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Paradise Vs Paradise
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Well well, I guess the heading might be a bit of surprise. But then I thought that it was the right way to put up a comparison between the Paradise Hotel, one from the origin-place and another the branch office, if I can call so 🙂
There sure is a marked difference between the food served at both the place. I thought of putting my thoughts on the same. And for the like of many who are fans of eating biryani, Paradise is like the best place to eat, so say thats what the non-veg eaters will call it to be.
I have been fortunate enough to visit both one @Hyderabad and another one that recently opened in ‘Namma Belanguru’. Both of them are situated in extremely busy area. The one @Hyerabad is located in a building next to Prasad IMAX and the one @Bangalore on the CMH Road – 100ft junction @Indranagar. Let me share my experience from both the places.
Paradise @Hyderabad
There was this long pending desire in my mind to goto Hyderabad and the first place I wanted to visit for food was Paradise. Well, I guess after waiting for quite a few years, I finally got a chance to goto Paradise. I think this feeling of liking towards Paradise came in from all the conversation with people from Hyderabad going ga-ga about this place. And somehow I got this feeling that this will be one place that will be really good.
Ambiance
Driving inside the compound, found that they had valet parking which was simply awesome feeling. And then when you enter inside, found this huge crowd waiting. I thought it was 7.30pm so the crowd might be lesser but then I was wrong. The person took my name and told us to wait. I was wondering how much time its going to take.
It gave me time to look around and I find loads and loads of picture of celebrities who had visited this place. The most prominent one was that of ‘Aamir Khan’ who had his picture right in the middle. And then there were posters of cricket starts like Tendulkar, Dravid, VVS Lakshman. There was also a bat signed by Sachin I think so. Well, its an entrance that is worth visiting. And then there is also all these awards that has been given to this place.
And also there are these posters that talk a bit about the history of this place in Hyderabad right from its inception time. Overall you get this good feeling going to this place.
Menu
I guess it was time that we get seated and after waiting for around 10-15mts we get the seat. Then as I walk inside, I find this place to be super huge. I mean, I don’t remember seeing such a big restaurant. It was like BBQ Nation which is also like a huge place. Literally it was like 100-200mts long and was more in the circular shape. There was this small circle and big circle, not sure what it signifies.
The menu card came and then I found that just like the other place they have loads of items like Soups, Starters, Main course, Mocktails and of course the biryanis 🙂
One of my relative wanted to eat sabji + roti instead of biryani as he was not eating rice for 1 full year. Anyways, there were rest of us who were anxious to go for the biryani.
But before we ate that we did eat other items, so I will describe more on that.
Soup
Veg Manchow soup. We took a 2/4 of the same and then it was pretty decent. The only thing I felt was it was bit on the liquid side and could have been thicker. Otherwise the soup was quite enjoyable 🙂
Starters
We wanted to eat starters as we were quite hungry and before eating biryani thought of taking some manchurians and tikkas 🙂
Gobi Manchurian – This was a pretty well done manchurian and I enjoyed its flavor. It was well mixed with batter and then it tasted quite yummy with the chutney. They had given ample amount of lemon to add as flavouring agent. They had also served onions ins a separate plate for us to taste along with the manchurian.
Shahi Panner – This also an item that we wanted to try. This was on the lines of machurian but then there was paneer. Enjoyed eating that with the Mint chutney.
Mocktails
We were all quite hungry and that was the reason why we all wanted to take a mocktail. I guess each of us had different choices so we all had different drinks.
Strawberry Milkshake – This was pretty well done, there sure was good amount of ice-cream as well. The presentation sure did make it good.
Pista Milkshake – This was a drink that one of my relative was taking and somehow it so happened that he loved it so much that it got over in no time. Before we all could take a sip, it was over. I am sure it should have been simply awesome shake to take.
Fresh Lime Soda – This is one of the standard drinks that we take to make sure that there is something to go along while we are having food. It was pretty well done.
Biryani
The most awaited item for me was the biryani. So, when we wanted to order something veg as we were all veggies. There came 2 options – Veg Biryani & Aloo Biryani. Let me tell separately my experience with both of them.
Veg Briyani – This was one of the best biryani that I have eaten in a really long time. Infact, my expectation of eating a good biryani seems to have been met. I loved eating every bite of it. Since there were like 3 of us eating biryani we thought of taking 1 of each type. But this one was something special and I enjoyed it. The masala seems to have been right and the spices as well.
Aloo Biryani – This was a big time disappointment coz they seem to have added masala but then there was such big big pieces of aloo in that I did not enjoy eating it. I also felt that the aloo was not mashed quite well.
I guess this is a biryani only aloo fans should be taking. I thought it was a big time downer.
Main Course
This was taken by one of us who did not want to take rice.
Malai Kofta – This a relatives sweet dish but then it was well mad and I enjoyed eating the same. I thought that sometimes people who make spice may not be able to make the sweet quite well but I thought they had done a relatively very good job at that.
Pudina Parata & Butter Naan – Both the roti items that were taken along with the Malai Kofta were well done and quite soft. The place might be famous for biryani but does not mean that they are not that good for main course dishes & rotis.
Overall this is one of the really good places you should or say must visit in Hyderabad. Just to share another points that I noticed was there, I found quite a few large families who had come to have dinner there. And I found this biryani not sure it was in a big plate of a big platter or whatever, I thought it easily served the entire family of 5-10people. I wonder if it something that is available in Bangalore. But, that was a really huge plate, and yes it was a non-veg biryani in that plate 🙂
I actually developed a liking to this place but then I would not get too emotional about it. There are things that made me feel happy with the taste and some that upset me with the taste. I guess my rating was this place would be 3.5 and surely think that it is good for a veggie to visit but my advice would be stay away from Aloo Biryani and pick up with veg biryani.
