The city has long since moved away from biryani and chai to make way for a range of new tastes to tickle their palate. Sample these few new eateries that occupy a pride of place here
Mamagoto
For those who love Asian cuisine, a trip to Mamagoto, one of the best fine-dining, or fun-dining rather, places, is inevitable. Its quirky and informal ambience is bound to whet your appetite and lets you relish your Spicy Bangkok Bowl, Tofu in Thai Chilli Basil Sauce, Mama’s Spicy Ramen Bowl in peace. Akansha Chaudhary, marketing head of Mamagoto and Dhaba Estd 1986 Delhi, says, “There are two facts here. People here have great exposure to travelling and this is how they have taste for multi-cuisines. The other reason is the huge influx of IT crowd which includes population from other States and countries.”
Dhaba Estd 1986 Delhi
Punjabi cuisine is one of the most sought-after among north Indian cuisines and Dhaba Estd 1986 Delhi offers pure Punjabi food from the interiors of Punjab. “It is one of the first Punjabi highway eateries that opened 30 years ago in Delhi. Through our restaurant, we try to bring what is unique to the dhabas on the highways. Given the fact that people in Hyderabad love biryani and have an inclination towards Indian taste buds, there was actually no doubt that Dhaba wouldn’t do well,” says Akansha.
SodaBottleOpenerWala
One would surely love the place for its ambience as it reminds one of the famous Mumbai Irani cafes. Despite the fact that the food available is completely different, the restaurant has become quite popular with people in the city. “I think the uniqueness of the concept that we do not focus on multi-cuisine but only on Parsi and Bombay cuisine, which is not common in Hyderabad, is what attracts people,” says Mohit Balachandran, brand head for SodaBottleOpenerWala.
Khandani Rajdhani
Pure vegetarian food of Gujarat and Rajasthan is what the restaurant offers. A choice of those who look for quality vegetarian food in a city that swears by its biryani, this place is good in terms of pricing too. “When I came down to Hyderabad in 2008/2009, I found there is no restaurant that is dedicated to vegetarian food, unless it’s south Indian. I felt that not only north Indians but south Indians who prefer pure vegetarian dishes would be my patrons. Though biryani is popular here, introducing something new was a smart choice. We even allow our customers to enter the kitchen and check the quality if they so wish,” says Aji Nair, COO of Khandani Rajdhani.
Zaiqa-e-Hyderabad
When in Hyderabad, be a Hyderabadi. So, of course, we can never do away with restaurants that specialise in Hyderabadi cuisine. If the idea is to give your taste buds a treat of real Nawabi or Hyderabadi food like the long forgotten Nihari or Marag, then Zaiqa-e-Hyderabad is the place for you! The restaurant serves dishes inspired from the kitchens of Nizams and Nawabs of Hyderabad.
Hyderabad has many places which serves Hyderabadi food, but since it is influenced by local flavours, we find it spicy. But, the owners of Zaiqa thought of bringing back some authentic flavours of Hyderabad from the bygone era that aren’t found anymore.
“With this intention, we went to some of the old houses in Hyderabad, met the cooks whose grandparents worked at Nizam’s palaces,” says Pradeep Khosla, CEO and corporate chef at Zaiqa-e-Hyderabad. “We even requested Nawab Shah Alam Khan Sahab, Nawab Mahmood Alam Khan Sahab and Ahmed Alam Khan, and went into their kitchens to learn the dishes. In fact, most of the recipes at Zaiqa are from the kitchen of Shah Alam Khan sahab,” the chef adds.
