Fancy eating food inside a Silver Metro?

One of the first themed restaurants in Hyderabad, Ohri's Silver Metro still serves the classic dishes that made it so popular decades ago. We were invited for a food tasting table on a Sunday afternoon.

The restaurant is located below ground level so when you enter the stairways that lead you below are escalator themed.

The moment you land down and look to your right you see an infinitesimal version of a metro railway platform thanks to the ingenious mirrors placed in perfect position.

You can choose to have to your meal inside the mail carriage as well which will make you feel like you are actually having a meal inside a Silver Metro.

The walls also have metro rail route maps that kind of complete the ambiance of the Metro station.

Starting with the food we first tried out the Chicken Panipat Kebab. The Chicken was stuffed with Bhavangiri chilies and was cooked on the tandoor. If you love spicy food you will love this dish for sure.

The next item was the Shahjahani Paneer. This had sandwiched cottage cheese, stuffed chilies and shaslik vegetables grilled in the tandoor with pepper spiked marination. The paneer was so soft that it melted in the mouth.

We then started trying out the various mock tails on their menu. The first one was the Anu Special. This drink was made with ice cream, minty chocolate and dry fruits and was very heavy.

The next mock tail was a variant of the Masala Coke with added lime and ginger.

We then had the apple and strawberry Mojito which was garnished with cherries and cut apple pieces.

The next one was the Berry Punch which was a variant of strawberry, rasp berry and black berry milkshake.

Then we tried the Mint and Coriander Magic. This mock tail was deliciously flavored with mint, coriander, ginger and lemonade.

Going back to the started my favorite was the Machchli Tawa Hara Masala. We were served the pan grilled whole murrel fish fillet in an earthly marinade of fresh coriander and kebab chini.

For the main course our first dish was the Lucknowi Bhuna Tangdi. The drums of chicken were cooked slowly in a shallow pan and reduced in its own juices to a thick gravy. The final product was absolutely finger licking good.

We then had the Dal Tadka. The yellow lentil was gently cooked, tempered with mustard and curry leaves and garnished with fresh coriander and garlic.

At the same time we were served a plate full of naans. The ones at the center had a red chili paste on them whereas the rest were encrusted with dried methi leaves. I tried both the variants and loved them.

We were then served the Mutton Rogan Josh. The mutton was tender and cooked well with spices.

The last dish was the chicken Dum Biriyani which had shredding of eggs and was cooked with aromatic spices.

For dessert, we had Mulayam Rasmalai. As opposed to other places this was white in color. True to its name, the rasmalai was extra soft and the dish was creamy.

Overall: To imagine that such a concept was thought decades ago makes you wonder about the brainchild behind the concept. They have amazing food and is super crowded on Sundays. This is a perfect place for a family luncheon.

Ambiance: 5/5

Food: 5/5

Service: 5/5

Price: Mid-range

Bihari Cuisine at its best!

Being a Connoisseur I love trying out different cuisines. I have tried out quite a few cuisines across various regions in India but had never really tried out Bihari Cuisine. I had never come across any restaurants that were dedicated to Bihari food, so when I found out about The Potbelly I decided to give it a shot. The Potbelly is located at Chanakyapuri inside the Bihar Niwas so you will basically have to go inside the Bihar Niwas. Since there is no board outside it sometimes gets difficult to find the place.

We started off with the Baggia basket. The dish was made with packets of rice flour stuffed with spiced channa dal tempered with spices, served with tomato chokha and coriander chutney.

We then had the Ghoogni Churra. This dish had spiced black channa and fried flattened rice served with yam pickle and pointed gourd chokha.

We than had the Aloo Lalu Chop which was made with spicy Bihari cutlets and served on a bun with coriander and tomato chutneys and saboodana pakoda.

We then had Champaran style mutton. The boneless mutton was prepared in thick pepper gravy and served with moong dal pooris and pudina aloo raita.

We then had Sarso Machhli Steamed. Steamed fish in mustard paste was served with rice flour and bread.

