This is a review of restaurant at Nadis. They have accommodation too.

Read our earlier post on food in kashmir here – click

In a nutshell:

A super cool chill-zone cum library cum cafe & restaurant with a wonderful view. The food here tastes totally like home cooked though it is not!! We were bowled over by the simplicity of the food, the attention to detail in choosing ingredients & the sheer ‘not mass produced’ feeling while & after eating the food.

Our experience at the restaurant was made memorable by the warm & efficient staff & a hostess who makes us feel like a guest at her home

……. In short, unmissable if you are travelling to Srinagar

Address & other details: Nadis

Facebook : nadis

Instagram : nadis

Meal for 2: ₹1000 onwards

Cuisine type : vegetarian & non vegetarian

Disclaimer: All restaurants / eateries reviewed by YUMMRAJ were visited by YUMMRAJ himself & he has paid for the full Bill & tips also. http://www.yummraj.com does not have even one featured / sponsored reviews. YUMMRAJ believes in going to a restaurant in anonymity, as a normal guest, experience everything & give a honest account of the same to you.

YUMMRAJ rates all the food items & then gives 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

In less than a year we were back to Srinagar for a long weekend. Usman, founder of Kashmir walks had done the whole trip for us including suggestions on where we should eat/buy our meals.

The brief was simple – we want the best food in town & are willing to go through any hardship to get that. Hardship includes climbing stairs, waiting, driving 100 km etc,

Usman suggested ‘Nadis’. He said ‘I will talk to the manager & book a table.’ He confirmed back that the table was booked.

As we alighted from the car, we realized that Nadis is not just a restaurant. It’s a hotel where outside guests can dine at the restaurant.

The setting is beautiful. Mountains in the backdrop. A beautiful stand-alone building with lot of wood work.

As we walked in we realized that the interiors are even more beautiful – contemporary design with warm light polished wood frames that celebrate the natural sunlight flowing from the wall to wall glass windows.

The hall that we first entered had a super chill seating on the right. It was quite spacious. We thought it was an amazing place to catch up with friends.

As we Iooked straight, we were drawn to a wall with books. Found many books about kashmir, history, architecture, art – topics that interest us.

On our left there was a wide opening through which we walked into a restaurant seating dining hall. The room had beautiful minimalistic decor. We found it very tastefully done

Natural light made the ambience magical. It was quite uplifting. The view of mountains from the seat made it even better for us, the people from the plains.

The gentleman who served us food was very warm, gentle & helpful. He tried to tell us nuances of Kashmiri food.

The next person we met at the restaurant was Amara. As we sat & settled down at our table, Amara walked up & introduced herself as the host & she mentioned that she manages the property. We had a little general talk & she left. Like in many good restaurants, managers / chefs come & interact with the guests. The first visit seems like that. We were stuck by her warmth of course – informal conversation that made us feel at home.

We were pleasantly surprised when Amara came back few more times during our lunch, to check on the food & to chit chat in general. We saw he interacting with all guests & also constantly going to the kitchen & doing all other work. This, we thought, was the first such experience for us at a restaurant – it felt like we were a guest at Amara’s home.

We got to know that all food served here is cooked from semi processed state / even from scratch after customer order is received. It

Took the kitchen a long time to send us the food but the wait was totally worth it.

The menu card had both Kashmiri & non kashmiri food including western food.

Food could not have been better. Till last trip our best meal in kashmir was at a pashmina trader’s house in Srinagar & a farmer’s house in achabal. No restaurant food was able to match that.

For the first time we felt that the food at a commercial establishment was as good as the best of home food that we have had in kashmir. Hats off.

Highly recommended by YUMMRAJ.

Detailed description – in case u hv the time to njoy reading:

We started our lunch with Mutton seekh. The kabab had really enjoyable strong flavours of meat & the flavours of spices were subtle & clearly not on the face. The kabab was not paste like & we enjoyed the bite. The kababs were juicy but not overflowing with excess fat. Loved the balance of taste & flavours. Rate it 4.75/5

The kababs came with a freshly made green Chutney that was hot & flavourful.

We ordered Tabak maaz but got to know sometime later that this was not available. Look forward to trying it next time.

Daaniwal qorma gravy was thin. The curd based flavour of the gravy made it slightly tart. The right amount of salt balanced the tart well. The gravy was thin, like it is at homes. The lamb meat was really good quality, had robust flavours & was very good to taste. The texture of the meat could have been slightly softer. Rate it 4.25/5

Tamato paneer was simply outstanding. We got to know during our 2022 trip from Usman that this is a popular dish in kashmir. At first we didn’t want to try imagining the usually bad paneer dishes in delhi. However we were pleasantly surprised at the amazing quality of locally made paneer & also the simplicity of the tomato gravy. No cream, no excess cooking, not too much spice paste.

At nadis we ordered tomato paneer remembering our experiences from last year & it turned out yo be a great decision. Super soft paneer & an outstanding gravy similar to the description in the above paragraph. Rate it 4.75/5

We fell in love with the Mutton roganjosh gravy & finished it till the last drop. No excess hotness, no free flowing oil, no spices on the face. Instead there was a lovely flavour of meat & well cooked spices. Rate the gravy 4.95/5

The meat was of very good quality. It was excellent to taste. Few pieces were slightly sub-optimally cooked. It was clearly an execution error by one person on that day, rather than a directional problem. Rate the meat 3.5/5

Overall rating of mutton roganjosh averages out to 4.25/5

We loved our cups of Kehwa – refreshing & a fine balance. Rate it 4.5/5

Overall rating of food at Nadis averages out to 4.5/5

Look forward to staying at Nadis during our next visit.