it early else it will be over by 10 PM.

One dish I totally disliked at Blues was the sambar rice. Total disgrace.

[Motormania]

Time for some updates from my side :-

1) Visited Calcutta Cabiin, Kondapur last week -

Ordered 1 Fish Thala and 1 Chicken Thala. You get 1 bowl each of aam chutney, daal, aloor dom, some vegetable, chicken kosha, rice and few other items which I can't remember right now. Ordered a plate of "jhinge posto" separately.

For starters, we got a plate of Fish Fry. It has 2 small pieces of Fish fry which were absolutely yummy to say the least. However, at Rs.130/- it is expensive for the quantity/size offered.

Overall the food was excellent, and felt closest to home. The daal in particular was fantastic and goes well with white rice. We were never told that extra servings of rice are charged separately. The amount of rice provided with a single thala is quite less, and one will need additional helpings. At Rs.70/- for extra rice, it is a tad expensive I felt.

The jhinge posto was priced at Rs.110/-, but the quantity left us craving for more.

The bill came upto Rs.661/- for 2 people. The quality of food is very very good, no complains on that front. The quantity though needs improvement. The kind of voracious eaters in Hyderabad will be left wanting for more!

We were the only people in the entire restaurant on a weekday lunch. Pretty sad, considering that their food is very tasty.


2) Green Bawarchi takeaway, Langar Houz -

Took 1 Chicken biryani. The quantity is MASSIVE to say the least. The chicken pieces were big and chunky. The biryani is good too, not very spicy. Me likes!


3) Al Baik Shawarma, Mehdipatnam -

A small joint just ahead of Prince Hotel. They serve only Chicken and Mutton Shawarma, along with a glass of complimentary soft drink. Priced at Rs. 60/- it was actually pretty good and fresh. No excess mayo or effort to make it spicy. You have the option of having the shawarma made in bun or roti. Incidentally, we left behind a folder containing some important documents by mistake. We rushed back when we realized our mistake after 30 mins or so. The guy at the counter had found the folder and stored it safely for us to take back. Brilliant and God bless the noble soul!


4) Shadaab, Banjara Hills -


Finally I hunted this place down. Rode all the way from Dontanpally in search of biryani nirvana!

It is located in the lane just beside Hyderabad House on Rd no. 3. Nice big joint, very clean and well maintained place. The staff is really helpful. Took back a packet of Special Chicken Biryani. This contains boneless chicken pieces, and each packet/order is packed on order, and NOT pre-packed like other places viz Paradise.

Coming to the food, the biryani is exactly the way I like it to be. Very aromatic, evenly and lightly spiced with tender boneless chicken pieces. The raita is absolutely yummy. I have a new favorite place now! The Paradise biryani is becoming way too inconsistent these days, and I don't know what to expect each time I order. Shadaab biryani, though gets 2 thumbs up from me, and I am not going anywhere else.

PS :- The manager at the counter told me that they are going to start home delivery soon. An excellent idea, considering that Paradise, Green Bawarchi etc don't offer this service. Will make Shadaab stand out from the rest and have a wider customer base!

5 stars from my side!

[NoRules]

Originally Posted by Motormania

4) Shadaab, Banjara Hills -

PS :- The manager at the counter told me that they are going to start home delivery soon.

Yay. Thats great news for me.

Last night had a small get together with family and friends at Celebrations, Jubilee hills. Been there after a long time and was happy to see the place is doing great. The whole place was full. We were 5 families consisting of 10 adults and 9 kids and sat on the terrace. Perfect weather and great ambience.

For starters we had non veg kebab platter, non veg chinese platter, chicken 65, loose prawns, soups, spinach rolls, crispy veg and paneer tikka. Most of the dishes were good and liked by everyone.

For main course it was chicken kolhapuri, some paneer veg dish, butter naan, 1 chicken biryani and a curd rice.

Total bill came to 12k. Overall a good dinner experience.

[traveloholic]

Originally Posted by NoRules

Bajaj saab is a big fan and now all my friends are hooked. You have to order for it early else it will be over by 10 PM.

Ravi Saar, Me too a very big fan of the Kheema Biryani at Blues. Mahesh Koneru's party at Blues was the first time, we were introduced to the Kheema Biryani and been a fan of it since then.

[CtrlAltDel]

Originally Posted by traveloholic

Ravi Saar, Me too a very big fan of the Kheema Biryani at Blues. Mahesh Koneru's party at Blues was the first time, we were introduced to the Kheema Biryani and been a fan of it since then.

Where exactly is Blues? The address on Zomato says rd#14 bjHills and the map puts it somewhere in Sagar Society!

Is it near Vasanta Bhavan or something?

[traveloholic]

Blues is on the road, which runs parallel to Road#2/Road#3 on Banjara Hills. To put it straight, it is the road behind Cinemax, the same road that leads to Talwar Hyundai Service Center or Meridian School. Once you cross Meridian School, this is on your right.

[aadix]

Blues is on road no:14, just beside Asha hospital, its on the same road as the new opened Vasanta Bhavan restaurant, other landmarks include the DAV public school & Lakshmi hyundai service centre.

[racer_ash]

Visited Southern Spice and a not so well known place called Swaadh at Kondapur with family over the weekend. I am a veggie when dining with family and a complete opposite when out with friends and colleagues. This being a visit with my family, please excuse me for the 'all-veg' review.

Southern Spice: Banjara Hills

Visited this place after a gap of around 4 years. Previously it used to be packed over the weekends but this time when I called up for reservation, they said there is ample space available and that I can come over directly. Was given a not so welcome welcome by a grumpy man at the entrance. The waiter serving us looked tired and uninterested. I was half-pissed off by now.

