Epicurean Gastronome: New Andhra Meals Restaurant at Banjara Hills

Andhra Meals have always been of my favorites. But in Hyderabad the ones that do serve good Andhra Meals are all too far from Banjara Hills where I live. So when Vana Bhojanam opened up, I definitely had to try it out. They are reasonably priced at Rs. 130 for unlimited meals. They have opened up in the place which was previously the Old Door.

Quite a few of the antique pieces from the Old Door have been retained. There are many antiques that were used in old Telugu Films which are demonstrated across the space.

Now coming to the food - we started off by ordering the Vana Bhojanam Special Karivepaku Kodi. This was crispy fried chicken with curry leaves and tasted really good.

The next dish was the fish fry - they had used Katla fish for this. Although most of us liked it, it had quite a few bones and there were quite a few of us who couldn't eat it so probably another option with a less bony fish for the fish fry could have been better.

The next dish was the Vanabhojanam Special Karivepaku Royyalu. This had crispy fried shrimps with curry leaves. I felt this was slightly too salty and the spicy coatings were coming off the shrimps. Otherwise they were good to taste as well.

The next dish was the Crispy Okra Fry. This was made really well but here the salt was too less, although a salt sprinkler was provided on the table.

The next dish was the mutton fry. This was extremely spicy and most of us liked it. It was also cooked in cashews which were fried in ghee which added to the flavor.

We then ordered the Thaali Meal. I must say this was very filling. The sambar was yummy, the dal was good and the variety was sufficient for the Thaali. There was also ghee and podi which is the best for any Andhra Thaali meal.

We also tried out the Mutton Dum Biryani. The Mutton was soft and the Biryani was done well but I felt it was slightly less flavorful.

Finally it was time for desserts - we started off by ordering hot gulab jamuns.

We finished off with the Poornam Boorelu. This typical Telugu dessert had the same filling as that of the Pooran Poli which is essentially a Maharashtrian dessert. This is supposed to be torn off at the top first. Then you need to pour a wholesome amount of ghee on it before you take a bite which makes it essentially more delicious.