Lakshman ki Bandi - HYD

People always say North Indian breakfast can be very heavy and oily. The aloo paratas with fresh buter, deep fried samosas and kachoris and sweet jalebis. But if you think about it, every region of the country has atleast one fatty breakfast item like puri, which is common all over India, and vadas in South India. But have breakfast at one of the dosa bandis in Hyderabad and their food will make the samosas, kachoris and butter aloo paratas seem like diet breakfast. This previous weekend I had a very early Saturday breakfast at not so widely known, yet very popular Lakshman ki bandi. The amount of butter eaten kept me energized till early morning Sunday! 

Strategically located in front of a Hanuman temple in Nampally, Lakshman's gets a lot of family crowd. He has been around for 35 years serving lip-smacking breakfast at the same spot. Now there are a lot of things that Lakshman ki bandi does similar to Govind ki bandi in terms of the items offered but he has his own way of preparing these dishes. Let's taste!

We started with the butter idlis. Soft, hot idlis is doused with melted butter and a spicy karam podi is added. The karam podi, also called chutney podi or gunpowder, was more of a chilli and coriander seeds mix with very less chana-dal and is used in their dosas as well. The combination of the karam podi and the butter is amazing on the idli - similar to the idli for school lunches I grew up on.

Another idli item on the menu is the fried idli. The idli is basically fried in butter and topped with the karam podi and raw onions. The fried idlis weren't very crisp though. I like raw onions so I didn't mind them, but generally I wouldn't like raw onions served for breakfast. I would have preferred if they had sauted the onions a bit before adding them on the idli.

Their vada had a nice crispy outside and soft insides. But the revelation was the chutney. I love my vadas with chutney instead of sambhar. Crisp vadas need a spicy, juicy coconut chutney and Lakshman's nails it! Their spicy green chutney is a standard coconut-green chilli chutney made awesome with mint and coriander leaves. The vada-chutney taste was just headily spicy and delicious. Eat the chutney with the idlis and the dosas too!

They also have vada fry. The vadas are cut into two and pan fried on the tawa. Rest of the preparation is the same as the fried idli - with the karam podi and raw onions. 

Lakshman's main dish is of course his dosa. He offers a variety of dosas like plain butter, onion, masala, upma and you can also mix and match with these toppings. I like my dosa as plain as possible so I asked for a butter onion dosa. There are two dosa tawas making dosas at the speed of 10 dosas/minute! Well not a minute but you know. Anyway, look at the generosity of the butter added to the dosa. That's the most amount of butter/ghee/oil I've ever seen put on a dosa. And that's exactly the reason why the resulting dosa is crunchy till the very last bite. They are thin, flaky, spicy (due to the karam podi added), crispy-crunchy dosa with an added texture of the onions and tomatoes. You can make it spicier with the aforementioned green chutney! I wish I had tried his upma dosa to see if they are as crispy as this but I have a feeling they are. Which makes Lakshman's dosa the crispiest bandi dosa I've eaten till now in Hyderabad. 

I will always try to go to Lakshman ki bandi when I wake up early on a Saturday morning to eat ghee laden dosas in the old city (ie., Govind ki bandi). The only problem is Lakshman ki bandi is a little bit off track in Nampally but definitely not too confusing to find. So I strongly encourage you to try this place and be in crispy-crunchy heaven!

Location: Nampally
Timings: 7AM - 2PM
Cost for 2: Rs. 200
Taste: 8/10 
Service: 7/10
Ambience: 6/10 

Ziti Comfort Food - HYD

Do you comfort eat? Even if you say no, I know you do. We all comfort eat. Some of us are obvious about it, some of us not. You want that favourite dish for dinner after a stressful day to cheer you up. You want food which is tasty and cooked perfectly. You want your mom's food!

Comfort food has the power to make you calmer than probably yoga has. A piece of chocolate can elevate your happy hormones faster than an hour's work out. Or how about a bowl of maggi while watching your favourite show? Never run away from comfort food. Every weight-loss diet has space for comfort food. Find a healthier version but eat that dish to make you mind and body happy.

Ziti, one of the newly opened restaurants in Hyderabad, is one such place which promotes comfort food to its diners. Situated a little away from the hustle bustle of Banjara Hills Road 2, the place can be a little hard to find. The décor is simple and nothing over the top. I liked how everything from the lights to the menu was colour coordinated. For a restaurant, it could be seen as too simple in terms of décor but for a comfort food place it's not bad.

