Delightful Kebab

There must be around half a dozen kebab shops in Model Town’s Market, D-block. More than one of these shops claim to be the only authentic kebab shop. From my experience, the kebabs are delicious regardless of their authenticity.

Small pieces of beef kebab with that imli (tamarind) sauce are as delicious as as food can get. Don’t order less than a dozen per person I’d say. Kebabs taste amazing with parathas however naan is not a bad choice either. Chances are that due to the amazing taste of the food, you’ll end up overeating. Hence, they have been considerate enough to have made available large glasses of fresh water soda (which would dance for you once you put some salt in it).

Dhabba style open eating place near the D block Model town, Bhaiya Kebab shop. One of my favourite places. I have been there a number of times and got addicted to the beef kababs around 5 years ago. Since then, it has been the same delight without a change in the taste, location or serving style.

A lot of immitations exist in the vicinity but one with the blue banner and a picture of old bearded man is the original and authentic place.

Go to Model town D Block and just before bus stop of D Block there is service road to your left, take turn to that service road and after turn there is another left turn, take that turn and then go straight, after 200 metres you will find this shop.

Cleanliness : Good

Price with cold drink : 250-350

Tempting Pratha Roll

Once you turn you car in the street beside the flower shops in the Liberty Market, you would be bombarded with hawkers and waiters from the ‘Karachi -dash- Paratha Roll’.

The dash can be filled by ‘Silver Spoon’, ‘Golden Spoon’, ‘Red Rock’ and so on. Paratha rolls of various kinds are available; some with traditional chutneys, others with not-so-desi sauces like garlic sauce and mayonnaise. These rolls are very economical and easy on your wallet, but the taste is never compromised for the affordability.

I have not been able to decide which one amongst them is the best because I am yet to have a bad experience with any of the roll joints at Liberty. You may buy your meal on the basis of how nice the waiter approaching you is.These shops are located opposite to Liberty Market. But I prefer Red Rock Pratha Roll because he provides extra sauces.

Here are addresses and contact numbers of branches of Red Rock Pratha Roll. They provide free home delivery.

Liberty Market
Tel: 042-35772324
042-35772326
Cell: 0322-4073905

Johar Town Branch:
Tel: 042-35316866
042-35316966
Cell: 0300-8843371

Mughal pura Branch:
Tel: 042-36822994
Cell: 0300-7427233

Sadar Branch:
Tel: 042-36622644
cell: 0303-3333912

Cleanliness : Good

Price with cold drink : 150

Balochi Cuisine

Sajji is very Popular in Balochi Cuisine. It consists of whole lamb, in skewers (fat and meat intact), marinated only in salt, sometimes covered with green papaya paste, stuffed with rice, then roasted over coals. Sajji is considered done when it is at the 'rare' stage. It is served with a rice, roti or naan. But in Lahore it is usually served with rice.

In Lahore, Chicken is used instead of lamb. But if you want you can also eat lamb sajji. Namak Restaurant provides both lamb and chicken sajji. And believe me they provide the excellent sajji.Your order would be served in less than 20 minutes.

When I visited there and ordered sajji. When my order came, chicken hidden under the blanket od perfectly cooked rice with each grain claiming its individuality. I don’t know what they do and how they do. They are so consistent in taste that they provide. The chicken is perfectly done. The skin crispy and salty and the inner meat perfectly cooked and juicy and tender. To me the person who can grill a broiler chicken thigh in a way that it neither turns dry nor is under cooked , is a perfect chef (as thigh is already dry part of chicken), well the rice with carrots strips was authentic kabuli pulao. But, the quantity of rice is less with the sajji, so we had to order another plate. Overall anything you try on their menu is awesome. If someone has not visited I recommend it, a must visit place and it’s not heavy on pocket.

This restaurant has branches in M.M.Alam road and Akbar chowk. But the akbar chowk Branch provides the best quality. This branch is located adjacent to Yasir Broast on Akbar chowk, Lahore.

Cleanliness : Good

Price of chicken Sajji : 500-600

Price of Mutton Sajji : 1500-1600

Arab Cuisine

Hareesa is one of the traditional food of Lahore and also very popular in Arab Cuisine. You can eat it from various different restaurants. But the Hareesa cooked by shops in Gawalmandi Food street are the best ones.

