Zafraan Exotica

Quite strangely, I have heard about this place so often but have never been to it! Finally, we could go there recently and I liked the ambience very much. This is located on the top floor and has an open and closed area. Quite some landscaping in the open area. 

We had the lunch buffet. Ginger chicken was good. I was forced to have some veg, and turn out that the veg manchurian was also good :D. Main course had chicken and fish curries which were ok. Their desserts were very good (mousse, kheer etc). Definetely a place that we will go back!

Price: ~350 for buffet

Location: Banjara Hills, Road No. 12

36 BBQ

The concept is similar to Barbeque Nation, but somehow the quality and spread of the food doesn't match it. 

However, the food was good. Fish and Chicken Kababs were good. The Mushroom grill was good. In the main course, the fish pulusu and chicken curry was good too. Somehow my mind was just at Barbeque Nation all the time, and maybe that's why didn't enjoy much here. 

Plus, we had a very very bad service. The head waiter apologised saying they were not accustomed to handle so much crowds, but then I guess a bad service stays on in your mind! 

Either way, I guess you can still try out the food here and decide for yourself :) 

Price: ~450 for Buffet

Location: Secunderabad (near Paradise)

All Seasons

Maybe we went at the wrong time; maybe the place is yet to be spruced - not sure what went wrong but we had a very bad experience. Since the place was heavily booked, we could get to eat there only at 2pm. The buffet became cold, items were not present in the dishes - essentially everything that could go wrong went wrong! The Buffet is priced at ~300 - and we are not going back there for a lunch buffet this time.

Maybe we will go sometime for a dinner from the menu, because this place advertises itself as serving mediteranian cuisine too! 

Price: 300 for buffet

Location: Opposite Cyber Pearl, Hitech City

Swagath De Royal

Initially, there was some negative feedback about this place and I never bothered to try going there. However, just for the heck of it, we decided to go try it out. I think they had a whole new menu since the last time I heard about them! 

The lunch was very impressive. Good salads (the pasta and chat salads were very good). Their main course spread is also very good. They had very tasty biryani, and also were making and serving apam (though there was a big line for this!). Desserts were also good. 

I have again been to this place recently and find the quality still intact. Definetely would recommend this place. 

Price: ~300 for lunch buffet

Location: Kondapur

Quality Inn

Well, nothing much to remember here from the main course of the buffet. Their desserts were quite good though! Fruit triffle, Caramel Custard, Tiramisu, Mango Cheese cake and some more items were all very tasty. If I am going back here, it's only for their desserts :) 

Price : I forgot :d

Location: Gachibowli.

Kairali

This is a small place right opposite the DLF building in Hitech City. Boy, what a place! This is a Kerala cuisine place, and we have already been here thrice! 

Prawns curry, fish fry and fish curry are very good. Prawns fry was ok. Chicken roast was very good, but chicken curry was not that good. Prawns biryani was also good :). All the curries go well with both their parathas and white rice. 

Ohh, and don't forget to have their egg burji curry with the parathas :). And the best part - the rates are very cheap. This place is a must visit if you are a non-veg lover :)

Price: ~150-200 per person

Location: Opposite DLF building, Hitech City

Taj Deccan

So we got a couple of our team members to treat us at this place. For the cost of their buffet, must say we were a little disappointed with their spread. There was no special feeling that we had, after visiting this place. Not fully impressed, and might not go back there too. 

The taste of the items on offer was good - no complaints about that. Just that the spread is disproporionate to their rate. 

Price: ~1000 for lunch buffet

Location: Banjara Hills

Celebrations

This was one of those places that was on the "to-do" list from a long time. It finally was visited, thanks to party by wife's friends :D 

The ambience was good - with landscaping all around. However, since it was winter, we chose to sit inside. 

For starters, we had the Barbeque Drumsticks, Crispy Chicken and Chicken-65 (this was to be on the safer side :P). These items were good, and are strongly recommended. Somehow we were not in the mood for biryani and wanted to order pulao. He said they will have to actually cook the pulao and might take about 20 minutes. Since we had all the time on earth, we decided to still go ahead and order Chicken and Prawns Pulao. It was spicy and tasty too!

Overall, a nice experience and we will surely go back soon. 

Price: ~500-700 for 2

Location: Near Jubilee Hills Check post, opposite Chiranjeevi Blood bank

Aditya Sarovar

We went to this place for a team lunch (I think we were about 20 members). This is a 3-star hotel I guess (or maybe 4 star). Buffet is priced ~750 per head. 

