Category: Indian Food

Place: Rubaiyat 
Location: Cyber Pearl, Hitech City 
Cuisine: Indian 
Meal: Dinner (with my family)

For dinner on my birthday, we (me, my bro, mom and dad) decided to dine at Rubaiyat. My brother just got back from Europe, and was longing to eat some delicious Indian food, so here we were. The place was dimly lit, the ambiance was pretty neat and had a royal Indian touch to it. We sat in a corner at a table for four, but were so close to another table that it seemed as if the couple sitting there was part of our family.

The menu was quite huge and it took us a while to decide on what we were having. To start off, I had a Rubaiyat Colada (Peach Apricot, Pineapple juice and cream). It was served in the next 5 minutes. It tasted good, but was a little too sweet, probably because of the pineapple juice.

For starters we ordered Paneer Tikka Sofiyani (malai paneer marinated in cream and yellow chilli, char grilled in tandoor and flavored with fennel) and Subz Kakori Tukkri (shallow fried spinach and mushroom kabab crusted with almond flakes).

The kababs were served first and were exceptionally good. The spinach and mushroom were well mixed and tasted excellent. The almond flakes added crunch, and as the description said, the kababs melted in mouth.

The paneer on the other hand was quite a disappointment. They were well marinated, but there was no proper flavor to the dish and therefore tasted bland. It was as if we were eating raw paneer. Instead of finishing it, we wrapped it up and my brother made excellent burji out of it the next day.

The kababs got us pretty full, and we decided to go light on the main course. We wanted to order something different from what we usually have and were interested in Gucchi Palak aur Singada (Kishtwari morels of Kashmir, stir fried with roasted garlic, chestnuts and spinach). We tried asking the waiter what this exactly was but he had no clue. We decided to give it a shot anyways and ordered Masala Kulcha with it.

The morels turned out to be mushrooms, and the curry was something like Mushroom Palak with water-chestnuts. The palak gravy was very good with a strong garlic flavor to it. The mushrooms weren’t anything special, and tasted like regular ones. The chestnuts in between tasted quite weird actually.

To finish it off, we decided to have the Choley aur Aloo ki Biryani. The description said that it was biryani cooked with cashew nuts and Choley, but to our surprise, we neither found nuts nor kabuli channa choley, nor the aloo. Instead, we got biryani with black channa. The Biryani was good, but the channa spoiled the taste.

At the end of the meal, instead of a pan, pan juice was served, which I thought was very innovative. It tasted just like a regular pan, yum.

Overall, an average meal, nothing remarkable. Except for the kababs, which were out of this world, everything else was moderate. Though the ambiance was good, the waiters seemed a little rude. Also, the tables being so close together was very inconvenient. The prices were pretty reasonable for a restaurant in this part of the town.

Give it a shot when you get a chance, but don’t expect anything great. Do try the kababs!

Food: 8/10
Service: 7/10
Ambiance: 8.5/10
Meal for 4: Rs. 2263/- (with a couple of drinks)

Verdict: 7.5/10

Place: Haveli 
Location: My Home Tycoon (Lifestyle Building), Begumpet 
Cuisine: Indian 
Meal: Dinner (with friends)

Met a couple of friends for dinner at Haveli the other night. I’ve heard a lot about this place, but never really tied it out so far. The restaurant was dimly lit and I liked the ambiance. We sat at a corner table, and the guy was after us for the order from the moment we sat down.

Looking down the menu, I was pretty impressed with the variety, especially the prices. Almost everything was very reasonably priced. My friends ordered Strawberry Milkshakes and Cold Coffee for themselves, while I ordered a Fruit Punch. It was served in about ten minutes in a small glass. It tasted alright, but the quantity seemed very less.

For the main course, we ordered a Shahi Paneer, Aloo Gobi and Butter Naans.

The food was served in reasonable time. The Shahi Paneer was creamy and the gravy tasted good, but the paneer was horrible. They were thinly cut and then deep-fried, and this made them very saggy and chewy. For a second, I wondered if it was chicken for it was so chewy. That apart, the curry was fine.

I normally don’t prefer having something like Aloo Gobi at restaurants, but the one here was excellent. The curry was very well cooked, both Aloo and Gobi had a very nice flavor, and the gravy was yum. I was licking my plate towards the end.

The Butter Naan was soft and very well-baked.

For rice, we went a little offbeat, and ordered Sambar Rice, which turned out to be a very good choice. It was as good as homemade sambar rice, with lots of vegetables and nice flavor. Only a papad was missing.