Fresh bread! Best way of starting a comfort lunch! Ziti's specialities are the pesto rolls which they served along with regular bread rolls. All baked in-house (one of the owners was a bakery chef in Bombay), the pesto rolls had mixed flavour of pesto and garlic with generous amounts of olive oil. The bread rolls were soft with hints of sesame seeds - always a win according to me.

We started with their oatmeal crumbed cheese and oregano bites. Though a bit oily, this was a nice change from the usual cheese bites. The oatmeal provided a nice crunch and the inside was a mix of stringy mozzarella cheese and cheddar cheese with oregano. The tomato sauce accompanying the bites would make a nice pizza sauce! I enjoyed biting into these with the stringy cheese providing a fun chewy texture to the dish.

Their signature starter is their maple and chilli smoked chicken wings. I loved the sauce! The sweetness of the maple syrup contrasted well with the smoky flavour of the red chillis. The chicken wings were succulent and weren't oily. We lapped up the remaining sauce with the bread. I now know why it's such a hit! 

For the main course, I had their zucchini and mint risotto. I was very interested to see how they would incorporate mint in a risotto dish. I wasn't disappointed. The flavours of the risotto were pretty good: though on the salty side, I thought the salt helped accentuate the mint but not in an overpowering way. I like zucchini so I didn't mind it. It helped reduce the monotone of the dish with its crunch. But I would love to try this recipe on mac and cheese - risotto is too heavy.

We also ordered the classic tenderloin burger. It was a burger bun sandwiching a tenderloin patty, grilled onions, veggies and a fried egg. This was another place which did not ask how well my friend wanted the tenderloin to be done. The burger bun wasn't the best, crumbling after a bite and was not able to hold the patty. The patty was slightly tough to bite into. Maybe it was just a bad day to order the tenderloin burger at Ziti, but definitely not the best burger in Hyderabad.

This is a must try dessert. Recommended to us by the management, Bits of Heaven was just that! Shortcrust pastry biscuits topped with a thick layer of rich and amazing dulche de leche and then a layer of white chocolate! Aaah! I was full from the risotto but one bite of this and I could finish the plate! I love dulche de leche! Made from condensed milk, it is the most decadent form of caramel that simply melts in your mouth! Please do try this if not anything else!

Their blueberry cheesecake, which was the cheesecake of the day, was dapper compared to bits of heaven. The cream cheese had a weird after taste and the crust was too moist. I didn't like the biscuit used either. It was like a paste of glucose biscuits.

All in all, we had a pretty decent lunch. The starters are definitely their plus points. They also serve a good quantity, so you can have a hearty meal here. Their mains are innovative but there some hits and misses. Their lamb chops are popular. For dessert, do try the Bits of Heaven and also the banoffee pie which I intend to try the next time I go. They have a good choice for vegetarians and are kid friendly.

Ziti Comfort Food
Cost for 2: Rs. 1600
Taste: 7/10 - innovative dishes but have their share of hits and misses.
Service: 9/10 
Ambience: 6/10

F9 - HYD

So many new restaurants in Hyderabad! Continental and mixed international cuisine places have become the norm in Hyderabad these days. It's interesting and heartening to see that so many restaurateurs are experimenting with innovative versions of traditional dishes and are also serving cuisines you've never seen before in Hyderabad.

Fusion 9 also fondly called F9 is probably one of the first such independent restaurant which introduced international cuisine to Hyderabad. It's the first place I went to when I moved to Hyderabad 6 years ago. I liked their food in their Banjara Hills restaurant and the newly opened branch in Inorbit Mall is equally pleasing.

This is a night time picture when I visited when they just opened. Rest of the pictures are during the day.

The first thing one will notice on entering the restaurant is how huge the place is! They also have some well-placed tables and almost all overlook the Durgam Cheruvu lake. The huge glass walls facing the lake help in providing a view even if you don't sit by the wall. So if you want a nice, quiet, romantic meal with a view, go here! Now on to the food.

While you wait for your order, munch on these warm, soft pieces of bread with a crunchy crust. This is another trend that I am loving about Hyderabad. All new places do not disappoint on the bread front. This bread was served with herbed butter which can never go wrong.