The Buffet spread is quite good. There were about 3-4 starters in non-veg. The salad and chat spreads were also quite impressive. There were good options in the main course too. Best part - the big desserts menu! 

I'd say this place is a good to go once in a while (keeping in mind the budget :D). Food wise - I think we can be rest assured we will return happy!

Price: ~750 for Buffet

Location: Gachibowli

Clay Pot

This place is tucked away on the main Jubilee Hills road stretch (Road No:2). This place, I believe caters for parcels only. 

True to their name, they give the parcel in a pot! And the biryani in the pot is just awesome! There might be a possibility of an overdose of mint leaves though, depending on your taste buds :). Otherwise, this place is highly recommended for a quick biryani with good taste. 

Price: ~300 for 2

Location: Jubilee Hills Rd. No: 2

Seventh Heaven

Right from the time it opened about 12-14 years back, I was always wanting to go here but somehow the trip never materialised! It happened finally this year, and boy, I realised how much was missed! 

We started off with Bangkok Chicken, Fish Kabab and Tangdi Kabab. The Bangkok Chicken was one of it's kind. It had some nice spicy sauce all over the chicken pieces on the plate. This dish is strongly, I repeat, strongly recommended :). The Tangdi kabab was hot and tasty. 

For main course, we just had space for biryani. They recommended Hundi Biryani and we liked it too. But like I said earlier, the starters were filling enough and we walked out a super happy bunch, ready to go home and sleep luxuriously! 

Price: ~500-600 for 2

Location: Panjagutta centre (this is on the seventh floor of this building, and hence the name)

Alampana

This restaurant is in Ramoji film city ! I know, I know – food is the last thing on your mind when you go to Ramoji film city :D But then I ate here, and therefore I will write about it :D. W

e just had biryani there, and didn’t like it much. Their Super Star restaurant looked good, but we were told that it is for only those who bought the special package at the entrance. The film city had small stalls for snacks and we liked them more than what we had for lunch! 

Daspalla

This place has pan! :D I think this is the first place I went to, that has pan in their buffet. And hence this place shall be visited again :) 

Now, pan is the not the only thing that is good. This restaurant is located near to the Kavuri Hill water tank on Rd. no 37, Jubilee hills (near to the Madhapur police station). The ambience is good, the place is spacious also. Buffet spread is also good (and since I did not pay the bill, I don’t know how much it costed :D). Buffet had nice range of salads and non-veg items (both starters and main course!). 

I once went for an ala-carte and had their thali. The items in the thali were good too. This place is definitely recommended for large groups also. 

I had also been here for some functions- was never disappointed with the taste of the wide variety of food on offer. 

Over the flames

This place is tucked away under the "More" supermarket on the road from Cyberabad police station towards Gachibowli. Small joint, great Italian food :). Try the "Thyme scented chicken" for starters. When we had this, the chicken was well cooked and the sauce in which it was dipped just melted in the mouth. 

For main course, we ate Pizzas and Lasagna. The Lasagna was also good - spicy and tasty to the right extent. We had "grilled paparika chicken pizza" and "chicken arrabbiata pizza". Since this is an Italian food joint, the pizzas were thin crust. In general, I am not a big fan of thin crusts, but these pizzas tasted very good. For sure, we will be going back to this place again (and again!). 

Abhiruchi

For about more than an year, we have been passing by this mess, but never ended up eating there. Located on the route from Inorbit mall to the Madhapur police station (durgam cheruvu route), this small place is a beehive of activity! And the order here is pretty simple - meals + mutton fry :). The curries with the meals are great, the rasam and sambar are great, and more importantly the mutton fry is great! 

We have seen lot of people ordering biryani also. The smell was enticing, and from the looks of the eaters, the biryani seems to be a hit here too! Next time, it will be biryani instead of meals! 

Zurna

More often than not, I end up in Zurna enticed by the aromas coming out from their kitchen while we drive into our apartments! Zurna is located right outside our apartment complex. It's kitched faces our complex and hence the aromas while we drive in! 

And the aroma is not misleading too :). Tangdi kabab is awesome. Chilly Chicken, Chicken 65 are also very good, but are slightly overpriced I feel (a full plate is Rs. 130 and it doesn't look like a full plate :) ). We recently had their kheema curry and as always that was also very good. Punjabi chicken is another dish you might want to try too. I am sure the other kababs are equally good - will surely continue to try them. However, their biryani is on and off... at times it is very good and at times the rice is not properly cooked. To be on the safer side, you can always relish their Chicken fried rice! Overall, this place has been superb and will surely be visited many more times :D 

Price range: Rs. 300-400 for two

Location: Somajiguda. 

