Khaan Saab

This restaurant, housed in GVK, has been around since the mall had opened at Banjara Hills. Strangely, I had tasted at their other restaurant, 'The Buffet' when it had opened and had missed this one. Off late, I am hearing of its declining standard. Yet I was assured by a friend that I could try the vegetarian section.and not be disappointed. Well, I wasn't.
Khaan Saab epitomizes grandeur.There is a huge royal elephant figure at the entrance, beyond which lies the main entrance to the restaurant. The impression continues with the very high ceiling and a semblance of a huge space.The royal feel continues into their dining rooms, about four of them on their first floor, which can accommodate small private parties.
We were seated in a corner at a table with brass ware. On the table was placed a holder with three dips/chutneys along with a few bread sticks. The three dips were made of mint, tomato and curd. Mint and tomato were slightly spicy but the curd was bland. All three were quite tasty.

Dips@ Khaan Saab

We ordered Karara Paneer Kabab for starters and for soup we ordered Dal Palak Makai Shorba. Both items were not tasted before. The steward described to us what it was and how it was prepared. So we had an inkling of what to look forward to.The soup was green, light, thin, a slight garlic smell along with the taste of the dal and a few corn kernels floating  in it. I liked it for its mild taste.

Palak Shorba@ Khaan Saab

The starters, the kabaabs, were eight to a plate. A huge portion for small eaters. This consisted of layers of thin ribbons of flour within which was encased the paneer and then deeply fried. The core tasted like the veg koftas and was a combination of paneer and vegetables. This yummy dish was very crunchy and we had a good time eating it with the accompanying dips. We were served two of these starters each and were almost half full by the time we finished it.

Karara Paneer@Khaan Saab

We ordered for Subz Hariyali Tikka Masala curry and plain naan for our main course. The naans were one of the softest I have had in a long time. We later added a roti  to that order. The roti, made of wheat flour, was also soft. The curry was made of palak (spinach) gravy and had 4 tikkis in it. The tikkis made of chopped vegetables was bound with corn flour, shaped into two inches round flat patties and shallow fried. They weren't soft like the koftas and were slightly chewy. The taste was quite decent.

Subz Hariyali@Khaan Saab

Along with the order of main course, was also brought to the table, a stand containing pickles of four varieties, some fresh onion rings, vinegared onion and green chilies.
We ended our meal with a lemonade, their nimbu pani, which was again rightly made, not too sour, not too sweet or salty, very nicely balanced tastes and a good end to a good meal. I feel this is the only item on the menu which doesn't justify its price. At 90/-, too steep for a glass of simple nimbu paani.
What really added to all this experience were the waiters. They were always attentive, quick to come to your table even if you looked a second longer in their direction, or just raised a finger. Very attentive and very helpful in describing the order for us so that we knew what to order and what to expect. The steward would check from time to time with us to see if everything was fine.
When we asked that the leftovers be packed for us, a very thoughtful gesture happened. The three dips were packed along with the starters. Good quantities in three boxes. And double packed so that it doesn't leak!
The food overall is mildly spiced and non-greasy.The washrooms were also spic and span and very decently maintained.
Will I go there again? Yes, for their excellent service, for the good portions per order, for their super soft naans and also to have another shot at their dal-palak shorba.
On the minus, we found some fine dust particles here and there, very few, but still existed, in the curry. This proved to be the fly in the ointment in this whole experience.
The bill for this meal for two came to Rs 840/- The good part is that they do not levy a service charge.We were taxed 14.5 % as VAT and 4.94% as service charge.
My rating;
Ambiance: 5/5
Food: 3.5/5
Service: 5/5
VFM:  3.5/5
Here is a tip shared by my friend: To reach the restaurant, do not enter from the main entrance but from the lift closer to the valet parking of the Hard Rock Cafe. If you enter from the main entrance, you need to change two lifts.

Shudh Desi Romance

Shudh Desi Romance from Yash Raj Films has the unmistakable stamp of director Maneesh Sharma(of Band Baja Barat and Ladies vs Ricky Bahl)

This film has been rated high by the critics. Though the trailers had kept up my expectations, the wish to see it was further bolstered by the critics' high rating. We had selected seats through online booking but could not complete the transaction for some reason. And when we went to buy the tickets through their counter, we were pleasantly surprised to find those very seats available two hours before the movie started. On entering the hall, we understood why. The hall was less than half full in its second week of running. Puzzling, especially when the movie has been declared a hit.

Well the pluses of the movie are the highly energetic and natural performances. There are four main characters in all: The hero, two heroines and that of Rishi Kapoor. 