We then had the Madhubani Thali which had traditional aloo chana dal sabzi served with sattoo pooris, onion pooris, pickle, flax seeds chutney and aloo pudina raita.

The final dish was the Tehri. This is a special Bihari pulao rice preparation served with aubergine mash, pickle and aloo pudina raita.

For dessert we had the Makhana kheer and Apple Cinnamon cake.

Overall: This place is a must visit if you want to try authentic Bihari cuisine.

Ambiance: 4.5/5

Food: 5/5

Service: 4/5

Price: Budget-friendly

Ohri's Ming Court - One of the oldest Chinese Restaurants in Hyderabad!

Ohri's Ming Court was one of the first Chinese Restaurants in the city and even today serves one of the best Indo-Chinese delicacies. We were invited to a food tasting table for lunch. The ambiance of the place is amazing with beautiful Chinese pottery and cutlery. The manager Mr. Fareed was very courteous and ensured that we thoroughly enjoyed our food tasting session.

We started off with the Chicken Manchow soup. This is one of the most popular soups in China and has aromas of garlic, chilli and coriander.

We then had the Vegetable Chilli Sticks. This dish had minced vegetables on a stick, deep fried and tossed with spicy sauce.

The next dish was dragon prawns where the prawns were cooked in a rich flavorful sauce which was a combination of sweet and spicy.

We then had the Ming's Special Chicken which is their signature dish. The presentation was brilliant with a flame glowing inside the capsicum.

The next dish was the crackling spinach. I am usually someone who doesn't like vegetarian food especially greens and so was very reluctant to try this. But finally when I did I really ended up liking it although it has a slight bitter aftertaste.

By this time our mock tails arrived. The first one was the fruit punch which was creamy.

The next one was the apple cranberry mojito which tasted really good.

The first dish in the main course was the Triple Szechwan Rice which was great.

The next item was the Bamboo rice which was served from a bamboo.

For the side dish we had Szechwan chicken prepared with szechwan chilli paste, garlic, ginger and celery.

We then started off with the desserts. The first one was walnut brownie with vanilla ice-cream.

We then had the fried ice-cream. This was great with an outer coating of coconut while the vanilla ice-cream melted with every bite.

Overall: One of the best places with amazing Indo-Chinese food and a definite must visit.

Ambiance: 5/5

Food: 5/5

Service: 5/5

Price: Mid-range

Doner Kebab - Turkish Cuisine

We were invited for a food tasting table at Doner Kebab which is located in Banjara Hills. Doner is basically a Turkish way of cooking meat or kebab which is slow cooked on the flame vertically.

We started off with French fries which they call as thick potato fries that were coated with chilly flakes.

Post that we tried out the Vegetable salad which wasn't too good to taste.

We then had the hummus which was blended with tahini and olive oil and was prepared really well.

We then had the Moutabel. This is a smoked eggplant appetizer whipped with yogurt and tahini and finished with a bit of lemon juice. This didn't taste too good.

We then had the Chicken Doner Wrap. This had sliced Doner meat wrapped in a thin flatbread with lettuce, tomato, onion and tzatziki sauce.

The next item was the Falafel. The deep fried patty was made from ground chickpeas, spring onions, parsley and spices, and was served with tahini sauce.

The next item was the Lamb Doner Wrap. The preparation was the same as that of the Chicken Doner but the speciality is that this is the first place in the city that provides lamb Doner.

The next dish was the Chicken Muttabaq. This was a dish where pan fried thin bread was stuffed with minced chicken meat, mixed spring onion omelette which was then folded and cut into squares.

We then had the potato wedged which were really good - crisp on the outside and soft on the inside.

The final dish was the Chicken Doner Kebab platter. This had sliced chicken Doner meat, fresh garden salad, pita bread and thick fries, served separately on a plate with garlic sauce.

Overall this place is the only one in the city that provides Lamb Doner so you could definitely go for that. Apart from that the general food was average and nothing really stood out.

Ambiance: 3.5/5

Food: 3.5/5

Service: 4/5

Price: Budget-friendly