Food in Hyderabad

Its been a while since I blogged about food in Hyderabad. Well here goes...

A few year ago if one wanted sizzlers and russian salad there was a hole in the wall in Banjara hills called Flame which subsequently closed down. Then we found Indi Joe's in the City Center mall in Banjara Hills. They have excellent starters and sizzlers. I especially like the Pomfret sizzler - its light and tasty. I didn't like the mexican and the pastas much - but then that might be a personal taste.

Well we all know Paradise. The food there is cheap and good. But one day we decided to visit Persis Gold the fine dining restaurant in Paradise and even though the food was good I came out completely unsatisfied. The reason being that you are served the same fare as the takeaway but the prices are atrociously expensive. So my take is just do takeaway do not eat in the restaurant, at least not in persis gold.

Green Park has some excellent food. We usually do the ala carte`. The hot tandoori rotis with no butter or oil are just exquisite and they go well with pretty much any gravy. Stay away from the chinese and the continental - stick to Indian. What I like about Green Park is the perks you get there - the kids get balloons and colouring books to play with, you get starters on the house, mineral water is on the house, you get kashmiri tea and pan at the end of your meal - its just a nice experience on the whole.

Hyderabad house is a nice place to pick up food from. But be careful there are 4 hyderabad house kitchens which supply food to all the other centers so it is important that you get the food from a kitchen that you like. So enquire from where it is cooked, the one at SR Nagar is pretty good - not sure about the other 3. They have a grilled pomfret that is not on the menu but is exceedingly good - so ask for it. Of late the have Paneer tikka too that is very good.

Some of the other places that I have done take away from and have not been disappointed are Cafe Bahar and Bawarchi.

Places in and around SR Nagar - Good dosas and idlis at Udipi Home and Hotel Satyam. You also get good chat on Vengal Rao Nagar main road. Talking about chat another good place to have chat is at the Jubilee Hills check post. For chinese food visit Peking Palace in Ameerpet behind the HUDA Maitrivanam building - they have some good dishes - I generally stay away from the soups.

Talking about chinese food - Chinese Pavilion on road No. 1 Banjara Hills has some good food to offer. Its a small restaurant and the ambiance is very nice. For Mexican food visit Tex Mex opposite KBR Park. They have decent Mexican food.

Chutneys is an excellent place for idlis and dosas - just stick to the regular fare do not go for any of the fancy dosas like paneer dosa and stuff. Try out the steam dosa and the 4 uthapams from the fancy dosas - do not try anything else. Also do not have the regular food there not that great.
For a cheap wholesome full meal try out the messes - Harsha and Kakatiya the more famous ones in the Ameerpet area. Its simple to order - just walk in and say "meals parcel" and you are all set.

For pastries and doughnuts visit Ofen in Banjara hills - they have a nice selection but they are very pricey - so when you go there make sure that your pockets are loaded.