Maneesh has given the same rustic appearance to the hero, Sushant Singh as he had done to the heroes  in his previous two movies. Sushant's is a highly energetic performance. Rishi Kapoor looks tailor made for the role and seems to be enjoying the second phase of his career fully. He is very comfortable playing the part of a small time wedding planner. He also plays a mentor to Sushant's role. Parneeti Chopra plays the role of a fiercely independent woman. The second heroine, Vaani Kapoor doesn't look like she is making a debut and is very confident. The movie revolves around these characters. And very few moments of appearances by others. 

The movie promos made it appear as though it was all about live-in relationships, but there is so much more to the movie. 

It is about how the young think beyond the conventional, beyond what's been accepted for generations. The movie isn't being judgmental. It shows how they want to be sure and double sure that this is the person that I want to live my entire life with. Testing compatibility & attraction: emotional and physical is important. Even after finding what they think is the right person, do they take that one big step? That's what the movie is about. 

The movie, from Yash Raj banners has evolved from those times when making love would be two flowers moving and shaking. This movie is more realistic, unconventional and free of any such hypocrisy. 

The story is about the hero fleeing from his own marriage when he develops doubts in his mind about it being the right thing to do. He in turn is dumped at his own marriage and for the same reason. What he decides and what is the role of the two heroines and whom he chooses to live with forms the story.

The strength of the movie is definitely the acting by the four main actors and a good few comic moments strewn in between. 

The minus is the length of 141 minutes...slightly long especially when it seems a bit drawn out at times. Also what makes this film seem like a documentary is when the main characters choose to speak to the camera...happens once too often.

Otherwise a well-made film with a contemporary script that this generation can identify with. 

Kashmir Heights

Many rave reviews in the foodies group made me wonder if this restaurant really was that good. I am skeptical because very rarely do restaurants known more for their non vegetarian cuisine have anything to offer to the vegetarian palate. I posed a question to the owner who also is part of the group and was assured that the vegetarians definitely would also enjoy the fare there.
There were a round of negative reviews of the restaurant which the owner attributed to absence of the cook but a month or so later, the group was assured that the restaurant had a cook brought from Kashmir to offer authentic food.
This place is not too far from my home and was definitely on my radar for long. I wanted to experience a real Kashmir food. What I know of Kashmir cuisine is from what is offered in some restaurants and also from my first hand experience of eating in Kashmir and from my Kashmir friends. Based on this experience, what I was looking forward to was food prepared with lot of dry fruits and in ghee with maybe a slightly sweet touch to the dish.
I called before going as it was a bandh in Hyderabd and I wanted to ensure that regular food was available.When assured, we proceeded to the restaurant. We people didn't have a proper lunch and were really looking forth to a delightful gastronomic experience. As soon as I seated myself, I asked for Dum Aloo to be prepared, just in case it takes time to prepare.
Then when I went through the menu, I discovered that the veg section in the menu was just about a page or so.This was expected as Kashmir is known more for its non veg preparations than veg ones. There was only one veg starter kind of thing and I ordered it : the Veg Kanti (Rs.160). The veg kanti was not like the usual dry preparation but came with thinly sliced fried onions. The quality of the paneer used was good and mildly spiced. There was a dip that was supposed to accompany this but none transpired.

Kanti Paneer@ Kashmir Heights

My eyes and heart were set on the Kahsmir Pulao in the menu and ordered it. I was waiting in eager anticipation imagining an aromatic delight laden with fruits, dry fruits, loads of vegetables, all fried in ghee. I was imagining this in my mind:

Kashmiri Pulao

And what I got was this:

Kashmiri pulao presented at Kashmir Heights

A huge bowl, filled with yellow and red colored rice with no obvious spices, vegetables, fruits or dry fruits was presented. There were one or two almonds in the entire dish and looked so lackluster. We were served some and when we dug into it, we found that it had absolutely no flavor whatsoever. When I told the waiters that we expected a sweet pulao, his reply was that the pulao isn't sweet. It is supposed to be like that only! One of the waiters told me that a mirchi ka salan was supposed to accompany this pulao but again nothing came. I didn't bother asking as I abandoned the pulao and opted for a nan+ curry instead.
I called the waiter for a curry recommendation but all that he did was list out the few vegetarian curries on the menu. No help there!  So ordered a navaratan curry and a nan.
The Navaratan curry (Rs. Rs.170) was again a disappointment. Prevalence of a stinky cauliflower and an overpoweringly sour taste describes the dish.  I have eaten navratan curry that borders on sweetish taste but never a sour one. The description in the menu was that it was supposed to be loaded with premium vegetables, raisins and dry fruits. I found nothing except some pieces of vegetables in it...almost like the Mixed Vegetable curry offered in Hyderabad cuisine. After having ensured that our tummy had the minimum food required to take care of its hunger, we prepared to leave.

