In a NUtshell:
A super busy, massive restaurant that feeds I guess few thousand people everyday, served some good beef dishes in general and a memorable tala hua gosht (worth flying again from mumbai to eat this)!!!
Address & other details: al-humdlillah
Meal for 2: ₹100 onwards
Cuisine type : predominantly non vegetarian, beef heavy
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No bill
I rate all the food items & then give a final overall rating which is a simple average of the individual item ratings. What the ratings stand for: 5 = Excellent, 4 = Very Good, 3 = Good, 2 = Fair, 1 = Disaster
Short description- in case u r in a hurry
We read about this eatery in a blog while searching for good places to eat in hyderabad.
When we told our driver he was initially hesitant to take us there. He was bothered about the ambience etc. when we assured him that food is the most important part of the experience for us, he was ok.
The restaurant is just massive. I could see two massive dining halls with close to 70/80 people each and a 10 table ‘AC family room’.
Right at the entrance a guy was making paya. People were getting out of their vehicles, getting paya packed and leaving.
On another side 4 guys were constantly making different kinds of kababs.
The AC dining hall was a bit dingy, too full but reasonably clean.
Service was basic but fast. Giving a small tip to the boy in the beginning ensured special treatment and slightly faster service.
Food was good.
Detailed description- in case u hv the time to njoy reading:
We had no mood/ plan to have Paya at dinner time, when we planned to go to this eatery. However as we waited we realized paya was popular and customers were coming non stop to pack and take paya and roti. So we got intrigued and ordered a plate.
Flavours of trotters were very robust in the soup. Mild flavours of spices and herbs were present too. The taste was in the right direction but the salt Was suboptimal, thus making the dish sub optimal. We tried adding some salt but it did not help.
Texture was thin and nice.
There were pieces of trotters in the soup that were good.
They had also surprisingly added beef meat pieces. These were not good at all and over cooked – the meat was soft but it had lost its basic structure and firmness. It had kind of just given up. Suboptimal salt did not help either.
Flavours get 4/5, taste gets 2/5, meat texture gets 1/5, soup texture gets 4/5. Overall, 2.75/5
Beef sheek kabab was visually very dry. There was no basting done b4 serving. However as we broke it and started eating, we liked it. Looked firm and solid but was very soft. Flavours were balanced with meat and spices. The kababs were hot and very tasty. Rate them 4/5
Tala hua gosht was magical. Succulent small pieces of beef, cooked in local spices, absolutely stunning. Juicy, bursting out with flavours of meat and spices. We polished off the dish till the last drop – as if there was nothing on the plate ever. Rate it 4.95/5
Beef biryani was very enjoyable. This surely features in my top 5 hyderabadi biryanis in Hyderabad. The rice was long, independent and aromatic. Flavours of meat and spices in the rice were enjoyable. The meat pieces were YUMM, soft and excellent.
Rate the biryani 4.25/5
Double ka meetha was much better than at mataam al arabi. This one was less sweet and had more salt, which balanced the taste well. Rate it 3.5/5
We also tried khubani ka meetha. It was unifirectionally sweet, as expected. The fruit texture was perfectly maintained. Enjoyed this with a dash of lemon. Rate it 4/5
Overall rating of food at al-humdulillah averages out to 4/5
Wud get back here only for the tala hua gosht and biryani