Just Biryani, Just Biryani is good enough here!

Just Biryani is a small restaurant in Oshiwara, Mumbai. The place portrays itself to be a biryani-lovers haunt but it offers a lot more than just biryani. But since it was just biryani we were after, didn’t bother with the starters. Being small, the tables are bit too close to each other but there is enough distance between each table to maintain a certain level of privacy. We went on a weekday so didn’t have to worry about booking a table or waiting in line.

Less crowds and relaxed waiters led to better service and eventually happy customers. We were served with their regular appetizers, a rolled up papad and chutney and onions.

In the meantime we ordered for Prawns Biryani. The good thing about the biryani here is that it is prepared when ordered so the taste is fresh. There are places which Biryani on an assembly line where the taste isn’t exotic anymore and feels like one is eating a regular chicken and rice combination. Thankfully, Just Biryani didn’t put us through that ordeal.

The biryani tasted really good but the quantity of prawns was disappointing. Wished they’d put double the quantity of prawns in the biryani because for Rs.176, it seems way to expensive! The Biryani was accompanied by Aloo Pudina Raita which tasted a bit like the green chutney was more sharp and helped digest the extra spicy biryani.

Anyways, besides the biryani we also ordered for a glass of thick Lassi and Fresh Lime soda. The drinks were standard fare.We finished off with a Misti dohi which was more like Shrikhand with a sharp taste!

Overall, though content with the taste there were a few things we would like them to improve upon. The same was made clear to the management as well through their feedback form.

We only had biryani and a couple of drinks but paid nearly Rs.400 for the meal, which I think, is expensive. I have been here earlier and it is safe to say that Chicken Biryani is a better, cheaper bet as not many can pull off a satisfactory Prawns Biryani.

Food: 3/5

Ambiance: 3.5/5

Service: 4/5

A photoblog of Lucky Biryani!

This is my first attempt at a combination of pixels and paragraphs (picked that catchy tag from the website pixelsandparagraphs.com, which I am following these days to get some inspiration!).

Anyways, coming back to the topic, I chanced upon Lucky Biryani, at Oshiwara, Jogeshwari, an offshoot of Lucky Restaurant in Bandra and apparently their third franchisee with the second one being located in Malad, Mumbai. Strange to see the place being branded as a Biryani-specialty restaurant as I would have thought they would want to keep their original branding of ‘Lucky Restaurant’ as they are anyways famous for Biryanis! But then again, seeing as to the popularity of Biryani-places in the vicinity it does look like a shrewd business decision to capitalise on what they know best!

The Oshiwara outlet is a lot smaller than the one in Bandra. We had to wait for 5 minutes before someone got up. Thankfully the service here is really quick so we didn’t spend much time waiting outside until the tables were cleaned etc. Once seated, we were handed a small booklet which also serves as takeaway menu. To me, this is an innovative idea. If you live nearby and like the food at Lucky, just take the menu card given to you and order next time you feel like gorging on the many items they serve here!

For starters we ordered for a Mutton Seekh Kebab and Lassi to go with. The Seekh Kebabs were at our table in no time. Accompanied by freshly chopped onions and hot green chutney, the Seekh kebabs were delightful. Not overcooked nor was it dry as a stick which is not how I like it! The Mutton Kebab was good but I don’t think it was worth the INR 120 we paid for it!

The starters were followed by the Biryani which, priced at INR 125, seemed a tad cheaper compared to the starters! The Biryani is not quite like the one at Bandra. It does not have the aroma like the one served at Lucky, Bandra and is a bit bland. The Biryani here lacks the gravy as well which you would normally associate with Lucky’s Biryanis. It’s no wonder then that the Raita had to be ordered separately as I doubt most order for Raita with such bland Biryani. Bland though it was, I still liked it and gorged on it as if it was the best food I have come across so far! Also, the amount of Raita these guys serve can easily be enough for a family of six. Infact the bowl is so big we should have been asked to pay for it but we weren’t! Strange. I guess either they forget or they actually do not charge for it!