My other rating for the place would be –
Food – 3.5/5
Service – 3.5/5
Ambiance – 4.0/5
Drinks – 3.75/5
Paradise @Bengaluru
This is one of the most famous Biryani places from Hyderabad. It is so popular that you will find loads of people waiting to get inside. My comment is purely on the basis of my visit on a friday afternoon. But then I think the case would be the same on any day of the week if we go for lunch/dinner. I guess more than the place, people just love the idea of having a biryani which can easily fill the stomach and you will be done with it, instead of ordering quite a few of the items part of 4-course meals and then feel that the money spent was on the costlier side.
First Look
I remember going to the one @Hyderabad next to the Prasad IMAX and that was at 7.30pm and there were loads of people looking to get inside. Its as if people were right on the dot to have dinner. Here it was around 1.30pm and nearly the peak/apt time for most of us to have lunches. I see this huge crowd outside and inside. As I got inside, I see that they have a setup which is a bit similar to the original @Hydbd with pics of celebrities who visited the place. But I guess they need to build the same for Bangalore separately, as it does not make sense.
As I was waiting I see that they also have a 1st floor and as I got there, you have quite a few of the posters and painting that can be seen. In terms of ambiance it looks pretty neat and clean which is surely the signature of Paradise.
Menu
After much waiting and looking for empty table around, I find a table which can seat 4 people and then we got the table. Thought the waiting list had 5-10 people ahead of me, most of them were for 2 seaters and surely they would not want to waste the 4-seater.
The menu is just not about the biryani(s) only coz its got other items as well like the Soups, Starters, Main course Items, Juices. Ofcourse, biryani is the centre of attraction. I also found that in the Biryani options they have something that serves 1 person and some that serve 3-4 people as well. Anyways, since we were hungry it was time to take some starters and biryani 🙂
Starter
I ordered a ‘Paneer Tikka’ hoping that it will be soft and good. There are many places where in I have found it to be hard and they keep talking about how they find it hard to get the softer version and how they get it from Delhi and other things. I guess the Paradise folks are getting it from the perfect place coz the Paneer tikka was simply superb. With the green mint chutney the taste was simply awesome. I just loved eating the Paneer Tikka. For those of you searching for the best place to eat, I guess this is the place. They serve good amount of onion and lemon.
My friend ordered a NV starters, I guess Kalmi Kebad, I will not be able to comments much on that. So, skipping that part of the review.
Biryani (Main Course)
I was just about eating the starters and so were my friends, the biryani was just there in front of us. Well, as I am veggie I ordered a Veg Biryani. I had very high expectation as I had enjoyed eating the same @Hyderabad and I had enjoyed it. The biryani was served by the waiter and then I go for the first bite. The first thing I realise that was the spice was quite less and also salt was a bit lesser. I wondered why don’t put much spice, masala or salt into it. Then I had to add some of the gravy which was coconut based to get some gravy. Even after adding the gravy it was just eatable and decent, not that it made me feel like saying WOW there. I think they are trying to keep the spice lesser coz people don’t prefer spice here.
I took the entire biryani and felt that it did not fill my stomach fully. I mean, usually I feel that biryani does not fill your stomach fully. I like the idea of Mani’s biryani where they have various size options like – Small, Regular, Family, Large and all. Depending on the hunger you can order the one that you might like. But these folks don’t have that, and I was a bit disappointed.
I actually was not happy with the raita as well coz it was quite watery, wonder why they make it this way actually.
Infact, I could not resist so I went and asked the manager there after the meals. They confessed that that spice was lesser as they wanted to cater to Bangalore crowd who usually don’t take much spice. But he also told that if you wanted more spice, you could ask them. So, the next time I am there I will ask for more spice to enjoy the taste more.
Another point about the biryani was that it was more reddish in color, where as the same in Hydbd, was a bit on the brownish side. I guess its more to do with the masala they use here. Whatever it is, it has to change to make it come to the level as Hydbd Paradise.
My friends also had Chicken Biryani and told that the quantity was huge. I could make out that the size was bigger for chicken biryani. The same thing for mutton biryani was not there, it was same size as that for veg biryani. I noticed that they could not finish it. May be the non-veg quantity is more. Whatever it is the biryani needs to improve coz I feel that there other places that make really good ones.
Drinks
I thought that it was right to go for a drink along with a biryani to let it go inside sometimes. And if it was on spicier side, Lemon Soda would be helpful. Anyways, the lemon soda sweet/salt was pretty good, just enjoyed that along with biryani and most of it I consumed after having lunch.
It was a good time spent at a restaurant that is quite popular for biryani. Well, it won’t be right if I miss on telling about the restroom in the restaurant. Since, we were sitting in the first floor, went to the restaurant there and found that they had just one and there was no hand wash place. That was ridiculous actually. One of the person who was cleaning there told that they were planning for something shortly. Whatever it is, I guess the place needs to improve, coz there was a rush there in the restroom area.
Well, considering all the points mentioned above, it is hard for me to rate the place very good. But, still I will give it a 3.5 considering that I did enjoy the starter and to some extent the biryani. There needs to be changes that need to happen in food an some part to rest-room and booking section to make it the best biryani place in Bangalore.
My other ratings include –
Food – 3.5/5
Drinks – 3.5/5
Service – 3.5/5
Ambiance – 3.5/5
Verdict
Overall, my experience at both the places was good but then somehow I get this feeling that the Hyderbad one is far better than the Bangalore. I guess the main reason is that they seemed to have some competitive differences in the taste, spice and flavour. I wonder why that is the case, coz both the places should actually be serving the same taste.
Hands-down if I get a chance to eat Biryani, I would go for the Veg Biryani @Paradise-Hyderbad.
