So...You Want to Eat Here?

The New Ones

The dining out scene in Jubilee Hills/Banjara Hills seems to have evolved to such an extent that they now have eateries with names comprising of just a letter (eg: N) or two, like nothing more is needed. A couple of years ago ‘N’ opened somewhere in Jubilee Hills, and last week I came to know, through ‘Outlook’ magazine, that there’s a restaurant called ‘So’ located on Road 92, Jubilee Hills. The redoubtable Anvar Ali Khan had written a review of this place in the recent issue of ‘Outlook’ which I chanced upon accidentally. I am not aware if ‘So’ is new or has been around for sometime but to me, it is a new discovery. . Anyway I hope the food there isn’t so so because these JH/BH types can be pretty choosy when it comes to eating out. But if it has been written about in Outlook then I guess it could be a place worth going to if you happen to be a JH/BH type.

Even as I was drafting these lines came the news that yet another restaurant has opened in Jubilee Hills/Banjara Hills area. Last Friday I read in ‘The Hindu’ that a restaurant called ‘Kona’s Fine Dine Restaurant’ set amidst the scenic Durgam Cheruvu lake was inaugurated just the other day. There’s a lot of detail about the restaurant and the fare that it would offer but what struck me was that it could accommodate 450 seats in various settings and that it wouldn’t cost you more than 800 bucks for a decent meal. From what I know of restaurants near lakes, mosquitoes are an inevitable part of the scenery so I hope the KFDR people have taken this into consideration and avoid ‘Waiter, there’s a mosquito in my soup’ type of situations.

The Old and the Gone Ones

For every eatery that opens in the Jubilee Hills/Banjara Hills area two eateries in this part of the city seem to be closing down. About a week ago I happened to notice that a landmark Irani hotel ‘The President’ had closed down shutters. In its place has come up some store selling Chinese products which was even more tragic than the demise of ‘President’. ‘President’ was a busy place but wasn’t decently maintained though its location was just great, being right at RTC Crossroads. I haven’t been there quite often owing to the shabby conditions but I do regrets its closing down.

Another Irani joint that hasn’t exactly shut down is ‘Panchsheel’ near Ravindra Bharati. Last year while the Assembly was in session I spent quite sometime sitting in Panchsheel having chai and reading books. I used to come here now and then before but since a year I have been going there quite regularly owing to the special duties. Last week I noticed that the board has been taken down and there’s some work going on suggesting that the place is undergoing a metamorphosis into a better, fancier and needless to say, expensive Irani joint serving more biryani than chai. In its earlier avatar Panchsheel was a laid back place with thin crowds consisting of auto drivers, cops and others having chai and chattering endlessly. I always used to find a table for myself every time I went there to have the smallest and delicious chota samosas along with chai. I do hope they still serve the same stuff when it reopens. Incidentally, the Assembly sessions begin from December 1 and I hope the place opens its doors by then.