Dhaba

Dhaba is a lovely place to taste the amazing dishes from Punjab with an ambiance of urbanized dhaba with a proper theka set up, rustic furniture and loud music. With very few authentic Punjabi restaurants in Hyderabad, Dhaba is a good place to satisfy the taste buds of food enthusiasts. I liked the ambiance with loud music and the super fast service from the energetic staff.

The best thing I liked at Dhaba is that the food is not customized to suit the local palate and I must say the chef tried to keep the dishes authentic and meet the expectations.

Being in a punjabi dhaba, we started off with the Shikanji and Kala Katta. Shikanji is a pleasant drink to start the evening but Kala katta was a show stealer – the fusion of various tastes in the kala katta was awesome and it is work trying.

To begin with the non vegetarian starters, mutton sheek kebab, murgh malai tikka and fish fry were good. The spiciness of the sheek kebabs and the smooth flavor of malai on chicken tikka were amazing. However, the extra flavor of spices used during the marination killed the flavor of fish.

Among the vegetarian starters, Veg Galouti kebab was as soft as it could be; the chilli panner was completely different – the paneer could have been more soft but the mild flavor of spices is good. The garnishing on chilli paneer is impressive. Paneer tikka was well marinated and grilled to perfection but it could have been much better if it were succulent.

Among the main course, I had Nalli Nihari and Murgh Malai curry along with rotis & parathas. The rotis were soft and the lacha paratha was amazing – the breads went will with spicy Nalli Nihari curry and Murgh Malai curry. Murgh malai is very tender and it could be finished without any breads or rice. Mutton Rann was well cooked – the meat is very soft and the spice quotient is good.

While the starters & main course were impressive, I wasn’t happy with the desserts. The Gulab Jamoons could have been more softer and Ras Malai lacked the flavor of saffron. But this was well compensated by Phirni.