Overall, a very good meal. Except for the paneer, everything else was tasty. The service was pretty decent as well. The quantity of food was impressive. For the prices and quantity, this place could be your next adda. Give it a shot.

Food: 8.5/10
Service: 8/10
Ambiance: 8.5/10
Meal for 4: Rs 799/-

Verdict: 8.5/10

Place: Veggies 365 
Location: Madhapur Main Road 
Cuisine: Indian 
Meal: Dinner (with a friend)

Having heard good things about this place in the recent past, decided to go give it a try, and was here with a friend on a weekday. The place was very bright, and had nice interiors. It was pretty empty, but for one other table occupied and we seated ourself in a corner.

The staff seemed pretty courteous and nice. They gave us our time to choose from their small yet vast menu. I was tempted to have a go at almost everything in there, but finally decided to go try the Delhi Belly Thali and Rajma Chawal (together). We also ordered a Lassi.

In about ten minutes, a huge thali with Paneer Sabji, Mixed Vegtable, Dal Makhani, a butter Naan, Roti, a bowl of white rice, Raitha, Salad and Gulab Jamoon was served. It looked quite a meal. The Paneer Subji was good (the paneer wasn’t fresh), Mixed Vegetable was excellent, and the Dal was too thin, but alright. The Roti was little hard, the Naan was soft and very good. The Jamoon was yum.

For Rajma Chawal, I expected it to be pre-mixed, but it wasn’t. The Rajma was a little too thin, but otherwise excellent. The rice could have been of better quality though.

The Lassi was served in a small glass, not chilled, and was very sour.

Overall, except for the Lassi, the rest of the meal was very good. I was very impressed with the price and the quantity of the food served. The service was very good, and so was the ambiance. This is one place I am definitely coming back to. Give it a shot!!

Food: 8.5/10
Service: 8.5/10
Ambiance: 8.5/10
Meal for 2: Rs. 230/-

Verdict: 8.5/10

Place: Chutneys 
Location: Nagarjuna Circle 
Cuisine: South-Indian 
Meal: Brunch 

First review of Chutneys!

On a Sunday afternoon, decided to go hog at Chutneys with a friend. She couldn’t make it for some reason, so here I was alone, ready to dig in. I sat on the ground floor this time around. For a Sunday morning, the place was quite full.

As always, was tempted to have everything off their menu, but finally decided on Poori-Upma. In about 10 minutes, the usual four Chutneys – Coconut, Ginger, Groundnut and Roasted Chickpea were served, and then came my Poori-Upma.

I had the same thing last time around, but couldn’t resist having it again for I remember it being yummy. The Poori’s were a little oily, but very good, and the Upma was delicious. Again, ghee was oozing out with every bite. Of the two curries served along, the dry Aloo curry was too bland, while the wet Aloo curry with Besan was good.

Of the Chutneys, Roasted Chickpea and Ginger were my favorite.

Last time, I complained that I did not like their Sambar, for which I got quite a bit of slack. So this time around, I tried it patiently, and found it to be delicious. I realized that I never really appreciated it so much for it’s always served piping hot, and so burnt my tongue every single time. I don’t remember having such good Sambar anywhere else other than the good-old Shanbhag. Yumm.

Unable to resist my temptation to eat more, I next ordered a Mushroom Masala Dosa.

Another 10 minutes, and here it was. The dosa wasn’t as crispy as I expected it to be, and I found that it was not cooked properly. The masala inside was good, but I was kinda unhappy with the dosa itself.

Overall, a good meal with a slightly disappointing end. A perfect Dosa would have made it an excellent brunch, but it was not to be so. But no matter how the Dosa was, I shall be returning back to this place again. It is on the expensive side, but worth it once in a while. Have you tried it yet??

Food: 8/10
Service: 8.5/10
Ambiance: 8.5/10
Meal for 1: Rs. 237/- (This could in fact be counted as a meal for 2 :P)

Verdict: 8.5/10

Place: Santosh Banjara 
Location: Rd. No. 12, Next to Pizza Hut, Banjara Hills 
Cuisine: Indian 
Meal: Dinner

First review of Santosh Banjara!

After my last review of this place, I’ve come here quite often. Though there is nothing new about the food or the place, this is more of a re-review.

Was here for dinner a couple of days ago with a friend. Having tried their Chilly Paneer for starters the last time around, wanted to try something different. So went for the Vegetable Gold Coin. For the main course, it was pretty much the usual, Malai Kofta and Stuffed Kulcha.

