Rahul's Travel and Food

When a foodie listens the name Hyderabad first things which comes in his mind is Biryani, Haleem, Kababs, and lots of non-Vegetarian stuffs, same was for me and planning to visit Hyderabad for Biryanis and other was in my mind, recently got a chance when find a flight with full day lay over so did not missed the opportunity and booked as per my schedule.  

But after booking the flight realized that had done a mistake ,I booked for 15^th January which was Makar Sankranti means no non vegetarian .Visiting Hyderabad and not having non vegetarian like Mutton Biryani or Chicken 65 was almost impossible for me but nothing can be done now, ticket already booked and planned accordingly .Cancelling and rescheduling not only will cost extra but also further planned schedule would be disturbed ,will create a chain reaction so dropped the plan for rescheduling  and go ahead with the same plan with only changed that will go for vegetarian food around old city along with few attractions.  

Flight arrives on time and around 9:30 and was out of terminal in half an hr as was traveling with only hand baggage. Now it was time to proceed towards Old City.

There are multiple options to travel to City from airport. Buses are available too but I preferred Uber as I didn’t want to waste time and also didn’t want to make it more hectic as my schedule was already tight.

Hyderabad Airport have dedicated Uber pick up point situated at Aeroplaza, have to take escalator to Aeroplaza situated at ground level after exiting from arrivals. When we book an Uber, we won’t get vehicle or car details but an OTP only, when we reach the boarding point the Uber staff will guide to first available cab and have to share OTP with driver, after submitting OTP driver will come to know about destination and ride will start.

Hyderabad Airport is little outside the city, Old City is around 20-25 km but can easily take 45 min and above depending on traffic condition. As it was 10 so morning rush had started. also, there were road construction going on which adds more. Initial few km from airport traffic was fast and smooth but as we come close to Old City the traffic starts to slow and also roads were more congested. Vehicle can’t reach Charminar, have to leave vehicle few minutes before it. It was around 11 when I reach Old city.

I left the cab near Madina building, cab could have gone till Gulzar Houz circle but as I had entered the Old city area so better way to explore was by walking.

Time to explore the old city and its vegetarian food. First location was Agra Misthan Ghar near Gulnaz Hauz. Misthan Ghar is one of the oldest sweet shops in the area and considered to serve best lassi in the area so I also went with flow and ordered their kesar Pista Lassi. The lassi came loaded with the goodness of pista and was thick enough to eat with a spoon, totally worth and excellent start of Old city tour.

After starting with sweet it was time for some savory. Govind ki Bandi is a famous Dosa Kart and situated very close to Agra mithai so it was my obvious next destination. Kart was set near a corner with few chairs to sit rest can enjoy the standing with all its engulfing aroma, tawa Idli and freshly tossed Dosa, can go with anything, I went for Butter Masala dosa and oh man, hot dosa served with coconut chutney, crisp when in plate and melt when in mouth. Very nice experience and recommended.

Time to check the most important monument of Hyderabad, Charminar. As this blog is about food so wont waste much time describing Charminar but was very disappointed with condition of Charminar and its surrounding. Very chaotic and mis managed, whole surrounding was encroached by street vendors, looks like a main street market for locals, also the condition of Charminar itself doesn’t look too good, looks poorly maintained, there is ticket for entry but was told that my backpack can’t go inside and have to use a private cloak room little away from Charminar so I skipped to check Charminar from inside.     

    It is said that trip to Charminar is not completed unless have tea and biscuit at Nimrah café situated just in front of Charminar and photo of holding a tea cup with Charminar in background. I did the same had their famous Irani tea and Osmania biscuit. The place remains crowded most of the time but there are canopy outside, go near that and can see many staff taking order. I had an Irani tea and Osmani biscuit. After first sip of tea I can understand why there is such a rush, perfect tea and crispy biscuit.

Till now visited 3 food places and all good experience.

Next was Milan juice Centre, just opposite side of the road. We simply can’t leave Old City without devouring the Mulberry (Sahtut) cream at Milan. Mixed with honey and cream, this is your happy ending to eating out at Charminar but for me it’s not the end. Their signature Mulberry cream turned out awesome, another recommended place and item in Old City.

Now time to give a break in eating and explore some attractions. Chowmallah Palace is just 10 min walk from Charminar behind Madina Mosque. It was old residence of Nizam, constructed in a huge 40-acre campus. It has multiple building and garden, sorry to say but just like Charminar it was also very poorly maintained, many of the gallery was closed, gardens were poorly maintained too. There was a collection of Nizams automobile too but even those were in a state of disrepair.

Spend around an hour there and then back to original journey of food.  

Next destination Matwale Doodh Ghar , another legendary place famous for Lassi and Falooda,a short walk and reached Matwale Doodh Ghar, have very small menu, lassi, falooda and few sweets. As already had Lassi at Agra Mithai Ghar so was in mood to have falooda but unfortunately Falooda was not available so had a lassi. The lassi was refreshing topped with ice cream and garnished with fresh mava which was like cherry on the top. The owner was very friendly and had discussion with me what more I can try in vegetarian and for non-vegetarian when will visit again.

Now it was all done for Charminar area and time was 4 pm, still can spend an hour or more before starting for Airport so time to explore another area.

I had two options in mind, either stop food exploration and visit SalarJung museum or continue food exploration, as a diehard foodie decided to continue for food exploration, time to proceed towards Nampally, just few KM from Charminar. Salarjung museum next time when will be here for non-vegetarian food tour.

Got a share auto from Gulzar houz for rs 20, dropped just in front of Karanchi bakery. Karanchi bakery now a days have many branches, even at airport and other cities but when in Hyderabad at least once visiting its original branch is worth for a foodie.  

Bought some Biscuits and move to next destination, Hameedia bakery and sweets just 4 blocks from Karanchi bakery. An iconic store that used to prepare desserts during the time of the Nizam, Hameedi confectioners near Mozamjahi market is the place to go for Jauzi Ka Halwa, Double Ka Meetha, Kubhani ka Meetha and Kaddu ka Kheer. Their most famous item is Jauzi ka halwa so I also went for it, oh man, it was  loaded with ghee, dry fruits and sugar, but as soon as  put a spoonful into  mouth, I was instantaneously transported to heaven.

Now it was too much of sweets for a day and time to windup the food tour, had few more places in mind like Govind Ki Bandi for Tawa Idli , Shubhan bakery and café Nilofar for Irani chai and biscuits but now neither have time nor mood to have more sweets. Just when about to book cab saw Mozazahi market opposite side of the road, it has two legendary ice cream parlour, Bilal and Famous, after coming too close to them returning without visiting doesn’t looks appropriate behaviour for a foodie so decided to visit at least one of them, this time famous ,will try Bilal next time. Heard their seasonal ice cream are their USP so ordered scoop of Sitafal, was good but not so special.

Finally, my vegetarian food tour ended and time to get back to Airport, not able to visit few shortlisted places which would try to visit in next trips, till then HAPPY EATING AND TRAVELING.