Urban Asia - Road.No 36, Jubilee Hills

Urban Asia, true to its name has an Asian touch to its interiors, cuisine and service. The ambiance here is very good, they have live music too. Their menu was pretty huge, veg and non veg alike. We ordered Singapore Chilly Prawns along with Finlandia vodka and we weren't disappointed. My veggie friends seemed to like their veg dishes too. For main course we ordered Thai Bamboo fried rice and Soft noodles along with Thai chicken curry, all of which tasted pretty good.

There is a sense of warmth in the way the waiters serve you. Very good service. Hop in to spend a pleasant evening with friends. It wont disappoint you. Thank you Aakanksha for the wonderful treat :)!

 Scorecard :

Average Cost : 600/- per head

Khaana - 4/5
Service - 4/5
Ambience - 4/5

Location - Above ICICI bank, Road No.36 - Jubilee Hills

The Buffet - GVK Mall, Banjara Hills

Such a non fussy & simple name for a restaurant aint it ? The restaurant previously offered a pretty view of the city overlooking GVK Reddy's house through its glass windows but had to be later covered after GVK objected as told to us by the waiter there. The buffet spans a wide range of dishes from Small Crab fry, Grill Fish, Chicken Wings, Thai Soups, Pastas, Corn Kababs, Cheese Pan cakes, Noodles and many more. Deserts section was pretty good too. They have a bar if you want to have some drinks along with the food at decent prices. The main course was pretty disappointing though. Not many veg curries on offer according to Sandy, who is the brand ambassador of veg khana ;) and the biryani sucked too. Overall, i would say the food was pretty good.


Scorecard :

Average Cost : 450/- per head

Khaana - 3.5/5
Service - 2/5 - The waiters need to stop staring at people while they are eating!
Ambience - 4/5

Location - 5th Floor GVK Mall , Banjara Hills

Swagath De Royal, Kondapur

Been to this place thrice, twice for ala-carte and once for buffet. Ala Carte was pretty decent, was extremely disappointed with the buffet though. The Non-Veg starters comprised of a chicken and a cold fish starter. Couldnt put it in my mouth. The same was the case with the non veg main course. But the Veg was pretty good - Starters - Corn Kabab and Chinese Wanton starter. Main course - Veg Fried rice, Biryani, Noodles, Paneer curry etc. In addition they served chat and Falooda. Came to know from my friends that Falooda preparation in North of India is completely different from Hyderabadi Falooda. Go for the AlaCarte section, Buffet can be given a miss.

Scorecard :

Average Cost : 450/- per head

Khaana - 1.5/5
Service - Buffet 
Ambience - 1/5 

Location - Kothaguda X Roads, Hyderabad

Hide Out - Madhapur

Whenever you step into some restaurant, you expect things like ambiance and taste to be different. You expect them to be unique when compared to others.Unfortunately this is just like hundreds of other restaurants in Hyderabad. They have a giant screen and the day we hopped in, there was a DC IPL match going on, so was not entirely disappointed.

Coming to the food section,they serve both Buffet and Ala-Carte. We went for the Buffet which comprised of normal stuff like Chicken Kebab ( with bones - seriously disappointed ), Chicken Manchuria, Veg had some paneer stuff, mixed veg curry, regular chicken Biryani, Egg Fried rice etc. Desserts with Gulab Jamun, Ice Cream, Moong Dal Halwa were not special too! Overall the food was quite ordinary. Definitely not going there again!


Scorecard :

Average Cost : 400/- per head

Khaana - 2/5
Service - Buffet :)
Ambience - 2.5/5

SO - Italian Restaurant, Jubilee Hills

The name is SO and we thought the food will be SO SO but it is definitely not SO! The ambiance, the live music, the food lived up to our expectations. The nice cool breeze from the adjacent KBR park and the good music revved up the evening. Infact, we liked the ambiance so much that we spent around 4-5 hours in the restaurant. The staff was very cooperative and the service was good.

For starters we ordered Veg Moroccan Soul and Chicken Crostini (Bread loaded with vegetables and chicken and topped with mozzarella). For main course, we decided to go with Veg and Chicken Lasagne. Lasagne definitely tasted better than the one i had at Mozzarella. Overall experience was quite good.

PS : There is live music on Saturdays and Sundays and I find the singers pretty good.

Scorecard :

Average Cost : 750/- per head

Khaana - 3/5
Service - 4.5/5
Ambience - 4.5/5

Location - Above Little Italy, Jubilee Hills

Best Places to hog Biryani

Talking about Hyderabad food and not mentioning Biryani is like...talking abt Indian Cricket team and not mentioning Sachin!! MUST have for all those who visit Hyderabad. Best way to eat and enjoy a Biryani is with your hands. Forget the spoon for sometime and you will love it!!

Here are the Top places to eat Biryani :






No.1 spot goes to Hotel Sohail , Malakpet (Beside the Flyover) - If you ignore the Service, Hygiene, Ambiance etc..and concentrate only on your plate, this is the BEST place to have Biryani.

No.2 to Cafe Bahar , Hyderguda - Again if you ignore what i mentioned above, you wont regret it. Biryani is excellent.

No.3 to Zafraan Exotica, Banjara Hills - There are very few star restaurants that serve good biryani and Zafraan is one among them. If you are too concerned about the above two hotels because of the ambiance factor, then hop in to Zafraan.

No .4 - Handi Restaurant, Kachiguda - There is something different with their Biryani. Try out the Double masala Mutton Biryani, that's the best they serve.

No.5 - Bawarchi, RTC X roads and Shadaab, Charminar - This is not for everyone. It is crowded, noisy, dirty at times. But if old city is in your blood, you dare not miss this. You will leave home satisfied for having one of the best biryani's in Hyderabad.

Citrus Cafe - Lemon Tree - Hitech City

The name instantly reminded me of this beautiful song by Fools Garden which i used to listen to during my college days - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMwADXEK0pQ.

Coming to the khana (buffet)...was really good. For starters, they served us Apollo Fish and really nice tender Chicken Fry! The paneer haryali kabab starter was by far the best i had. The main course of course had all the typical things that all buffets usually serve. Biryani, Chicken Khorma, Chepala Pulusu (Fish Curry), Thai dishes etc etc. The USP for this place has to be the taste. There wasn't a single dish here where i felt like i could have given it a miss! Even the dessert section comprising of Rasgullas, Gulab Jamuns, Ice creams, Mousse Cakes is a must have.

Scorecard :

Cost : 500-600/- per head

Khaana - 4/5

Service - Decent - 3/5

Ambience - Good 3.5/5

They have other restaurants like Republic of Noodles, Slounge, Kebab Theatre in this hotel. Yet to try them out. Will come up with their review soon. Until then Adios Amigos (still high on ZNMD :D ).