If there’s one thing that always wracks my nerves, it’s the internet’s lists of the best places to eat and food in Hyderabad. The latest one, which managed to both infuriate and surprise me, is a list of recommendations from the international food guide TasteAtlas, which ranked Hyderabad 50th in its ‘100 Best Food Cities’ category.
In all honesty, I don’t expect these sites to get their lists right. Restaurants often struggle to maintain consistency over a period of time, and how these recommendations are selected is another issue to look at carefully.
But before I go into what’s wrong with the restaurant recommendations on TasteAtlas, here are the dishes you must try to experience the best Hyderabad has to offer: biryani (no brainer), pathar ka gosht, tala hua gosht, Irani chai and Osmania biscuits, gurda fry, bheja, marag (mutton stew), bagara baingan, natu kodi (country chicken curry), Andhra meals, khichdi Khatta with kheema, bhaji gurda, jaozi halwa, badam ki jaali, and chicken 65 (this is very different from what you’ll find in other cities). Not all made it into the list.
The internet really needs to stop coughing up terrible Hyderabadi food recommendations.
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Biryani blunders, salan shocker
You know a Hyderabadi food list is shallow by the quality of its biryani recommendations. For us, biryani is more than food—our lives can revolve round it on the days when we crave it.
The TasteAtlas list of restaurants for biryani includes the typical places—Hotel Shadab, Bawarchi, Paradise (?!), Sarvi, Alpha Hotel, and a few more from Hyderabad. It also adds a handful of names from other cities. I can say with some gumption that though these restaurants aren’t bad per se, leaving out truly good places like Grand Hotel (the oldest Irani restaurant), Fanooz, and Biryaniwalla & Co is rather unfair.
Places like Shadab and Alpha Hotel—and I think many will agree with me—have lost their charm over the years. For me, the best biryani is one that comes closest to what is made at home. Most restaurants, therefore, fall short. Moreover, while the list rightly includes Haleem, it skips one of the most important dishes—kheema-roti.
Kheema-roti or kheema with khichdi khatta are the most famous breakfast items, especially for those who want the best of the Old City. Nayaab Hotel is as good as it gets for that. The restaurant, a favourite haunt of even actors and politicians, doesn’t feature on the list at all. I mean, if you’re putting out a list of places for a city that you’ve ranked among the top 100 food destinations on earth, missing out an iconic restaurant like this is criminal.
Another thing I noticed on the TasteAtlas site is the inclusion of mirchi ka salan in its ‘Originally From Hyderabad’ list. Mirchi ka salan is, at best, a side dish, mostly served alongside biryani. Of course, it is also made at home and some might relish it on its own there, but it is literally at the bottom of my choices if I had to make a list. The TasteAtlas list would make any Hyderabadi’s blood boil, if you ask me, because we take our food very seriously.
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MoMo Cafe in a ‘traditional’ list?
Next, its list of ‘Traditional Restaurants’ has some decent options, but the inclusion of the multicuisine MoMo Cafe is an odd choice. I doubt anyone looking for traditional Hyderabad food would even consider it. Hyderabad is also home to some excellent dosa and idli, but the list has no mention of iconic names like Minerva Coffee House.
Rumali Roti also oddly appears in the ‘Originally From Hyderabad’ list, which I’m not even sure is accurate—by most accounts it travelled from North India. A proper search would reveal that Munshi Naan, dating back to 1851, makes the best naan in town.
Moreover, if you ask any true Hyderabadi for biryani recommendations, Paradise will almost never come up. That’s because we’ve seen its downfall over the years. But I will say that the main Secunderabad branch of the restaurant actually serves some brilliant kheema-roti and bhaji gurda. Similarly, Bawarchi restaurant in Hyderabad is also no longer what it used to be.
Some inclusions, such as Bade Miyan Kebabs for pathar ka gosht, Karachi Bakery for fruit biscuits, and Nimrat Cafe (opposite Charminar) for Osmania biscuits, are spot on. But why spoil a list with choices that feel like a hit-and-miss?
And why am I being so picky? Well, it’s because I not only love good food but also believe in honest, well-researched lists—especially in these times when influencers promote places for a quick buck.
My Hyderabad food recommendations
So, the next time someone releases a “best of” list for food, let’s be a little wary. The internet will, of course, always be there to point out what’s wrong with it. On that note, I’ll leave this for anyone looking for good food in Hyderabad:
Nayaab Hotel: Paya, kheema, gurda, beja, khichdi khatta—all for breakfast. The kesar biryani is good too.
Paradise Hotel: Only worth it for kheema and bhaji gurda at breakfast.
Best biryani joints: Grand Hotel (Abids), Biryaniwalla & Co, Fanooz, and Peshawar.
Bade Miyan Kebabs: Pathar ka gosht and tala hua gosht.
Govind Dosa (near Charminar): Dosa and tava idli.
Kakatiya Mess: For traditional Andhra meals.
Yunus Lasania is a Hyderabad-based journalist whose work primarily focuses on politics, history and culture. Views are personal.
(Edited by Asavari Singh)
I totally agree. Do they ever taste the foods before reviewing it?