Hyderabadi Food Fest @ Zambar.

Zambar, the South Indian chain from Lite Bite Foods which owns brands like Punjab Grill, Asia 7 and Fres Co is organising a Hyderabadi Food Fest till the end of March after which some of the dishes will be integrated in the regular menu. I happened to check out the fest twice last week - once during the press / food bloggers meet and then again at an event organised by the FBAI {Food Bloggers Association of India}.

The festival showcases not the regular spicy Hyderabadi coastal dishes that are popular but 'Nawabi' dishes consumed by the Royals which have heavy influences of Lucknowi cuisine because their chefs hailed from that region.

Visit 1:

The meal started off with Aloo ke Garlay - a dish similar to batata wadas containing a slightly spicy green chutney served with coconut chutney, Chicken Tikka - morsels of chicken marinated and stir fried with a spicy red masala and Shikampuri Kebab - fine lamb mince marinated with spices and pan fried. Out of these, the mildly spiced soft Shikampuri kebabs stuffed with hung yoghurt, onions and green chillies were the best. 

Among the mains, I loved the Nawabi Kofta curry with its succulent lamb koftas and mild gravy. The Mirch ka Salan, Achari Murgh and Machchli ka Salan were all quite average and the chicken dish especially, hardly had any punch of pickles. The malabar paratha served with the curries was too dense and over-bearing for the mild curries but when had with appams and steamed rice, it was alright. The Chicken Biryani was again too mildly spiced to impress. 

For desserts, we were served Qubani ka Meetha and Double ka Meetha. Now, Qubani ka Meetha is basically apricot compote, almost halwa-like, traditionally served with fresh cream or ice-cream. But Zambar's version was quite runny, almost like Kheer. It still had the sweet apricot flavour but was no match for the former. Double ka Meetha, which derives it's name from the Muslim word for bread - Double Roti, was deep fried halves of bread doused with a dry-fruit laden rich rabri. Not bad at all.

Visit 2:

Though my previous experience wasn't one of the best meals I've had, there were a couple of good dishes out there that had me wanting more. So I quickly waded through the obligatory helpings of Aloo and Chicken Tikkas and eagerly awaited the Shikampuri Kebabs. But, Crash! The kebabs this time were under-flavoured and dense and really bad when compared to ones I had the first time 'round. It was only when a friend declared the third serving of the kebabs to be soft and flavoursome that I gave it a shot again and mercifully they were just like the way I'd liked them.

The Achari Murgh and Machchli ka Salan had a more pronounced flavour and were marginally better than last time. The Malabar parathas too, were soft and flaky and hence quite nice with the mild curries. The Chicken Biryani was the biggest let down with rice that was undercooked. The Qubani ka Meetha was thicker and needed some ice-cream or fresh cream to accompany it. Also, the portion I was served had more than a pinch of cardamom powder which over-shadowed all other flavours {fellow diners got only a hint of cardamom so it must've been my portion only}.

Apart from these dishes, we're also served Dahi Wadas, a type of Dal and Veg. Biryani all of which were just about passable. The cocktails we ordered were nothing to write home about either - the Bellini was reduced to a still wine with peach syrup as opposed to being a refreshing peach flavoured sparkling wine based cocktail. Safely avoid these and stick to some chilled beer and regular spirits.

Which brings me to the most important point - consistency. The difference in food over my two visits was so different that it seems like I visited another restaurant altogether. How I can recommend a even single dish when the taste of the same dish differs greatly between servings during a meal? Zambar is not exactly inexpensive and the food you order can't depend on the luck of the draw.

I remember visiting Zambar for their Suriyani food festival which was really awesome and had expected this fest to be on similar lines. Unfortunately this is a massive let down for the food and inconsistency.  Check it out only if you must and that too only if you're lucky at gambling.