Gawalmandi, the old Food street is the right place where the traditional and most delicious hareesa is served. If you ever go near Gawalmandi then do try hareesa. Its basic ingredients are wheat, meat and butter. If you have not tasted it yet then do try it because it’s nothing like anything you have ever tasted.

Cleanliness : Normal

Price : 200

Scrumptious Biryani

Best Biryani- If you ask me I would say it is made at home. But, if you want to eat best biryani from some restaurant then Student Biryani is the right place for you.

I think now it is official that Lahori restaurants, despite all the struggles, could not come up with a successful biryani. I admit this with utmost distress that all the Lahori restaurants that have had biryani on their menu, haven't been able to go past a typical Pulao. It caused half of the Lahori population to misunderstand the true taste and potential of biryani and the other half to hate it. But, Now Student biryani from Karachi have jumped in to fill the gap. It has been a perfect hit so far.

It is located in Fortress Stadium opposite to joyland. Student biryani is a variant of the Bombay biryani and therefore includes potatoes in the most tender, yet undamaged, form. Rice grains are soft but separate from each other, almost religiously following the definition of an ideal biryani. Taste is better than just good. You will begin to feel the aroma as soon as it is served and it will follow you even after you have left the restaurant. If you had it in lunch, Occasional belches will keep reminding you of the same aroma for the rest of the day, but that can be a bit annoying of course. My fellow readers who have been to Karachi or southern India will instantly recall the fragrance and the ones who have not been there will not be able to forget it.

Price range: Rs. 200-300
Cleanliness: Good

Voluptuous Paya

If you are a desi food lover then you should have eaten Paya. But, its difficult to make it at home and it takes way too much time to be cooked. Fazal-e-Haq provides best Paya and it tastes just like home made paya.

Fazl e Haq or Mr. Phajja was perhaps the first person who commercialized the idea by coming up with a Paye speciality restaurant in the Red Light District (Taxali gate) named as Phajjay ke Paye. People would (and still) flock to this place every morning and wait in queues to have a breakfast of paya. You eat it with Roti or Kulcha. Another reason for having started his venture in the red light district of Lahore was perhaps the purportedly aphrodisiac nature of this meal. Aphrodisiac or not, it is rich in cholesterol for sure.

Fazl e Haq has now grown into a chain of restaurants covering almost all the major areas of Lahore. This includes Fotress Stadium (you can see that in the picture), Gawalmandi, Red light district, Model Town. The new menu includes typical desi food stuff in addition to their specialty.

You must go to the Taxali gate outlet to have the authentic experience. It is very close to the Shahi Mosque. If you think the Siri Paye experience can be risky, you should go to the Fotress Stadium outlet.

Cleanliness : Excellent
Price : 300-400 per Head

Saporous Kulfi and Falooda

If you are a Falooda Lover then you would have tasted Kasoori Falooda. If you haven't then you have not tasted best Falooda yet. Baba Ji Kulfi Walay is an oulet who has many shops in Lahore and Kasur City. Kasoori Falooda that they provide has no match to any other Falooda.

If you haven't tried a Falooda then you should because its a delicious sweet dish. You will get the options of free extra topping ice, sweetner and rabri in it. 

They have branches in Lahore in these Locations:

Data Darbar Road

Walled City

Sabzazar

Ferozpur Rd, Muslim Town Mor, Muslim Town

Sher Shah Rd, New Shad Bagh, Shad Bagh

Yatim Khana Chowk, Multan Rd, Paki Thathi, Samanabad Town

Nasim Hayat Rd, Milad Gate, Kot Bahadur Khan, Kasur 55050, Pakistan

They also provide Kulfi that has best taste and has no match to any other kulfi or Ice cream.

Price of Kulfi : 15, 20, 30, 40

Price of Falooda : 150

Cleanliness : Good

Piquant Nihari

I have tried Nihari from various different places but Mohammedi Nihari Provides best Nihari, I have ever Tasted.                           

Nihari is a thick spicy curry with very tender meat pieces of beef or chicken. A thin floating layer of cooking oil on the surface is considered a delicacy. You eat it with freshly prepared oven baked loaf bread, called 'khameeri roti'. Finely chopped ginger, lemon and fresh coriander leaves are also served for the dressing on the table side. The combination results in a scrumptious meal that you will find very hard to forget.

That's not it. You have some more options to further enhance the experience. e.g. you can order some bone marrow (cooked of course) to be added in your serving. This is called Nali. If that doesn't fulfill your appetite for fat, you have the option of adding fried goat brain. Yes .. that is exactly what I said .. goat brain .. fried. It is called 'Maghaz'. 