We were informed that it would take a while for the Goldcoins and they were served after about 15 minutes. They looked good, but when I took a bite, they were too oily and the batter inside was kinda uncooked. They were actually so oily that I had an after taste of it till the end of the meal. Disappointment!

In the next 4 minutes, the main course was served. The Malai Kofta was creamy and yumm. The kofta was a lil on the harder side, but the gravy made it up for it.

Their Stuffed Kulcha, as usual, was amazingly good; sttuffed with tons of cashew nuts, perfectly baked.

Overall, the meal was alright. But something I found disheartening this time around was the maintenance of the place; there were a couple of cockroaches on the table. This was really really disappointing for Santoshi has been one of my favorite restaurants in town. I don’t think I’l ever be comfortable walking into this place ever again. They serve good food, but with no proper maintenance, I don’t think they will be able to get customers.

Next time, I’m opting for take-away!

Food: 8/10
Service: 8/10
Ambiance: 4/10
Meal for 2: Rs. 322/-

Verdict: 7/10

Place: De Thali 
Location: White House, Next to Life Style, Begumpet 
Cuisine: Rajasthani, Gujarati 
Meal: Lunch (with mom, dad and aunt)

I’ve been wanting to try this place since it opened recently. I’ve been to both Rajdhani and Golden Star while in Mumbai, and loved the food and service, especially Golden Star. When Ohri’s came up with a similar concept, that too for the most reasonable price of Rs. 189 /- all-inclusive, I needed to hog.

We were cordially invited into the restaurant by the amicable staff. Tilak was marked on my forehead when I entered. The place had decent interiors, was very bright, and quite full for a weekday. We sat at a table where four huge thali’s were laid.

It took a while, and I mean a while for the waiters to attend to our table. And the food too was  all not served at once, but in batches, which made it quite difficult for us to begin with. But a little patience, and our thali’s were full.

In the menu today, for starters, Dhokla and Dal Baati Churma, and the curries were (in order from left) Gobi Masala, Palak Paneer, Aloo Jeera, Kaddu Dal (listed as Pineapple Dal), Chole, Gujarati Dal and Kadhi. The Dal Baati was good, and Churma excellent. Dhokla was hard and not up to the mark. On the curry front, all of them were yum, with Chole being best of the lot. The Gujju Dal was not so sweet and perfect, and Kadhi was alright. I didn’t taste the Kaddu Dal.

Three types of breads were served: Pulka, Masala Puri and Bhakris. The Pulka’s were a little hard, but not so bad. Masala Puri’s and Bhakris were good.

On the rice front, they had Khichidi, Pulao and Curd Rice. The Khichdi was made of wheat gram, and was mediocre. It had no proper taste to it. The Pulao was excellent though. The rice was perfectly cooked, and it had a nice flavor to it. I didn’t have the Curd Rice, but amma said that it didn’t taste so good.

For desert, there was Gajar Ka Halwa and Double Ka Meetha, both of which were yum. There was also a sweet digestive drink served upfront, which was alright.

Overall, a nice meal. For the price we paid, I should actually say excellent meal. The waiters were very nice and forced us to eat more even though we were full. The only issue was the slow service, for we had to wait for quite a while before the items we asked for were served. Also, the waiters were at times in such hurry that they didn’t bother to hear what we were saying. Other than that, the whole experience was really good.

De Thali is not a place which you can visit very often for the same kind of food might bore you after a while. But it’s definitely a place you can visit when you are really hungry and are in a mood to eat some good food for a reasonable price.

Food: 8/10
Service: 7.5/10
Ambiance: 8/10
Meal for 1: Rs. 189/- (all-inclusive)

Verdict: 8/10

Place: Vasudev Dhaba 
Location: Sindhi Colony, Secunderabad 
Cuisine: Indian 
Meal: Dinner (with a couple of friends)

Wanting to try a new place, we dropped by at Vasudev Dhaba in Sindhi Colony. It’s a small place, easy to locate, not so exquisite to look at from the outside. We walked in, and the place was bloody hot. Though an AC restaurant, the place had none running, and no fans running either. We sat at a table in an enclosure, making sure he turned on the fan. It was a decent place, something similar to Santosh Dhabha.

It took about five minutes for the waiter to appear at our table. He was kinda sweet and helped us a lot with our order. We ordered Chilly Paneer as starter. For main course, we went for Punjabi Kofta and their day special Tiranga Paneer, along with a stuffed Naan and stuffed Kulcha. We also ordered a dum Biryani.

The Chilly Paneer was good, but the paneer wasn’t great. It had a mix of fresh and old paneer, and so few pieces were like eating rubber.

