Everybody has been jumping on the "grill on table" bandwagon recently, and all they offer is mostly continental stuff on the grill and Indian(or mixed) cuisine in the buffet. And so, I was curious to understand how Ohri's Sahib's Barbecue would fare in this competition.
I went, I saw, I clicked and I tasted - Hyderabadi and Awadhi barbecue! So that is how Ohri's had strategically planned to place their own BBQ restaurant in the market and still be different from others!
This blog of mine, is a culmination of experiences during multiple visits and so the photo list is quite long as well! I will try to keep my writing a bit short(only in length and not in matter!) this time so that you can enjoy the photos.
The first visit was during a soft lunch when some of us had received an exclusive invitation, my 2nd visit was on a personal note, a 3rd visit for a bloggers table and a 4th visit which again was a personal one.
The ambiance is noteworthy. There is a typical Nizami appeal to it and looks more beautiful in the night with all the ambiance lighting in place. I always looks towards a table near a window with natural light and I am content that this place has spots that just suit my need.
The service starts with a humongous "Toulia Naan" pierced onto a stand with mini daggers, being placed on your table. The idea is to share it among yourselves on the table(if you are not dining alone!). This naan fits most of the starters served but I found the gosht sheek kebab to be the best match for it. The grills are very enticing. WIth a limited variety, they pack a punch in taste, especially the darbari jhinga and murgh akbari kebab. The jhinga(prawn) is so well cooked, spicy and mildly hot, I couldn't resist asking for more servings. The chicken packs typical flavors from deccan region and finds a neat compliment in the accompaniments served(mint chutney to be specific).
The starters are not limited to the grill, there are tawa starters as well. shikampuri, tawa machhi, veg tikki, green peas kebab, all very clearly showing off Nizami flavors in them. But for me the most special item and something which is pure Hyderabadi is the lukhmi! Moist and succuent keema filled inside a samosa pocket. Absolutely loved the taste each time I had it. They have a veg version of the lukhmi as well for vegetarians.
What I described above was mostly non-vegetarian, but fret not, they have an equally good collection of vegetarian starters as well. I am sure vegetarians will not be disappointed.
How can I forget Marag! A real treasure they have here and they taken utmost care to present it as authentically as posisble. Marag for the uninitiated is a soup of mutton on bones cooked on dum that is more Hyderabadi than anything else. It has a creamy texture, mildly hot to hot(depends on how hot you want your marag to be). The marag here is served with a khmeri naan, so you have any option to slurp it or dip a bit of naan and have it.
The main course is a delightful spread of biryani, haleem and other Hyderabadi delicacies. The chicken and mutton biryani definitely have clear and distinguishable flavors with the meat mein quite succulent and not overly spicy. The Haleem let me down a bit. It been inconsistent over all my visits. I didn't try out much of the vegetarian fare as I was full already!
The desserts are a kind of fusion here. Jauzi halwa, Hyderabadi to the core has been infused with smoke( I forget the tree name whose wood chips were used to add flavor, possibly oakwood). I would definitely reccommend the "thandi icreceam" here more than anything else. Why? I will not tell you what it i made of! :)
I can say, this place serves Hyderabadi delicacies which are either available during festivities or you probably have to go all the way to Old city area to have them otherwise. This indeed is a welcome change in the cuisines offered in Hitech city area. Most places serve continental, Italian, BBQ, North Indian, South Indian, but Hyderabadi? probably Sahib's is the only one as of now.
The place is a buffet for both lunch and dinner and priced at Rs 700/- all inclusive. Yes, I have been billed 700 and not 699 as advertised. And do enjoy the live sufi music being played there!
The following pics are from the soft launch day
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The following pics are from a personal visit
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