Saarvi

 If it’s Haleem season, then you must must have their Haleem. They have a dish called Special Haleem (with nuts and egg added) but in my opinion their regular haleem is in itself a special one indeed! For main course, their Chicken Biryani is awesome. Couple that with some tandoori chicken and you will have a great eating experience!

House of Dosas

 This place is the best example of how to transform a simple and small menu into extraordinary tastes! Just the Idly with their peanut chutney is enough to experience bliss. And if you try their Dip Idly plate, then the bliss becomes extraordinary! They serve a variety of dosas, most of them not found anywhere else in the city. The specialty being their Bombay chutney they use as toppings in the dosas! Erra Karam dosa (with and without the Bombay chutney) is awesome. Pizza Dosa, surprisingly, is also awesome! Nutella Chocolate dosa is also good here. They also serve Gunta Ponganalu in the evenings – one of the best snacks one can imagine having in the evenings!

Indulge Ice-creams (At Almond House)

 These ice creams will rank as one of the best in the city! Their Mango Chilly ice cream is simply awesome – you first get the taste of the Mango and then the taste of the chilly hits you. It’s an awesome experience every time you eat a spoonful of this ice-cream! Their coffee ice-cream is also very good. And another superb option is their Lime Gelato – it is so refreshing to the palate that you will go back asking for more!

Their other flavours are equally great too – the various chocolate options; the fresh fruit options (I loved their kala jamun ice-cream); the traditional options (vanilla etc) – all taste awesome. They serve these ice-creams in either cups or jars (depending on the size) and these become very useful in your homes too! If you haven’t gone here yet, find the nearest one and go. Go!

Haiku

What a place, what a place! This is located on a rooftop in Banjara Hills. What a place really! We can never forget the food and ambience of this place! This place serves Asian cuisine, and some of them taste so good that you might actually think you are eating in that country only! We had the Japanese Noodle soup that tasted delicious. They recommended to have the Spicy Miso Glazed chicken wings, and we also had Crispy fish with Malaysian Chilli. 

We then went on to order from the Teppanyaki page – a Hibachi Basa fish with teriyaki sauce! They served this with some nice grilled veggies and rice. Along with this, we also ordered a Vietnamese Fried Rice. The best was yet to come though! For desserts, we ordered “Lemon Drop” – oh man, what a taste it was! I’d very strongly recommend that you keep some space at the end of your meal and order this “Lemon Drop” dessert! You will not leave this place disappointed at all!  

Spice 6

After a visit to Turkey, our love for Mediterranean cuisine went up by leaps and bounds! So when a friend suggested that Spice 6 has good Mediterranean food, it didn’t take too long to land here! And what a treat it was! The Baba Ganoush was awesome, the Tabbbouleh salad was awesome, the kabsa laham was awesome, the chicken lollypop was awesome, even the manchow soup was awesome! Infact, we used the Tabbouleh next day at home, while making dosas for breakfast too! Overall, an awesome place with awesome food!

Wok Republic

Very few places in Hyderabad serve Thai Papaya Salad! So the moment I saw it, I ordered it! And these folks didn’t disappoint with the dish. For Starters, chicken wings (dish named Wings of Fury!) and Java floater are quite good. However, the main course is where it gets interesting, because you get to choose your own ingredients! Am not sure if any other place in the city allows you to chose this way! So you get to choose your own vegetables, non-veg, sauces, noodles, and rice! Almost all of their sauces are quite good, and it is difficult to pick any one! I’d say, try this place out 2-3 times to get  a real flavor of their offerings 😊.

Almond House

The newly renovated Almond House is a treat for sweet lovers! I don't recollect being disappointed with any sweet that we ordered from here. In addition to their really wide variety of sweets, they now also have an awesome chat counter. Simple Pani Puri is actually served with 6 different type of pani also! I liked the mango and pomegranate flavoured waters the best. Dahi puri and Bhel puri are also quite tasty. 

Bon Appediet

I like the innovative name :). 

This is an ideal place for healthy yet tasty food! Bruschetta, Tangy Grilled Chicken and Hummus with Pita bread are good starters to have. Their chicken and veg sandwiches are both quite tasty, and light too. But my best dish was their Harissa Fish – the herbs they use along with this fish are very good 😊. I have never been to this place but placed only online orders.