Navaratan curry @ Kashmir Heights

The pulao was left nearly untouched and I questioned the waiter about its quality again during bill time. He called the owner to discuss this with.
The owner had this to say:

 I didnt know it was you who had walked in. Had I known I would have ensured you get the real Kashmir pulao and not this. People here don't like sweet preparation and hence we are forced to offer this. 

THIS? You mean plain yellow and red colored rice bereft of flavors? He also told me that had you eaten non vegetarian food, you would have had no complaints.
Coincidentally, I had interacted with another lady who had tasted their famous Wazwaan platter (a non vegetarian preparation) on the same day that I was  there and said this:

The so called wazwaan platter was so bad.. Tasted half cooked and half stale.. Not freshly made..
 I was craving for soup so had called for chicken hot n sour.. There was not even one chicken piece in that.. It was just mushroom and they were confident enough that they served us non veg soup.

So there goes his claim to serving a good non veg fare. At least he was decent enough to waive off the amount for the colored rice.
I know that many restaurants have their bad days and good days but what I couldn't take was the nonchalant waiters and the indifferent food. Every restaurateur needs to have only one motto to succeed: serve good food.

On the plus, the Dum Aoo (Rs. 100) we ordered was quite decent in taste. It contained two whole boiled and fried potatoes served in a mildly flavored and smooth, non-spicy gravy. Was it because we ordered for it as soon as we came in?

Dum Aloo@ Kashmir Heights

I was so looking forward to finshing my meal with their tea or the desserts but I knew nothing could take the bitter taste from my mind or tongue.
The ambience is ok, not bad. What really is nice is the seating by the window which offers you privacy and a view. Also, though there is lot of oil as found in other restaurants, I didnt find the use of dalda in their food
This restaurant on SP Road, situated on way to Begumpet, had very little parking space. Three cars and they are full.

Mama Mia: the best pizzas in Hyderabad

A celebration normally means restaurants with big names, a fine-dining experience...and not a small, relatively unknown pizzeria with two tables inside and a few outside it.
But after a take-away a couple of months back, my family thought the food at Mama Mia Italia was worth celebrating the occasion.Though I have been strongly advocating the restaurant to all known, somewhere inside was a hesitation: I hadn't been to the place yet and what if the experience there was different? Thankfully I discovered that the taste was consistent with the previous experience.
We went around 8 in the evening battling a sudden shower and landed at Mama Mia wet and hungry. Without wasting much time, we ordered for a garlic bread and two medium sized (10") pizzas: Margarita and the Hawaiian. The quick order was because of the previous experience when the take-away on a weekend had taken about half hour or more to deliver. Meanwhile I took the opportunity to chat with Mr. Shastry, the owner and also look around. This place is at Defense colony in Sainikpuri and has a seating capacity of around 6 inside. Outside the pizzeria, they have a few places laid out with chairs and long benches which could take in about 10-12 people more. Apart from the garlic bread and pizzas, the menu also consists of pasta and some desserts and has both veg and non veg options.
The garlic bread itself took around 20 minutes to arrive. They were about 2" long and disappeared fast. They were four to a plate which I felt was a small portion and was priced at Rs.50. Quite good with the right amount of cheese & basil coat.
 It was amazing to find Mr. Shastry greet all customers so warmly, making an effort to remember names of repeat customers. In fact, he addressed me by my name as one of my foodie friends had let him on that I'd be visiting that day :) A big plus for this gesture.
After another 10 minute wait, we had both the pizzas brought to the table. They were brought in cardboard boxes. The pizza base was thin, soft yet crisp. The BEST part of the pizza slice was that you could roll it up and eat. Which other pizza base can lay a claim to that? We were silent as we ate, lost completely in the experience. It was yum all the way. One and half pizzas through, we were done and carried away the rest.
Below are the pizzas we had. See the way they brown nicely on the top?!