I had the cream of mushroom soup to start with. The menu mentioned garlic croutons which I never found but the soup by itself was warm and creamy. The little bits of mushrooms added a nice texture to the soup. The parsley provided a nice herby touch to it.

The pepper and tomato crostini was fresh with crusty bread as the base. This had a very Mediterranean feel with pickled peppers and tomatoes on lettuce topped with feta cheese and balsamic vinegar. If you like tangy and tart food, this is a good try.

Crispy Korean Chicken! This has become a favourite among diners here. Succulent yet crispy chicken lathered with sweet and spicy sauce topped with sesame seeds! I love sesame seeds! They add a nice twist to the dish and also complement the sauce.

Another starter worth trying is the Iranian Joujeh Kabab. Soft, juicy chicken pieces well-marinated with cream and mild spices. The kababs are cooked just right with a slight char to give a tandoor taste. And they come with a garlicky mayo sauce. Yum!

Burgers are their forte, I must say. Everyone who have had their burgers, including yours truly have never had anything to complain. For non-vegetarians, the double cheese tenderloin burger is popular. In my friend's words who had the burger - "it was a typical Indian burger - they only know how to make it somewhere between medium and well done. That said, it was tasty - the meat was good and the veggies fresh and crunchy. The sauces were a bit too much, but the overall effect was quite good. I'll have the burger again if I go there, but I might not go back there just for the burger".

Their vegetarian burgers are good as well. Crispy and well seasoned patties with soft insides topped with different vegetables based on your choice. One of the better vegetarian burgers I've had.

This staple of kung-pao chicken had a very savoury, mouth-watering gravy. But the chicken here wasn't as succulent as the starters. They were slightly tough to bite into. The rice was regular but complemented the gravy nicely. 

But the one dish I was disappointed was the Chicarron De Patate. It promised potato steaks with Mexican rice and fried sweet plantains. The plantains caught my attention and I got very excited. If you have had Mexican black beans with fried sweet plantains, then you are very lucky! When my order came, I looked expectantly for my almost black-looking fried plantains and lo! It wasn't there! There were two big patties which were the steak. Nice and crispy outside, the steak was mostly bread with little potatoes. I imagined more of a crispy patty with a soft potato inside and hidden bread crumbs. The Mexican rice was good. But my plantains were missing! On pointing it out, the waiter spoke to the chef and had them made. But they were not the almost black caramelized fried plantains I was expecting, just batter fried bananas. I understand this is probably not the best or popular dish on the menu, but they have listed it so they should serve the right stuff. It was also one of the chef's specials for the day. In the excitement of getting my plantains I forgot to take a picture.

We ordered the cheesecake for dessert as I am on a cheesecake phase. Creamy, custardy filling which complemented all three toppings beautifully. They served three pieces of cheesecake with blueberry, orange marmalade and strawberry topping. I'm not an orange marmalade fan but it was good nonetheless.

If you order the regular fare, you won't be disappointed. But I still have a soft corner for their Banjara Hills restaurant because of their more innovative menu. Fusion 9 in Inorbit Mall is definitely a welcome change to the usual food court food and Chili's. It is a good place to have a relaxing meal after all that shopping you will be doing! And they recently started serving liquor. Nothing could get better than this in Inorbit Mall!

Fusion 9 - Inorbit Mall

Cost for 2: Rs. 1500

Taste: 7/10 - good tasting food but not so innovative.

Service: 8.5/10 

Ambience: 9/10

Syn, Taj Deccan - HYD

Whoever created the concept of brunch is a genius. Wake up late on a Sunday, take time in cooking up a lazy brunch or better yet, just go to a restaurant brunch with good friends! There aren't many brunches I've been to, but I've enjoyed every one of them. And a brunch with which is pool-side is always the best! So this Sunday that's what I did - pool-side brunch with my amazing team. 

What's not amazing about this? Soaking up the sun (daylight rather on these cloudy days) with a glass  of wine in hand by the pool. 

Wine is not your thing? How about some sangria or an LIT or a Screwdriver or a Cosmo perhaps? All thanks to the bartenders at Syn who concoct some excellent pitchers of these classic cocktails. How can you not fall in love with the day and the colours? 