Accompanying the food was the Lassi. At INR 35 it wouldn’t dent your pocket in any which way. But I wouldn’t suggest the Lassi with the Biryani, rather have it with something a bit more spicy and coloured . In the end it just become a bit too much of milk products!

Ending the meal was the famous Caramel Custard of Lucky. It seemed bigger than the one served at Bandra but tasted just as good! These guys really do make good Caramel Custard. One cannot smell the egg in the custard which suggests that the dessert is relatively fresh! The custard was for INR 40, which is the same price as at Bandra. Curiously though, the Custard is the only dessert they serve at the Oshiwara outlet while at Bandra they have a few more including the Firni as well.

It was a good meal but was a let down on the pricing front – at INR 355 it was a tad too pricey for just two people! But then again, my endless pit is to be blamed for it knows no boundaries!

PS: Don’t mind the watermark! Was trying something and ended up with a 100% opaque watermark in the centre of the images which I cannot remove unfortunately!

Disappointed at Pratap Da Dhaba

Pratap Da Dhaba, located Oshiwara, Mumbai nevers sees a dull day with hordes of patrons frequenting this eatery everyday. When we (2 friends and me) went it was no different and knowing that it gets crowded we decided to go there around 9 PM. Overwhelming hunger pangs resulted in a quick order for main course with some drinks as well.  The food arrived quickly and as usual was tasty and delicious. However, one dish, Kukkad Kadai Wala was extremely salty which was apparently corrected by the chef after being told about the extra dose of high blood pressure inducing salt. However, the dish still tasted salty and in a way ruined the dining experience for us! Another dish, the Butter Chicken aka Kukkad Makhan pa Ke was sweet. Not sweet as hell but a little sweeter than usual, I though. On a ligher note, it was a quite a combination of sweet and salty! I am sure, they like to see high BP diabetic people frequent their restaurants!!

This wasn’t my first time here and my good image about the restaurant did take a severe hit after the meal. The dhaba is expensive as well – 1 starter, 2 main course dishes and roties cost us INR 755! I can get better a dining experience at places cheaper than the Dhaba!!

I sincerely hope that the food glitch was a once in a blue moon problem or else they would so definitely loose quite a few valued customers!!

Just Biryani

Address: Shop No.4 & 5, Building No. 25, Link Road Extn., Oshiwara, Andheri (W), Mumbai
Tel: 26355110/9069, 55794713-14
What’s good: Chicken Biryani offcourse! but also the chicken Reshmi Tikka
Review:
On the lookout for a sumptuous meal last weekend, we stumbled upon this small place called Just Biryani. We were lucky we got a table for 2 as soon as we reached there.
My first impressions, very small, a little crowded, maybe a couple of waiters less but the place has a good ambiance nonetheless.
We were under the impression that this place would only serve biryani’s or atleast give biryani’s a more prominent place on the menu. The biryani’s were listed on the last page which is alright if your not sitting in a restaurant which is called ‘Just Biryani’.
Anyways, we quickly ordered our food, Dum Biryani and Reshmi Tikka Kabab. But before ordering, we had to call out quite a few times for someone to get us water and when someone did get water, they dropped it all over the table! What can I say? I was definitely pissed but it didn’t show on my face! I wonder how that waiter saw what was behind the mask!!
Moving on to the food, I just loved the biryani and the starter. Nice big strands of rice with quite a lot of meat in it. The big differentiating factor definitely from the biryani I had here and other places was the gripping aroma. It not only tasted good but it smelt good as well. The chicken was tender as well.
With the food, we ordered ice tea where there was no hint of tea!! just a lot of sugar in there!! so we mixed 1 part ice tea with 2 part water and drank our very own home-made glucose syrup!!
Overall, the food is excellent, the drinks ah! less said the better and the service, though its with a smile, it still does need some tweaking!
On the pricing front, I think its a tad too expensive; we spent more than Rs.150 each between the two of us. But overall I`d say I would love to go there again just for the Biryani!