Gourmet Baklava

After a holiday in Turkey, we fell in love with their food – their starters, main courses and ofcourse their Baklava! So imagine our surprise when a Turkish sweet shop, named Gourmet Baklava, opened up in Hyderabad! Thrilled that such a shop was opened, we went there only to get our second surprise 😊 – the cost! Baklavas are priced at nearly 2000 rupees a kg! Turkish Coffee has a distinct taste, and this place does serve authentic Turkish coffee. However, the downside again is the high price!

Starbucks

I have been a fan of starbucks for many years, and happiness knew no bounds when they were opening up in Hyderabad. Extra Hot Café Latte and Extra Hot Vanilla Latte are my regular coffees! Even when a new variety is on offer, I will only prefer to try these out because of the refreshing feeling they bring to the mind! In addition to this, their food options are also quite good. Egg White Croissant, Egg and Ham wrap, grilled chicken sandwich – all go very well with the Latte! Hail Starbucks!

The Buffet - GVK Mall

Visited this place only one time, after a movie that ended at 9:30pm! Was actually going up to eat at Khaan Saab, only to come to know that they have closed! The Buffet was suggested instead, and the place was quite big. Their buffet menu is also quite exhaustive but nothing that stood out – there was more of the stape varieties that we get in the buffets these days! Nevertheless, one will not be disappointed if you go here to have lunch.

Fusion9 (Eat9)

Snacks time! So I had this craving for Tiramisu, and knew this place would have it. What we didn’t expect was that the other snacks will be quite good too! We tried the Chicken Quiche (heard of Quiche innumerable times on MasterChef Australia) for the first time, and liked it very much. There was this pastry called the – Chocolate Log! It looked like an actual log :D, and tasted very very good! If you go here, this is a must have. Then we had a garden sandwich which was also good. And ofcourse, Tiramisu J. In summary, nice place to go. 

Taj Krishna

After having some really sumptuous buffets at Westin, I wanted to explore how the other 5 star hotels match up. And Taj Krishna was my first destination for the same! But I must say that the outing was very disappointing – there were normal items in the buffet (Thai green curry, Thai red curry, biryani, fish pulusu etc). Slow roasted fish salad was very very good, but that’s about it. Everything else just looked ordinary, and the cost of the buffet was not commiserate with the quality and quantity of items in the buffet. Definetely not going back there to spend money from pocket again! 

Radisson Blu

They had a huge hoarding about a large number of items in their Sunday brunch – and so I got tempted! Unfortunately, couldn’t go there on a Sunday but ended up going on a weekday. Frankly, the buffet was not upto the mark (I heard the Sunday one is really good though!). 

Cocktail dressing with salad was good. Cocktail prawns were good. Pickles with bread were good. Fish starter was ok, but tasted like normally what we get outside. Pasta was also bland. Grilled chicken was simple; and the main course was not innovative (normal biryanis and curries). Also, Radisson Blu is quite on the inside… there is no simple road/route to get there. This might be a big drawback factor to attract people! 

Price Range: Rs 800 for buffet (when we went)

Location: Banjara Hilla

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

N-Grill

Ahhh - this is not for normal crowd. If you want to burn your pockets, please feel free to go here. Not that your stomach will be satisfied after all that pocket burning you do. He recommended Fish Tikka... we thought it will be some out of the world experience. Turns out, it is the same as you get in a normal food joint but 5 times as expensive here! Essentially this place has dishes from Europe, US etc... doesn't appeal to our mass taste buds, you see :) . Clearly, Nagarajuna was catering to a different audience!

Location: Banjara Hills, Road No.36

Thai Express

Nicely perched on the first floor just beside Q Mart in Banjara Hills, this restaurant is one of those that really serves different kind of food, that is very close to the authentic cuisine of Thailand. For a change, we asked the waiter only to guide us through the entire menu and suggest what we should have. The coconut flavoured soup with mushrooms and chicken in it was simply superb. I am not a fan of coconut at all, but this soup was just brilliant! Fried squid as a starter was just an apt combination for this soup.

I realise now that I should have actually noted down the names of the main course items I ate. That's because they all unique Thai names that sound funny to the core! Alas, the concetration was on eating and hence no real names for now :( . Have the noodles in some kind of green soup, that has the right amount of spice, and it will surely make you feel like you are in Thailand! And for desserts, there is this soft rectangular white coloured thing that they wrap in a banana leaf and give it you....ahhhh... eat it to experience it! That's all I can say! For sure, we are going back there again.

