THE HUNGRY HYDERABADI

At any given time, more than three fourths of the motorists clogging the roads of Hyderabad seem to be either going to a hotel to fill up on food or returning from a hotel after getting filled up (to the gills) with food. It is quite easy to tell. Those speeding on the roads without heed to traffic rules going through red lights, going in the wrong direction with the sort of expression on their faces as if the world is coming to an end are those on their way to a hotel. Then those who are drive leisurely with a dreamy, satiated expression on their faces and are those who have had their fodder. Of course, this statistic doesn’t apply to all places in Hyderabad, especially places like Jubilee Hills where almost everyone on the road is either going to a hotel or coming from one. Knowing the JH crowd, they might actually be on their way from one hotel to another. This leads to the conclusion that the number one preoccupation of Hyderabadis of all kinds seem to be Food with a capital F.

There is no better evidence to buttress the above opinion that Hyderabadis are to be found eating all the time than the sheer number of eating joints in Hyderabad. It might be the most lucrative enterprise in the city-providing food. One can get a nice breakfast of idli, dosa etc off a vendor on a bicycle, pushcarts, lunch at corner shops like curry points, Irani hotels etc. Of course, there’s the number of hotels since almost everywhere new hotels are coming up. In Jubilee Hills especially, new eating joints seem to be opening with astonishing regularity, maybe at the rate of one every week. Only last week I read about the inauguration of yet another joint somewhere in Madhapur, which is, by the way, almost conjoined with Jubilee Hills. I read that the ‘Greens Veg Coffee Shop’ opened its doors in Madhapur recently. The only thing I know is that the film star Balakrishna was at the inauguration. I have no idea of what he had there since the papers did not report it but he seemed happy which is what counts.

Being a Hyderabadi myself I am not totally immune to the lure of the best that some of the famous joints in the city have to offer in terms of food. Sometime last week I dropped in at ‘Bawarchi’ Restaurant at the RTC Crossroads with a friend. This joint seems to be more interested in reminding its patrons that it has no branch anywhere in the city. There are notices to that effect everywhere- inside, outside and wherever there is space for a notice. I saw one such notice while waiting for our turn to be called into the dining hall. I haven’t been to many places in Hyderabad where one has to actually wait to be let in. When we reached the hotel there were about five or six people waiting and our turn came after a short wait. But afterwards while we were eating I saw through the glass doors that there was virtually a crowd peering at us hungrily and impatient to get in. Since we had ordered a biryani it did not take us long to finish. As usual, the biryani was good, oil free, aromatic and light on the stomach. I was satisfied with it though I cannot say the same about the dessert. The only dessert Bawarchi seems to offer is ‘Qubani ka Meetha’ so there was no choice for us but to order it. The QKM is supposed to be sweet and sticky but what we got was a liquid version like someone had added water to the syrup in which the pieces of the fruit float. It was a huge let down after the tasty biryani.