20 April,2012 06:40 AM IST | | Surekha S
With an increasing number of restaurants opening its doors in Navi Mumbai, it's tough to not cultivate a soft spot for food joints in this part of town. A new addition to this list is Biryani Guru, which opened its doors in far-flung CBD Belapur, au00a0barely a month ago. With the idea of reaching work on time, we visited Biryani Guru at 11 am, opting for a take away lunch. The wait for our order took a little over half an hour during which the polite staff offered to get us a soft drink, while apologising for the delay. As we waited for our order to arrive, we couldn't help but notice that the small space with a seating capacity of 20, had aesthetically charming interiors. Wooden chairs had pots engraved on them with steam coming out. There were many interesting set of celebrity photographs that adorned the walls including those of Led Zeppelin, Che Guevara and The Beatles. With adequate lighting and soft piped music, the pleasant ambiance did wonders for the overall experience.
Murg Tikka Dum Biryani (Rs 160) was delicious with a generous sprinkling of kaju.
The list of beverages included Masala Chaas and Thandai, but we opted for the Jaljeera Lemonade (Rs 50). It made for a perfectly refreshing drink on a hot sunny day. The parcel by this time was ready and we made a commute of almost one and a half hours, before we could open up the packages and dig into the food. The biryanis were packed in neat boxes, which also included papad, raita, pickle, tissues and a spoon and fork. We were impressed with the packing and even more impressed with the taste of the biryanis, which had survived a very long commute.
Tandoori Aloou00a0(Rs 80) was a tad spicy but tasty.
The Murg Tikka Dum Biryani (Rs 160) held its own despite the long wait to our palate - the chicken chunks were well done, and we were able to relish the delicate flavours and spices. The generous sprinkling of kaju surprised us rather warmly as we dug into this Nawabi treat. The Subz Dum Biryani (Rs 120), which was still warm, was also delicious and it is one of the few vegetarian biryanis we have been impressed with.
The Tandoori Aloo (Rs 80), which was about six pieces of aloo with stuffing, was a tad spicy but we loved the taste. The Chicken Kathi Kebab Roll (Rs 100) was the only dish here that failed to impress. The Gosht Roganjosh (Rs 240), which we had ordered for, along with Garlic Kulcha, (Rs 40) came as a big surprise. The mutton dish is not meant for the faint-hearted, at least at first sight. Too much oil. After we recovered from this sight, this gravy preparation had us heading for a tall glass of iced water, for respite, at regular intervals. Foodies with a weakness for rich, nawabi food might overlook the oil slick and savour this gastronomic experience.
