Zaika

The craving to have biryani is always there. But that special ‘Muslim’ biryani is just irresistible. So over the weekend, we were heading for late lunch and picked Zaika on MM Road for our fill of biryani.

The shirt stairs led to a spacious hall with basic seating. Fancy wall posters of biryani coupled with the enticing aroma make you order almost immediately. Though I gave a customary look at the menu, I anyway knew what I wanted.

A chicken biryani for me and a mutton biryani for Vinod. Aaaahhhh! Awesomeness. The gentle spices, the fragrant rice, the soft meat all cooked under ‘dum’ to create the perfect biryani. I loved this and I am definitely going back to this place. The masalas in both biryanis were the same. Sometimes chicken in the rice tends to be tough but the softness of this one completely surprised us. The mutton was tender as always.

Chicken Biryani

 I could have ordered another plate had it not been for this whole ‘watch your weight’ thingy. What’s more the biryani came with the famous tomato-brinjal gravy that is to die-for and the yummy phirni. Vinod stays away from the brinjal gravy making me a twice-as-happy person so I can have the share of two.

Raitha

Tomato and Brinjal Gravy

Phirni

Malai Kabab was our choice to accompany the heavenly biryani. Though it reached us after we had finished our rice, this was a good after snack. The chicken again was marinated in cream and light spices and was cooked to perfection in the tandoor.

Malai Kebab

This meal was one of the most satisfying meals of recent times. For those of you who wish to try other items, there are various options of tandoor and Chinese.

Pay by : Cash or Credit Cards

Average meal for two : Rs 450

Mel’s overall rating : 4 out of 5

Location: MM Road, Mosque Road, Frazer Town, Bangalore 560005.