The Punjabi Kofta looked scary, while the Tiranga Paneer was well presented, but both were oily like crazy. The Kofta tasted alright, but kinda hard. The gravy was well cooked though. The Tiranga Paneer had tons of gravy with very few paneer pieces which were horrible. Again, unfresh. The oozing oil from both the dishes was scary to look at.

Both the Naan and Kulcha tasted pretty much the same. We asked for the stuffed Naan and Kulcha without butter. But even then, they were oozing out oil. The portion of bread was quite small, and they were burnt towards the corners. The stuffing wasn’t great either.

The only part of the meal which was good, was the dum biryani. The quantity served impressed us, and so did the taste. The dum/curry was well cooked, and the rice was perfect. Though again, it was oily.

Overall, we were kinda disappointed. Looking at the place from outset, we expected something similar to Santosh Dhaba, but it was not even close. The food, though priced nominally, lacked brilliant taste, and was very very oily. Roti Shhoti on the opposite side of the road was much better. Give it a try, but don’t expect anything great.

Food: 6/10
Service: 7/10
Ambiance: 6.5/10
Meal for 3: Rs. 531/-

Verdict: 6/10

Place: Roti Shhoti
Location: Opp. ICICI Bank, Prenderghast Road, Secunderabad 
Cuisine: North-Indian, Chinese 
Meal: Dinner (with Mom and Dad)

I’ve been wanting to try out a new (good) restaurant for a really long time. Googled a bit and found this vegetarian restaurant with good reviews. So decided to give it a try. I didn’t know the exact location, so called in to ask for directions. The guy was very cheerful and helped me pinpoint the restaurant. So here we were, at around 9:00 PM on Friday evening. It was bigger than I expected. We walked in, and the place was abuzz. They have a party hall, and the crowd in there was very loud. We were promptly seated at a table for four. The ambiance was alright. I believe its a house redone into a restaurant.

The reviews mentioned this place to be light on pockets, but the menu had another story to tell. It was expensive, but not exorbitant. I read good things about their “Potato and Spinach Honey Chilli” and “Anjeer Paneer Kabab”, so decided to order them. The “Anjeer Paneer Kabab”, which was their specialty, was unavailable, so instead ordered “Tiranga Paneer Tikka”. We were suggested to order “Manchow Soup”, so decided to give it a try.

It took less than 10 minutes for the soup to be served, and it was good. It was a bit spicy, and had a nice flavor to it. The fried noodles were giving it a nice taste. Then came the “Potato and Spinach Honey Chilli”. I’ve never ordered anything potato for a starter before, and was hoping this would be good. And it was. It was spicy, but the honey flavor made it taste delicious. The aloo was boiled to perfection. Named “Potato and Spinach..”, there was barely any spinach in the dish though. It was served along with tangy schezwan sauce which was yumm. Dad loved it. The quantity was so good and we were struggling to finish it.

In about 15 more minutes, the tikka was served. The presentation was very good, and the paneer looked fresh. But we were kinda disappointed with the taste. There was no proper flavor to the dish, and it was as if we were eating raw paneer. The stuffing was very very less, and had no taste to it. I don’t need to go to a restaurant and spend 160 bucks to eat charred paneer, do I??

For the main course, we ordered “Khazane E Lazzat” (their version of Malai Kofta, stuffed with nuts), Warqi Paratha, Mughalai Naan (Naan stuffed with nuts and coconut) and a Masala Kulcha. Again the Mughalai Naan was unavailable (something I was looking forward to taste), so we were suggested “Mirchi Pyaaz ki Roti”.

The kofta’s gravy was delicious, but the koftas were bad. They were very hard, and I barely found any nuts stuffed into them. The gravy was very thick, and had a keseri flavor to it. It was mildly sweet. The Masala Kulcha was really good; soft, properly stuffed, and oozing out butter. The Warqi Paratha was ok, nothing great. I was expecting the mirchi roti to be spicy, but it wasn’t. It was actually really good.

Overall, except for the soup and the honey potato, rest of the food was nothing great. I went in with high expectations and was partly disappointed. For the price, the quantity of the food served was good, but items from the menu being unavailable didn’t help the case. Also, the place was a little too loud, which was kinda annoying. I’d mostly prefer Santoshi to this place for its easy on the pockets. It is definitely not the best vegetarian restaurant in town as other reviews suggest, but wasn’t bad either.

Food: 7/10
Service: 7.5/10
Ambiance: 8/10
Meal for 3: Rs. 777/-

Verdict: 7.5/10