The food at Syn has never disappointed me. They serve the best and as close to authentic Pan-Asian food as possible in Hyderabad. Their sushi is to die for - fresh ingredients and a tangy soy sauce with wasabi and pickled radish. Syn's Sunday brunch includes all their specialities:

Kakiage maki

Kappa maki

Sushi! This Sunday they served soft and well cooked prawn tempura maki, flavorful smoked salmon maki, a delightful kakiage maki (veggie tempura maki topped with crunchy bits of fried tempura batter) and a fresh kappa (cucumber) maki.

Teppanyaki, the Japanese style of cooking food on a iron griddle usually live in front of the diner. Syn is the only place in Hyderabad I know which serves teppanyaki.  Have some fresh chicken, fish, prawns or vegetables covered in beautiful garlic sauce or the garlic fried rice cooked fresh as you watch.

And dimsums! We could choose from tofu sulangbao - dumplings filled with lovely silken tofu, veggie suikai (a form of dumplings), soft chicken suimai and fish kothe. These were served with 3 sauces: a sweet vinegar sauce with bits of bell-pepper, a scallion-sesame oil sauce and the quintessential garlic sauce. What I like about Syn dumplings are the wrappers - they are beautifully thin and simply melt in your mouth. They have a pleasant neutral taste and allow the fillings to be the star of the dish.

Yasai salad

Salad counter

They served 6 kinds of salad: kimchi salad, Japanese veg salad, a simple cucumber salad, yum woon sen che - a lovely glass noodles salad, a fried egg salad and my favourite, yasai salad. It's a simple DIY salad with shreds of fresh lettuce which is served with toppings of a peanut sauce dressing, fried bits of tempura batter and toasted sesame. The freshness of the lettuce cuts beautifully with the sweetness of peanut sauce dressing and the tempura bits add a fun crunchy texture to the salad.

The choice of entrees was fairly standard. They make sure they have a Thai dish both, vegetarian and non-vegetarian in menu. Vegetarians were treated to some excellent phad phak and Szechuan vegetables. And, non-vegetarians feasted on a red Thai chicken curry and fish in spicy black bean sauce. The entrees were accompanied by Thai basil fried rice and mee goreng noodles. I particularly liked the noodles - light but spicy.

Coffee Cheesecake and orange-flavoured baked yoghurt

Chocolate brownie, darsan and coconut-date roll with vanilla ice cream

Fresh fruit platter

 Desserts were also a simple yet delicious affair. The cold desserts were orange-flavored baked yoghurt and a coffee cheese cake. The sesame and honey darsan was a little dry but tasted good nonetheless with the vanilla ice cream. Their more popular dessert is the hot chocolate brownie served with vanilla ice cream. A Syn-ful, moist, hot and chocolatey-rich brownie with deliciously cool vanilla ice cream - what's not to love about it on a lazy Sunday? The coconut-date rolls were good too - not too rich in taste. A fresh platter of fruits is also served for a lighter dessert.

You can also end the brunch with a round of piercing blue (or any colour you fancy) vodka shots made by the excellent KK, who was the best host to our group could ask for! I'm sure he'll concoct an equally tasty non-alcoholic shot if you ask him.

Syn is the place for a relaxing yet fun brunch with good food (with good options for vegetarians), drinks and a swim if you want to cool off! This was my second time at the brunch and completely enjoyed it. It is worth every penny!

Syn at Taj Deccan 

Brunch cost: Rs.1200+taxes/person

Taste: 9/10

Service: 9/10 - we were well taken care of!

Ambience: 9/10 - Pool and a fun patio!

Happy brunch with a happy bunch!

Olive Bistro - HYD

The food scene in Hyderabad is changing - for the good. A city which I always associated with biryani joints, kebabs and paan is now opening its doors to international food. It still has a long way to go before its food scene is equal to that of Mumbai, Bangalore or Delhi but atleast we are moving towards it. 

Olive Bistro is one such scene changer. It has beautiful Mediterranean décor with a view of the Durgam Cheruvu Lake and some charming vintage furniture. I loved the mismatched chairs at every table and the  cutlery chandelier. A part of the Olive Bar and Kitchen located in Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi, Olive Bistro has its presence in Pune as well. Let's taste.

The test menu comes in a rustic wooden pad with printed papers. One of the better test menus I have seen, though the top most mentioned dishes were covered where the paper was attached but no biggie.