Hawaiian Pizza @Mama Mia Italia

Margarita Pizza @ Mama Mia Italia

After the meal, I was curious to see the wood fired oven. I was not only given a guided tour of the oven built in the basement but also shown the different ingredients that went into preparing the pizzas. The pizzas are made from scratch, starting with the base. You have a choice of pizza base: multi-grained and thick base. I tasted the mozzarella used, was shown the tomato pulp that's used for preparing the sauce and watched the making of the pizza. An awesome experience!
What came across in talking to Mr. Shastry was the dedication and sincerity in wanting to make people experience good food. If a restaurateur concentrates only on this, everything else falls in place. He acknowledged that I was also a brand ambassador for his pizzeria along with few others but then I assured him that he doesn't need any brand ambassadors. The taste speaks for itself. He says he isn't in a hurry to expand and promised to take care of quality first. I hope he continues to churn out what he does best and gives us the best pizzas in town.
The waiting time is something that you need to look out for. But I guess a wood fired oven does take that kind of time. After all, patience and time are the prerequisites for loving cooking.
Our total bill ( no taxes) came to below 500/- for the dinner. That taste for this price! No competition!
By the way, when microwaved the next day, the taste of the pizza remained unchanged.

The Spicy Venue

Even as I set my eyes on the menu of The Spicy Venue, I knew it was not a great idea to visit it.
What cuisine the restaurant wanted to promote, what image it wanted to portray, what it wanted to be known as is something that has not been worked at. All the reviews speaking highly of this restaurant are, I am sure, not by vegetarians.
Had gone there on a special invite. Otherwise, the menu was the most uninspiring one for a discerning foodie. All my fears about the menu were not unfounded after I saw the offer.
Let me add a disclaimer before I write further about this place. I don't eat non vegetarian food and can speak nothing about it. Having said that, I see no reason why any person following a vegetarian diet will want to go to this restaurant. There are just a handful of restaurants offering Telugu food in Hyderabad. And if this restaurant is promoting itself as one offering it, I would definitely want to experience the authentic Telugu food. What's an authentic Andhra cuisine? Well, unlike many other cuisines, the Andhra food is extremely particular about the presentation and the order in which it is presented.

The traditional feast is served on banana leaves following a particular method. Cooked 'tur dal' (lentils) is served on the right lower corner of the leaf followed by 'halwa' (a sweet dish) 'pachadi' (raita or yogurt), chutney, two dry vegetables, gun powder or curry leaf powder, fryums made of white pumpkin, rice fryums and pappad, pickle and salt. The above items are served all around the leaf till the left corner. 

 Then mixed rice or vegetable 'pulao' is served in the center of the leaf and curd 'vada' next to that. Two dry sweets - 'bobatlu' or boorelu, laddus, are served in a cup. This is how the leaf is set and made ready before the guests are seated to enjoy the meal. After this elaborate meal, 'paan' (betel leaves) and nuts are served.

I had searched for and shared this information with someone who wanted to go all traditional and present a complete and authentic Telugu meal to a North Indian family.  (I forget the source now. Hence unable to acknowledge)
What we had instead was anything but a typical Telugu meal. We had this:

And this is what I hoped to get:

Telugu vari vanta

                                         Image courtsey: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pritya-books/5930023444/in/photostream/lightbox/

I mean if one were to offer an authentic Telugu meal, I dont look forward to a mish mash of various menus. The above two pictures cannot be more contrasting. One gives a Tamasic feeling and the other, a Satvic feeling.
I heard someone say that their Paneer Butter Masala was awesome. I ask, if I want to eat a Punjabi dish, why should I go to a restaurant serving Telugu food? The items listed under Telugu traditional dishes contain not a single vegetarian one.
The ambiance is also not too inspiring. The vegetarians need not come here for authentic Telugu food.

Chennai Express

Chennai Express' success cocks a snook at all critics who panned it.

The 8th day, and it is running houseful. People have loved it. I loved it. It is a through and through entertainer. 

As a South Indian, I understand a smattering of Tamil and this made the experience more enjoyable.

Shah Rukh Khan, the only non-South Indian cast as admitted by its director, Rohit Shetty, has done a marvelous job of being the comic character trying to come to grips with the Tamil culture.The story is about his journey from Mumbai to Rameswaram and how he finds himself trapped amidst the don (Deepika's father) and his followers. The South Indians aren't treated with derision. But the cultural differences do evoke a smile from the audiences. There were times when I felt I was watching a South Indian movie and not a Hindi one. So strong is the south flavor and the sensibilities within.

A thin story line, no great dramatics but not a moment of boredom as the film keeps you engaged throughout. There are references to past movies of Shah Rukh Khan but not so many that they leave you bored and yawning. In a way it was funny watching Shah Rukh try to dance in rhythm with the southern music, especially in the item number. To compare, Dhanush's dance in Ranjhana is a good example of showcasing the speed, intensity and loudness in southern film dances. For a change, Shah Rukh doesn't do the slanted- Christ posture but he surely couldn't keep up to the required speed. 