We wanted to have idiyappam. But it was not available. So we ordered for Appam with coconut milk. At 80 bucks, its was not at all VFM. You could finish off the appam in three mouthfulls. The coconut milk was good though. We also ordered for Gobi 65. We specifically mentioned to make it medium spicy but it was extremely spicy. When we mentioned it to the waiter, he says that this is their version of Medium spicy. I was imagining what their version of Spicy would mean. For main course,w e wanted to have Pan noodles, but this too was not available. So we ordered for soft noodles. It was extremely oily and even the oil used was of very bad quality. This completely pissed me off. Asked the waiter to replace the noodles and get fresh ones and the so-called fresh ones too had the same oil coating. Lost all hopes and left the place without even leaving a tip. total damages crossed the 1k mark for 3 people and we were still as hungry as we were before coming in for dinner . I am not sure if this was a one-off experience. Hydeez can let me know if they too have gone down the drain with their quality like many others in hyd.


Swaadh: Kondapur Main Road

For the uninformed, this place is just behind the JLR service station on the Kondapur main road (Botanical Gardens Road). There is a BBQ type restaurant, a banquet hall and a Fine dining restaurant (which we visited) in a 3 floor complex (named tiny village IIRC). The best part about the restaurant is that there was live hindutani music playing when we visited for lunch. This had a very soothing effect on our moods. We ordered for an Aloo starter, buter naan and Veg hyderabadi along with cream of tomato soup. Though these items are nothing out of the ordinary, I find that many restaurants do not do a good job with them. However, at this place, it was a sweet surprise. All the items were extremely tasty and were in sufficient quantities. Their ice cream with dry fruits was just awesome. Just the right amount of ice cream and just the right amount of heat on the dry fruits. The added effect of the music ensured that our spirits were elevated by the time we were paying the bill. Total damages for 2 came to around 850 bucks. I highly recommend this place to other Hydeez, though I am yet to taste their non-veg offerings. This place is not very crowded and you can have a relaxed time. If you are seated next to the glass facing the road, you can catch glimpses of Jags and Rovers being driven around to and from the service station nearby.

I am planning to try their BBQ restaurant sometime this week. This time I am going to be a pure non-veggie though.

[CtrlAltDel]

Originally Posted by racer_ash

Southern Spice: Banjara Hills.

I am not sure if this was a one-off experience. Hydeez can let me know if they too have gone down the drain with their quality like many others in hyd.

lol...its not one-off! I stopped going there around 3 yrs ago when I felt the quality going downhill!

The opening of Southern Mirchi nearby I guess was the knock out blow. Most of the crowd now goes to the rival for food which is a 100 times better.

[dre@ms]

We are planning a project party tomorrow with a group of 16 folks. Need suggestions for VFM restaurant's. We are ok to travel till Panjagutta from Ghatkesar.
Ok with either buffet or ala carte. Max budget could be 500/head.

[racer_ash]

A-Lounge: Madinaguda

One of my office colleagues was travelling to the land of the Kangaroos soon and he wanted to throw a party to our team for this. We had a vote between Ginger Court, Swagath-de-Royale (Kothaguda) and A-lounge. The third option was the most voted for as many folks had said earlier that their non-veg BBQs are awesome. So my team of 18, in 5 cars (that included 3 learner drivers) set out at 12pm yesterday after confirming reservation.

At first, the facade of the building housing this place did not impress me much. There was a Hyundai showroom at the ground floor and a fair bit of offroading was required to park our cars. But the restaurant itself had a nice and rustic decor to it. There were dummies of rifles, ships and even miniature canons inside. Its quite spacious and can easily seat around 100 people. We were seated in a separate section which I presume was designed specifically for large office teams like ours.

Out of the 18, 15 were non-veggies and the remaining veggies. There was a wooden plank to place the barbeque grill. There was paneer, corn and thai style aloo starters for Veg. Non veggies had boneless chicken pieces grilled on the table, chicken wings tandoori style and mutton for starters. All the starters were extremely good. The boneless chicken especially was mouth watering with soft succulent pieces that were so juicy to bite. I lost count of the number of servings I had of this. The chicken wings too were very good but we found it quite difficult to remove the flesh off the bones. After sometime, most of the people switched from knives and forks to hands. We were also given a grape juice as welcome drink but people simply did not pay attention to anything other than the boneless chicken starter.

For the buffet spread there was a chicken gravy, mutton gravy, mutton biryani, noodles, paneer sabji, jeera rice and two soups (one each of veg and non-veg). There were also the usual stuff like rice, dal, sambhar, curd and salads. Butter naan was served on the table. The spread was quite decent and most of the items were good to taste. The biryani with salan tasted the best though. Just the right amount of spice and the rice was cooked perfectly. For desserts they had fresh cut fruits (3 varieties), carrot halwa, 2 varieties of ice cream, cake, boondi laddoo and rasagulla. The rasagulla was the only dish that spoiled the otherwise perfect spread. It was too hard and the marinaing liquid tasted anything but sweet. Could not have more than one mouthful.

We spent a good 3 hrs at this place. They had those eureka forbes air freshners all around the place that did a good job of removing all the smoke from the barbeques. The AC effect was good. The seating was comfortable and the service was extremely prompt. I must admit that the group of 3 waiters in our section did the job of clearing plates, serving naans and water, and replacing spoons and forks for all 18 people in a very co-ordinated manner. They were playing songs from the movie Yeh jawaani hai deewani and the songs repeated 3 times for the time we were there.

Overall, a must visit place for non-veg lovers. Even veggies quite enjoyed everything. As per me, this place compares with the Great Kebab factory at Jubilee hills. Not in terms of variety, but in terms of taste and ambience. Each non-veg buffet costed 449+taxes after corporate and goodwill discounts. Veg buffet costed 50 bucks less, IIRC.