Top 5 Eateries you can't miss when you visit Charminar
Hyderabad’s old city is bustling with vibrant and delicious street food
08 Oct, 2018 by Pallab De
Govind Dosa is the popular choice for savouring Hyderabad’s unique bandi-style dosa. They are smaller than the typical Dosa and devoid of the popular potato masala stuffing. This dosa is fried in dollops of butter which lends it a satisfying crunch and a golden sheen. The usual stuffing is replaced with a soft layer of Upma (semolina) and a tomato-onion-coriander mixture spiced with gunpowder. Govind sets up his stall before sunrise and sells out by eleven in the morning.
If you are in search of a meatier breakfast, you can do no better than Nayaab. It is spicy, greasy, calorific, and absolutely delicious. Devour their Palak Gurda (Goat Kidney in Spinach), Kheema (Minced Meat), Malai Paaya (Lamb Trotter Soup), and Bheja Fry (Goat Brains Fry) with Tandoori Roti, before finishing off with a cup of Kesar Chai (Saffron Tea).
This café is a popular spot on Instagram owing to the magnificent backdrop of Charminar. The fastest selling items here are the Irani Chai and Osmania Biscuits. Irani Chai is a delicious, creamy tea prepared by mixing a tea decoction with milk that has been thickened by simmering for hours. The biscuits at Nimrah are baked in a wood-fired oven on the premise. If you are lucky you might even get a batch fresh out of the oven. If you have a sweet tooth, ask for the Khade Chammach Wali Chai – a tea loaded with so much sugar that the stirrer stands upright in the tea.
Shadab’s Mutton Biryani is considered by some to be the best that you would get in the city. While dining here, Biryani is one dish that you would spot on almost every table. However, their plenty of other stuff that regulars at Shadab swear by -- Malai Kebabs with a terrific sweet dip of malai, greenish hued creamy and nutty Pakistani Chicken, and a luxuriant Falooda, to name a few. If you are lucky enough to visit Shadab on a Friday, do not forget to ask for their specials such as Shikampur, Kofta Biryani, and Bagara Khana with Dalcha.
Agra Sweets serves a decent mix of North Indian and Bengali sweets as well as typical North Indian breakfast and snacks Poori Sabzi, Samosa, Jalebi etc). All of it is pretty decent; however, the reason we love to visit this place is their Lassi. The dense Kesar Pista Lassi is almost a meal by itself and a must-try if you are in this part of the city.
Royal Fish
Head over to this shop near Shahran Hotel to munch on Hyderabadi style spicy and tangy fried fish. Royal Fish sets shop at dusk and continue till midnight. Their signatures such as the Fish Tikki, however, often get sold out within the first few hours.
Written By
Pallab De is a techie who arrived in Hyderabad towards the beginning of the decade and fell in love with the city’s vibrant and rich culinary legacy. He has been blogging for over a decade and a half, and, shares his food-related musings under the moniker of ‘Hyderabad Food Guy’.