We were served fresh, warm bread while we ordered. Two bread rolls and a piece of focaccia bread. I love fresh, crusty bread with soft insides. So +1 for the fact that they have their own bakery where they bake these treats! Always better than sourcing bread from outside.

For starters, we tried their French chowder with smoked chicken. It was served with garlic butter toast. The soup was creamy with bits of chicken and potatoes. It reminded me more of a cream of mushroom soup with potatoes. And it was also on the sweeter side. I enjoyed it the most when I dipped the toast into the soup; the sweetness of the soup didn't go down well with me.

                               

Cremini mushrooms skewers with herbed mayo sauce,is what we were served instead of the crumb fried mushrooms we had ordered -- slight mix up by the staff. Before we realized this, we had eaten two of the skewers . The mushrooms, bell peppers and onions were fresh and sweet. The mayo sauce was spruced up with some thyme which went well with the mushrooms. But the dish was again on the sweet side. I personally didn't like it but it got a thumbs up from my friends.

 

When we told the staff about the wrong order, they graciously insisted on bringing us the correct dish: crumb fried cremini mushrooms stuffed with ricotta cheese and thyme. We loved it! Mushrooms beautifully covered with a thin layer of crumbs batter (unlike the thick, under cooked layer that most crumb fried items are covered in) and stuffed with gooey ricotta cheese with thyme and fresh pepper which gave a nice punch to the otherwise neutral cheese. They were served with a side of spicy mayo sauce. The dish was not oily at all. We almost ordered a second potion. If you like mushrooms, this dish is a must try.

For our main course, we ordered their ravioli. I love ravioli - thin pasta stuffed with cheese and spinach or pumpkin (traditionally). Olive Bistro's ravioli comes stuffed with spinach and walnut in a sauce of tomatoes, cold pressed olive oil, capers, black olives and fresh basil. The combination is a party in the mouth. The sauce was the star of the dish. Fresh ingredients especially the fresh basil which just elevated the taste. The capers and the olives added a nice zing to the sauce. As for the ravioli, the pasta could have been less dense, but the spinach-walnut stuffing went well; the walnuts giving it a nice crunchy texture. I wish they had added a bit of cheese to make it less dry. Have it for the sauce!

Whole wheat pasta with a three mushroom mixture and sour cream - another win for Olive Bistro. This would be my comfort food. The pasta was perfectly cooked - al dente and not mushy. The three mushrooms - I could recognize only cremini and shitake - mixture was delicious. The sour cream ensured the dish wasn't too dry. Eat all together or separately, you will enjoy this dish if you like pasta, mushrooms and sour cream.

Lovely presentation, eh? This is a similar presentation of burgers like I'd had in Chicago in The Butcher and the Burger where I've had the best burger by far. Though Olive Bistro's chicken burger was a let down. The bun smelled funny which ruined the taste of the chicken patty as well. Even having just the patty, didn't help me like the dish. The accompaniments were standard burger accompaniments. The mustard was made in-house. They had the traditional coleslaw and another mixed with the mustard - both tasted fresh. The potato wedges didn't disappoint - crisp and well seasoned.

Dessert! We had to try them - the menu looked tempting and I was with people who love trying dessert! We ordered these profiteroles filled with milk chocolate ice cream and drizzled with chocolate and caramel sauce and nuts. Since you have to freeze ice cream, the profiteroles were hard but the taste was still good. The milk chocolate ice cream was subtle and delicious. I had two of these! The sauces added to the deliciousness.

Their signature dessert, vanilla bean panna cotta with orange and pink peppercorn syrup was as good as they come. If you love orange, this is the dessert for you. The syrup is thick and delicious with hints of peppercorn which complements the orange well. The vanilla bean panna cotta is smooth and creamy and acts as a great base for the syrup. Their other signature dessert is the 7-flavour mega cake. I plan to try it the next time.

Although there were some hiccups, the food was good and the location plays a great part in ensuring you have a pleasant time. I would go back for some comfort pasta, fresh bread and the décor.

Olive Bistro

Cost for 2: Rs.1200

Taste: 7/10 - the burger and soup disappointed me

Service: 7/10 - Knowledgeable staff but missed some orders. They forgot to serve me my drink.

Ambience: 10/10 - Love it!