Smoking Jalapeno

True to their tagline "there is nothing Mexican about it", there is actually nothing Mexican about this! This place is adjacent to Subway in the Ratnadeep complex in Somajiguda. This is primarily a take away joint, but if you wish to, you can eat there too. Their food is also quite good. 

We have primarily tasted their chinese items and have not been disappointed so far. Chicken chilly garlic friend rice, chicken schezuan fried rice, chicken singapore fried rice - all are good. Schezuan chicken (wet), chicken drumsticks, chicken-65 are also good. I'd recommend that you call this place before going there, for more often than not, it takes more than 20 minutes for a simple order to get ready! This place also serves kababs and rolls. I vaguely remember trying their roll once, and don't remember having any complaints. Kababs are yet to be had here :D ... Stay tuned ;) 

Chillies

I guess one of the very few Mexican food joints in the city is Chillies. This restaurant is in the Inorbit mall, and most probably I will not be going back to this place again. No no, it's not the food, it's the bill! Recently, 4 of us went there (this was my 4th visit overall, and the first time I looked at the bill). The items we ordered costed us Rs. 1800 but the total bill came up to Rs. 2400 !!! A service charge of 11% (or maybe it was 12%), VAT and service tax - all added up to us paying about 1/3rd of our bill just as additional stuff ! And frankly, I think the service charge is over-priced. We should get to decide how much we wish to pay - not the hotel, especially when the "service" involved is very less! 

Anyways, if you don't care about the above arguments, this place is a very good one for nice food! Any sizzler is good - we tried almost all of them and were not disappointed. There is this cheese pasta thing that is very good for starters. We tried the tacos, and also the grilled fish (with pepper) - and they tested nice too! Like I said, food is good, billing is baad! 

Hitech Bawarchi

I guess the reason why the original Bawarchi restaurant in RTC x roads has a "We do not have any branches anywhere" is places like Hitech Bawarchi. Sandeep bhai tells us that the biryani is very good here, and therefore we all meet up here for lunch. First, the service is very slow. I even ordered soup, but ended up being disappointed with it. Chicken-65 has been ordered - and it was ok. And then came the big thing - chicken and mutton biryani ! The order was not properly taken. Mutton biryani had just 6 pieces. Taste was not great at all! 

So we question Sandeep bhai -he tells us that he always took parcel and that always turned out to be good. This was vouched for, by another friend. Anyways, the experience turned out to be pretty bad and for sure we are not going back to this place! 

Vacs

I actually haven't been to this place, but have had food from here! We were at this friend's place and he tells he has snacks from Vacs - so without further delay we hog it! We had chicken croissants which were very good. There was another chicken variety too - looked like chicken puff but much softer - that was also very good. We had black forest pastry, which was also very good. Plus, some functions we attended had cakes from vacs - butter scotch, fruit cake - all these are also good. Maybe one of these days, will be visiting this place too! Stay tuned :D 

Rubaiyat

We ended up at this place because there was a long waiting time at Nautanki Gali ! And no regrets at all. By now, you must have guessed that this place is right next to Nautanki Gali in Cyber Pearl. While Nautanki Gali offers a sumptous buffet, Rubaiyat is only a-la-carte; only from the menu. We had tangdi kakab and tikka kabab and both were very good. We then had chicken and mutton biryani - and again no complaints! The ambience is very regal, and the service is also top quality. Next time, we will go here out of choice and not because it will take time to get seated in Nautanki Gali ! 

KFC

I have never been a fan of their fried chicken - somehow was never attractive. But off late, they came up "Feiry chicken" too ! And this item is quite good! Basically grilled with spices exclusively to KFC, this item is a toned down version of the their fried chicken. Their popcorn chicken is also worth a try. Their "Zinger burgers" are also good for a quick snack. 

However, there are many others who like their fried variety too, so I guess if you haven't tried KFC at all, you can give a try for both fried and fiery chicken and choose your favorite! 

Pizza Hut

Cheesy bites. Cheesy Bites. Cheesy Bites! Just have any of their cheesy bite pizza - this is pure bliss! Ofcourse, you have to be a fan of cheese :D. Any pizza with these is good. That's all I have to recommend here. Any pizza with cheesy bites! Ohh by the way, I hate black olives so I will not recommend them. Otherwise, any pizza with cheesy bites! 

Dominos

Cheese burst and ultimate deep dish are the good crusts that you can choose from. I am no fan of thin crusts, hence my aversion towards ordering that! Their spicy chicken and barbeque chicken pizzas are good. And since I am fan of cheese, I typically order extra cheese on these pizzas!