We know our city is famous for the only type of Biryani in the whole World with potatoes in it. We know most of the people of this city are sentimental about that one piece of big juicy potato in their plate of Biryani. And we know they think Kolkata Biryani is the best in the World. We love Kolkata Biryani too. We love that piece of potato too. But we love the concept of Biryani also. And hence any type of Biryani, when well made, means happiness to us. We don’t compare and see every type as a whole new dish, and believe us, it is the most successful way to enjoy the World of Biryani.
We have been visiting Khawab, the Hyderabadi cuisine restaurant, for a long time now and their Bagbazar outlet is one of our favourite food destinations. Located a stone’s throw away from the residence of Girish Ghosh, this small but well maintained outlet have only 5 four seaters. Also this is not an all day eatery like most of the Biryani serving restaurants of the city. They open for lunch and dinner only (12-3 and 5-10).
Though the place is small they have tried well to create a royal ambiance. With designer wooded chairs, mirror frame, arches with wooden railings and photographs of the old kingdom of Hyderabad, the place creates a good family dining ambiance. One problem is the last table in the inner room is right in front of the washroom. So whenever someone intends to go there the person sitting on the chair in front of the door have to get up so that it can be opened. Will be really annoying for both. The washroom was well maintained though till the last time I used it.
Service here is good. Have always been served with a smile and the people here are nice, friendly and attentive.
Coming to the main thing, food, we just love the Hyderabadi Biryani here. Have tried the same in some other restaurants of the city too, and no one comes even close to what they make. Some Mughlai restaurants even make their normal Biryani, add some more spices and serve them as Hyderabadi. If you are open minded and not a boring person who loves eating the same dish everytime, come here and you wont leave disheartened.
The biryani here is served with raita and mirchi ka salan. Both tastes great individually and adds to the biryani once mixed. The meat pieces are juicy and soft and rice is spicy and yum. Also unlike what we are used to, here the meat pieces served are smaller in size but more than one per plate. Helps when you are sharing. As the rice is spicy and have a distinct and mild sour flavour, according to us, it is better not to order a side with biryani here. We tried a few initially and then stopped ordering any.
The sides are tasty though and we would suggest ordering Tandoori Rotis or Parathas to enjoy them. Most of the sides we ordered had soft meat and tasty gravy. But as we order the biryani most of the times, we do not have a favourite side.
The kebabs here are awesome again. Specially the Mutton Shikampur Kebab. It is a South Indian specialty of minced meat kebab stuffed with hung curd. Delicately spiced and melt in your mouth soft it is our favourite kebab here. Though on few occasions we found it to be a bit dry, most of the times it was perfect.
The Chicken kebabs here are great too. Soft and juicy chicken which are perfectly flavoured. Our favourite here is the Methi Malai Kebab. Though we are sad that they discontinued a lot of items from their old menu and some of them we really liked.
We used to be a fan of their Chicken 65 too. Of late they have modified the recipe and now serve it with more gravy and less flavour. The current item is also good, but those who have tasted the old one will not like it much.
In all it is an excellent place to tickle your taste buds with some new flavours, and fall in love with a different type of Biryani, most of the people of Kolkata are unaware of.
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