They offer both takeaway and dine-in. Mohammadi Nihari has many branches in the city e.g. Mozang Chowk, Township and Cantt.

The word Nihari originates from 'Nihar' which means morning. So it is meant to be a breakfast meal. However, it is not restricted to only breakfasts anymore.                                                     

Cleanliness : Good

Price : 200-300 per Head

Copacetic Fish

If you are food or fish lover and you’ve been to Lahore and you didn’t taste the scrumptious Basheer-dar-ul Mahi Johar Town, then you ain't eaten anything yet. Now they have opened another outlet near Gadaffi Stadium as well, so do try their aromatic, spicy batter-fried fish that tastes heaven (and no they didn’t pay me to say that).

You can enjoy this delectable/delicious fish at any time of the day. Deep fry it if you like but for all those weight-watchers this Lahori fried fish recipe can easily be shallow fried in half cup hot oil. The coating or batter on the fish is very light so, there is no need to deep fry it if you don’t want to.

Enjoy it as a snack, lunch or even for dinner with Naan or Tandoori roti.  Even though it is fried but the outer batter doesn’t absorb much oil, making it light yet crunchy.

Their Old branch was in Mazang but someone else has taken that branch and now that place provides terrible fish. So do not bother to go there.

Address of Johar Town Branch : 19-A Johar Town on Molana Shoukat Ali Road, Lahore

Address of Qadaffi stadium Branch : It is just right outside the Qadaffi Stadium

Price : 600

Cleanliness : Good

But, in winter it can take an hour for your order to be served. 

Heavenly Pizza

 For pizza lovers in Lahore, there is an enormous pizza available to munch on. It can be found at Manhattan Bites. I have tried pizza from various different locations like Domino, Big Man, Pizza hut and some local places as well. But, no place provide such good pizza as Manhattan Bites does.

The restaurant has only two branches. It has take away facility in Faisal Town branch with one table in parking space accommodating small groups. However, the DHA branch has Dine-In facility.

Address of Faisal Town Branch : 38 C Block, Faisal Town, opposite Salt n Pepper Restaurant.

Contact No : 04235694454

Address of DHA Branch : 139 CCA, Sector DD, Phase-4, DHA , Lahore   

Contact No : 04235694455

Their Pizzas are huge and they come in enormous flavours and toppings and with a variety of mouth-watering dips.The restaurant also serves a varied selection of starters and almost everything on the menu is fairly delicious. Most items on the menu have received very positive reviews from the customers, especially the palatable Manhattan Bites Special pizza.

For the size and quantity, Manhattan Bites is not an expensive restaurant even though its price range is suitable for those who splurge on food. The restaurant is surely an amazing address for pizza and fast food aficionados. Their deals are :

Luscious Shawarma

If you are looking to eat best shawarma then Maja Rica is the best place for you. I have tried shawarma from so many Places but this place gives awesome shawarma.

The shawarma from this place is little expensive from other places. Because, Olives like figaro is added in the shawarma. This place is located in muslim town. If you are coming through canal road to muslim town then after crossing muslim town under pass there is a turn to your left for service road after 500 metres take that turn and after 50 metres there is a turn to your left take that turn and on that road after 40 metres if you see to your left then there is Maja Rica.

 Cleanliness : Excellent
Price of mini Shawarma : 80/-
Price of medium Shawarma : 120/-
Price of Large Shawarma : 150/-

If you want a home delivery  you can call on any of these numbers for Free Home Delivery.

Divine Samosa

If you are a samosa Lover and want to eat best samosa in Lahore then Sheikh Samosa is the right place for you. Even if you are not a samosa Lover then you should try this place and I am certain then you would starting to like samosa after that.

I tried samosa from different locations but the one which I like most is Sheikh Samosa in township. He gave three types of sauces, and one type of salad along with samosa. It is difficult to find original prune sauce from any shop in Lahore. But, you can find it here. Never find such great samosa. Route is simple, when you are coming from Akbar chowk towards peco road, there is turning towards model town link road, don't take that turn and take a U-turn. Nearly 40 Meters after that turning, there is road going left side, take that turn continue your journey, then road will end and take left turn, after 4 or 5 shops there is sheikh samosa. Shop is very small, a small sitting place but samosa is excellent. 

Cleanliness: Good
Price of Samosa: 25/-