Location: Adjacent to Q-mart, opposite Hyderabad House, Banjara Hills Road no.2

Thai Ban

Ok, I will start with a wierd observation. Chinese people add a "san" at the end of your name, if they are calling you with respect. I am assuming "ban" stands for the same in Thai :D. ok ok, let's get back to the saner world ;-)

This small place tucked away in the line of buildings opposite Brand Factory on Banjara Hills Road No.2 is simply awesome! That's it. That's the word. The Tom Yum soup is much better that other thai places in the city, and maybe the chef's hand is really good! We ordered a chicken cooked with a roasted thai paste (I don't remember its Thai name L ), and though it was spicy, it tasted very good. I think the key point here is that we have to eat it slowly over some time and not just grab it and eat it (old habits die hard, u see ;-) )!

And people, it will be a sin if you don't eat their Khad Pao, a specialized Thai rice. Believe me, I have eaten in some places which supposedly serve this, but this one was way too good and most probably is the authentic version of the original dish. We ordered prawns along with this, but I guess two spice items don't go well together. Next time, we should maybe take something mild that will go well with Khao Pad.

Sandeep bhai wanted to try a salad too, and we ordered the Papaya salad. We were actually expecting he will get papaya's :D, but the look of the dish surprised us. The taste surprised us too, in a good way! I must say, Thai ban is surely going to be a place that we will frequent more from now on.

Location: Banjara Hills Road no.2, Opposite Brand Factory

Cuisine: Thai (of course ;-) ), Chinese

Cost: Rs. 600-800/- for two persons

The Great Kabab Factory

A guest post from Akanksha … read on for the excellent recommendations

The name itself sounds so fascinating. A factory for kebabs.. A fountain of icecreams and a tree that grows chocolates - Isn't that what we've always wanted?? The guys who wait on you are dressed in overalls and you need to make sure you befreind an agile and happy looking guy because well.. you'll realise the importance of that during your meal!

Stick to the starters. Don't even think of trying the main course which has some sad sabji and an ok ok dal makhni with an average chicken/mutton/veg biryani. Its a minimalistic main course because the concept of this factory revolves around as many rounds of starters as your tummy and those loose pants permit!

After the starters, move directly to the desserts. On different days you have different options.. order one of each and you can taste and share.. Shahi tukda/Double ka meetha is damn good. Kheer/Sevai, kulfi on sticks are aso decent. Pan icecream is something I tried here for the very first time and I loved it. Do give it a try.

They throw in ulimited beer with your sunday lunch and one beer on other days.. The place is a little expensive and comes to 600 bucks on a sunday afternoon. But it's worth it!

Kebabs on the platter:

Galauti kebab - Just thinking about it makes me go weak in the knees. It is finely pounded meat and a lot love from the heavens .. really.. nothing else can make it melt so beautifully in your mouth.. Reorder multiple rounds of this kebab.. ocassionally with an ulta tawa ka roti.. and make a roll with the chutney and onions.. yum!

Other kebabs are good and you can pick which ones to repeat after you've tried all in the first round. Also ask him for other options for breads. I personally like sheermal.. its got a hint of sweetness which goes very well with most of the spicy kebabs.

Love the place and strongly urge you to visit it TODAY!

Location: Banjara Hills, near to the TRS office

Cuisine: Kababs, of course!

Price: Rs.500/- for lunch per head, and Rs. 750 for dinner per head

Our Place

The name strikes a very interesting chord with you! It's like, you call up a friend and say, "Bhai! Let's meet at Our Place"! Basically, I think the name gives you a sense of belonging!

And neither does the ambience disappoint you, nor does the food! Lemon Coriander Soup, Tiger Prawns, Apollo Fish, the Saucy Chicken, and the veg spring rolls are excellent options for starters!

For main course, I have only one recommendation, for both the name of the dish and taste is just mind blowing! Eat the Kung Pao Kaprow (pronounced by me as Kappa Rao ;-) )! This is a thai flavoured rice that is very unique to Hyderabadi's. No other restaurant in the city serves this dish, that is spicy and tasty in equal measure! This rice is available in both veg and non-veg. forms. Frankly, you wouldn't need any dish to accompany this rice, but if you insist then maybe any mild saucy dish should be good enough with it.

Also, try to get a table on the hill here; it is quite a different experience!

Location: Road Number 10: Banjara Hills

Cuisine: Continental

Price: Rs. 400-500/- for two