Narayan Reddy Sweets and Chaat

Before I begin, let me make one thing very clear, I’m a HUGE fan of Gangotree (A review of Gangotree can be found here) and nothing can ever replace my love for chaat from Gangotree. It has been over a year since I moved to Hyderabad and there is no chaat shop that has come close to Gangotree. Narayan Reddy aint as good as Gangotree, but it’s definitely much better than most. Narayan Reddy is actually a sweet shop but they also have a small chat ‘bandi’ (stall) outside that serves some decent chaat items. I happened to visit this place for the first time 10 months ago when I had gone to the ICICI Bank right next to it to withdraw cash. I was really hungry and my cousin suggested this place. He had eaten there before and he guaranteed that I would not be disappointed. After eating chaat in Gangotree all my life, I have developed this weird notion against all other chaat shops. You can call it a mental block But on that day hunger won the fight against my mental block and I finally ended up having chaat at Narayan Reddy. Now coming to think of it, I am wondering if it was my hunger or my karmic bond with the name Narayan that made me eat there.

Narayan Reddy offers all varieties of sweets and savories. Among the sweets, Gulab Jamun (Rs 8 per piece), Rasamalai (Rs 8.50 per piece), Doodh Peda (Rs 160 per kg) and Motichoor Ladoo (Rs 180 per kg) are really good. The rest I have not tried but I assume they taste good too. Out of the wide variety of savories, I have tried only the Masala Peanuts (price unsure) and they were not as good as the ones you get in Adyar Anand Bhavan.

Being the only decent chaat stall in the area, they do pretty good business. I guess they make more money from the chaat stall than from the sweet shop The chaat stall is really small but they have small chairs lined next to the railing for people to sit. I always have Samosa Ragada (Rs 13). The Samosa Ragada is really nice compared to all the other chaat stalls in Sainikpuri. They also have the usual chaat stuff like Bhel Puri, Sev Puri, Cutlet Ragada, Aaloo Chaat (all Rs 13), Dahi Papadi Chaat (Rs 15) Pav Bhaji (Rs 22) and Pani Puri (Rs 10 for 8 pieces). The prices are low compared to the chaat stalls in Chennai, but when compared to other chaat stalls in Hyderabad they are pretty expensive.

The chaat here is good, but not as good as Gangotree. The Pani Puri that Narayan Reddy offers is nothing compared to the Gangotree in Chennai. I never have pani puri anywhere else and always wait till I go to Chennai to have it. The wait is too long; so can someone please help me in filing a petition to open Gangotree in Sainikpuri?

Narayan Reddy is located right next to ICICI Bank, A.S. Rao Nagar Branch and diagonally opposite to Tandoor.

Tandoor

Good food, good locality, and good service – that is what I associate with Tandoor. There are many restaurants in Sainikpuri to give Tandoor a run for its money, but Tandoor retains its customers with its service and easy on the pocket menu. It is a fairly big place with the capacity to seat around 70 odd people. They also plan to open a banquet hall above the restaurant soon, so if you intend to take a big gang for a treat then this is the right place.

Tandoor offers North Indian and Chinese cuisine. They have a wide variety of dishes on the menu catering to both vegetarians and non-vegetarians. I have tried pretty much everything on the menu and I can vouch that they are all worth the try. I’m gonna mention just a few of them coz if I have to mention everything on the menu, it will probably take me a lifetime to write it .

I’m gonna start with soups. The soups on the menu are pretty much what you will find in all restaurants. The Sweet Corn Veg Soup (Rs 35) and the Cream of Tomato Soup (Rs 35) is really good. They serve it boiling hot and the aroma of the soup makes your mouth water.

My Tip: Order Masala Papad (Rs 20) along with the soup. Tandoor’s Masala Papad is simple yet superb or should I say simply superb The tangy papad and the soup is a great combination to start with.

Then comes the starter. In the veg section, try Crispy Veg (Rs 70) or Paneer Tikka (Rs 75), and in the non-veg section try Chilli Chicken (Rs 110) or Chicken Lollipop (price not sure). We normally have vegetarian food when we go there so I’m not too sure about the other non-vegetarian starters that they offer. Going by the vegetarian dishes, I’m assuming that the non-vegetarian food is also equally good.

When it comes to rotis we always settle for Tandoori Roti (Rs 12 each) or Butter Naan (Rs 19 each). They also have Roomali Roti (Rs 20), Kulcha (stuffed and plain) and Paratha, but we always settle for Butter Naan. Ordering the side dish is the toughest. We are always contemplating what to have. I love paneer so I try and order something that has paneer in it. The Paneer Butter Masala (Rs 70) is my all time favorite. They also have Veg Khandari, Aaloo Gobi, Mutter Paneer, Veg Mughlai etc.

They also have desserts but we’ve never really tried out any.

The service is pretty fast even on days when the restaurant is full. I don’t know if that is for everyone or just for us . We have been going to Tandoor for almost a year now and everybody there recognizes us and make sure that we are attended to immediately.

Tandoor is located in A.S.Rao Nagar above PCH eZone, diagonally opposite Ushodaya Supermarket and ICICI Bank. Also note that this restaurant has nothing to do with the Tandoor in White House, Begumpet.

Bowl O’ (Oh No) China

“To err is human” – You bet! The best part is that we learn through our mistakes. I have made up my mind never to make the same mistake again. The mistake of eating at Bowl O’China. The Bowl O‘ China that I ate in, is situated in Kharkhana, Secunderabad, it also has another branch in Begumpet, Hyderabad. Bowl O’ China is a part of the famous food chain “The Hyderabad House”.

