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.