Shah Rukh is back doing what he does best--the romantic role of Rahul--which fits him like a glove. Deeepika, dancing attired in her 'pavadai' ( a long skirt), long plaited hair adorned with jasmines, to music from south is so different from  her head-swaying-hair-flying-bikni-clad dances (Dum maro Dum, Cocktail, Yeh Jawani...). She is definitely the surprise factor in the movie. May not be an intense performance but an energetic one without going OTT.

This movie is funny and silly but neat, delightfully free of sleaze, double meaning dialog and exposing.

Everyone can head to this movie with their parents, brothers, sisters and kids and thoroughly enjoy the movie. I did.

It is such a relief to watch an uncomplicated entertainer! 

soups n salads: a healthy option

When the foodies group suggested an event here, I was one among the first to grab this offer that was priced at only Rs. 250 for the vegetarians. Health at that price was actually priceless!

Soups n salads is less than a year old and is situated on Rd. No 36, Jubilee Hills, close to Madhapur police station. This is a new kind of offer, hitherto unheard of in Hyderabad. Among my acquaintances,  it is known that I hardly am attracted to the main course of any meal. The soups, salads and appetizers have all my attention. And therefore, I looked forward to the absolute bliss of dining here.
The restaurant runs from 11 am to 11 pm and its ambiance is more like a coffee shop with a long corridor of tables to the left and the cooking station to the right. I was told later that it was supposed to be a self-service place but then we foodies got served at our tables, had a customized menu and a special price. There were both the vegetarian and non-vegetarian options. The lunch consisted of soups, salads, a cooked pasta salad, a wrap, a slush and a dessert. It is debatable whether this constitutes a meal or can be given the status of an evening snack
Well, the good and bad of this eatery--
Soups: Tasted three soups: the Tomato lemon grass soup, Cream of Sorrel and the Tuscan vegetable soup. Must admit that all the three failed to impress. The tomato one was a little too thin and bland for my liking. The cream of sorrel was good as compared to the other two: a first for me. It was slightly thick with the unmistakable taste of local grown 'gongura.' The sourness was prevalent, yet not so sour that we couldn't handle it. The cream in it kind of toned it down. The Tuscan vegetable soup was a disaster. It tasted like 'rasam' with lot of vegetables thrown in. It was neither here nor there.
Salads: After this rather insipid fare, I looked froward to the salads with a slight trepidation.
Yet, when it arrived, like a goat which has found the greenest grass to chew on, I kept delving into bowl after bowl of the salads with a great gusto. What I found delightful was that all the salads had a very light coating of the dressing. I had a Caesar salad with a cream base, a pear salad with balsamic vinaigrette base, a roasted beet salad and a farm-house salad with Dijon mustard dressing.
The strength of Soups n Salads is definitely the salads. The vegetables used within are all very crunchy and fresh...the lettuce and cherry tomatoes deserve a special mention. It also helps, perhaps, that they have the Nature's Basket store right beneath their's. I think that a customer with a good knowledge of salads and dressings can as well get his salads customized according to his taste.
Among the salads, the highlight was the Roasted Beet Salad with its sweet-sour dressing, the greens,orange and a sprinkling of fried nuts.I normally keep away from the rather tasteless beetroot but here a magic was spun with this recipe. Just awesome and a must-have.
We then had the Mexican Bean Wrap which was quite decent in taste. I mean, a wrap is a wrap and consists of boiled and raw veggies wrapped in tortillas or the Indian rotis. The slushes consisted of strawberry lemonade and the orange blast both of which were quite good. No regrets on ordering these.
At the end I ordered a Creme Brulee and I found it quite tasty. I do not have a sweet tooth and therefore am ok with any sweet. But my fellow foodies, some hard-core dessert lovers, were not that enthusiastic about it.
The service really couldn't match up to this kind of 40+ crowd in one go. There were long waits. One of my salads was served without a dressing and a salad without one is just a heap of boiled/raw vegetables.
The pluses of the this coffee shop are the quality of the salads served and the quantities. All your orders come with huge servings. Despite consuming four bowl-fulls of salads, my stomach felt empty within 3 hours' time. This is in sharp contrast (and a relief) to the uneasy and unhealthy feeling one is left with after a dine-out. Here, you  get to eat food that's live, has a soul and prepared with great care
Food: 3.5/5
Ambiance: 3/5
Service: 1/5
Value for money:3/5