Hyderabad House is known for its mouth watering Biryani and that’s all the more reason why I was surprised when Bowl O’ China served such crappy food. I have been to Bowl O’China when they had first opened in Kharkhana. The food wasn’t that great on that day too, but I didn’t bother too much about it cause it was their first week and I gave them the benefit of doubt, thinking that they will be fine once they settle down. I guess I was wrong.

My sudden craving for Chinese food was the reason behind my decision to go to Bowl O’ China. I persuaded my boyfriend and he readily agreed cause that was the closest Chinese restaurant to Sainikpuri and therefore by going there we would be avoiding the horrendous city traffic. But little did we know that by avoiding traffic, we were compromising on a good meal. We got there and placed our order. We ordered for a Veg Manchurian (Rs 55) for starters, Veg Hakka Noodles (Rs 65) and Gobi Manchurian Gravy (Rs 60). We were really hungry and the thought of eating good Chinese food increased our anticipation even more.

We waited and waited and waited… and waited My appetite was now half of what it was when I initially got there. While we were waiting, I was observing the ambience of the place. The restaurant has used dark red and black (both my favorite colors) for the walls and the furniture. The highlights of the place are the lamps that they have hung from the ceiling. I would love to get couple of them for my own house. It is a very small restaurant with a seating capacity for 40 people or so.

While I was analyzing the ambiance my guy reminded them about our order for the second time. Finally they decided to be nice to us and brought the food. My appetite had vanished by the time they laid the plate. Then came the biggest disappointment. The Veg Manchurian turned out to be over cooked. It looked like they had already made the Manchurian and fried it again just before bringing it to our table. We somehow managed to eat it. Then we were served the Veg Hakka Noodles, and the Gobi Manchurian Gravy along with it. The noodles was nice so I was under the impression that the Gobi Manchurian will also be nice, but I was wrong once again. It was really hard and ‘kaccha’ you know what I mean right. It was like I was eating raw cauliflower soaked in some weird soya sauce gravy. That was the heights; we called the Manager and told him that this was not what we expected. He apologized and had the order changed to Veg Manchurian Gravy.

The Veg Manchurian Gravy arrived after we had finished eating more than half of the Hakka Noodles. It was the same starter we had had at the beginning of the meal, put in the same weird soya sauce of the previous gravy. We dint eat it. Why should we? Don’t we deserve value for our money? This was the first time in our lives that we had wasted so much food, and didn’t feel bad about it.

Bowl O’ China is all show and no quality. It is a sad attempt by Hyderabad House to satiate the needs of the Chinese food lovers. I think they need to improve or shut down and just stick to making what they do best, Biryani. The only thing that I liked about Bowl O’ China was the decor and the lamps.

For those who are still interested in checking it out, here is the address

Bowl O’ China, Plot No. 28, New Vasavi Nagar, Karkhana, Secunderabad.

Fifth Avenue Bakery aka FABS

Fifth Avenue Bakery or FABS as it is famously called is located in Sainikpuri, Secunderabad. Eventhough prices are steeper than other bakeries, this place is always crowded because it serves two purposes, that of an eatout as well as a hangout. It is most frequented by the students of Bhavan’s College who sit there for hours together yapping nineteen to a dozen

FABS is well known for its burgers, pizzas, rolls, pastries, chaat items etc but the chocolate eclair tops it all. Priced at Rs. 15 it is such a delight! The eclairs are prepared at around 4.30 in the evening and is a great hit among all. In fact it is such a great hit that you will be lucky to get a chocolate eclair at 6.00 in the evening! The eclair has a whole lot of cream inside and therefore is much softer when compared to eclairs made at other bakeries.

FABS offers various combos for burgers and pizzas which come with a variety of pastries and soft drinks. The burger combos are priced under Rs.50 and pizza combos around Rs. 75. While at first look one may feel that they are slightly over priced, one must also understand that most people order something and sit there for hours together

Another thing that I like about FABS is the cleanliness. Considering the high footfalls, they still manage to keep the place clean. Also, the person manning the counter, an elderly gentleman has a pleasant and cheerful smile on his face all the time which makes your experience even more better

Fifth Avenue Bakery also provides free home delivery (radius of 2 km i think) if your order is above Rs. 50. All those who wish to have their orders delivered can call +91 40 65270289 and your order will be delivered in half an hour or so.

So go ahead, check it out, don’t forget to eat the chocolate eclair, and let me know what you feel!

High Street

My colleague and I had some work in Dilsukhnagar, Hyderabad and were passing through L. B. Nagar when hunger pangs hit us. A few hundred meters away from Kamineni Hospitals, we found this surprisingly decent looking restaurant called High Street in an otherwise outskirt looking area.

High Street has a very good and pleasant décor and serves Indian delicacies. From the moment we entered, we liked the place. It was past three in the afternoon and both of us were very hungry. We ordered Veg Pulao and Kadai Vegetable and two cups of curd. The order came in about 10 minutes time and was very good. The Veg Pulao along with the Kadai Vegetable was more than sufficient for the both of us. Then they served curd which came in big bowls and was surprisingly better than the curd I have had at most places in Hyderabad. The best part was the bill was only a little above Rs. 200. All in all, it was a very nice experience eating at High Street.

A lot of people are not aware of High Street because it opened recently and more so because we don’t expect such good restaurants in the outskirts of the city. Being on the way to Ramoji Film City, High Street can be a good place for those who are on their way or coming from the Film City and are looking for a cheaper place when compared to the high cost restaurants located inside Ramoji Film City itself.

High Street is at 3-8-418/1, Suryodaya Colony, Road No. 4/1, L. B. Nagar Ring Road, Hyderabad – 500074.

Phone: +91 40 64545454, +91 98662 39997.

Email ID: info_highstreet@yahoo.co.in