Hyderabad Nawabs - Halifax — Restaurant in Halifax

This is my detailed review about Hyderabad Nawabs, and all I can say is – if you’re a biryani lover, this place is a must-try. The food here is really good overall, but their Fry Piece Chicken Biryani is next-level. In my opinion, it’s the best biryani in Halifax as far as I know. The flavor, the texture, and the balance of spices in their biryani make it stand out from the rest. Every bite feels like you’re back home in India. 🇮🇳

Now just a heads-up – the spice level here is slightly higher compared to other Indian restaurants in Halifax. If you’re not someone who can handle too much spice, I would definitely recommend asking for “mild” or “less spicy” while ordering. They’ll happily adjust it for you, but if you go full spicy, be prepared! 😅

Apart from the biryani, the rest of the food is also really good. I’ve tried a few other dishes like butter chicken, garlic naan, and the taste of other dishes, was great but not out of the world unlike biryani.

Ambience-wise, it’s decent. It’s not super fancy or very cozy, but it’s clean and comfortable. Good enough for a nice family dinner or a casual hangout with friends.

One thing to note is that the restaurant is located a bit outside the main city. So, if you’re staying in downtown Halifax, it’s either a long bus ride or you’ll need a car to get there. But the good part is, they have plenty of parking space, so no worries once you reach there.

Service is top class. All the servers and staff are genuinely sweet and friendly. They are quick, polite, and make you feel very welcomed. Whether it’s the front desk or the people serving the food, I found everyone to be very professional and kind.

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Here’s my detailed rating: • Food (taste): 4.5/5 • Ambience: 4/5 • Service: 5/5 • Overall: 5/5

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Recommended!! If you love spicy and flavourful Indian food—especially biryani—this...

A group of four, this was our first visit to Hyderabad Nawabs. We each ordered a curry, mostly chicken ticka, with rice and breads followed by two julab gamun desserts. On the plus side, all of the food was excellent, flavourful and generous. If a restaurant visit only involved food we would return unhesitatingly. Sadly many other aspects of our visit were on the negative side of the ledger.

Even though their own web site offers on line booking it did not function. We therefore telephoned ahead to book a table and were literally laughed at, unclear why. The restaurant is very bare, zero atmosphere. Our waiter spoke painfully little English. Though smiling and willing, he struggled to note our orders down, repeating dishes multiple times with us correcting errors multiple times. We asked if the rice was Basmati rice and were told no, just plain rice. In fact when the rice came it was Basmati. Most of the dishes, including all of the mutton dishes, were served on the bone with no option to have them off the bone as is usually the case. At the outset we ordered two beers which took 25 minutes to arrive after we chased them down. Our food arrived after a good 40 minute wait.

Our food was all served on thick, cold plates, a spoiler for us. Our order of mango chutney never arrived. After the main meal we had tea and two coffees, all just luke warm in glasses with no handles. The coffees came with milk already added. The two Gulab jamun desserts were miniscule in size, just two small balls in tiny bowls.

Overall this seemed to be a family run restaurant serving excellent food in a most inept way. They really need to look at the service end of their offerings. We...

We tried biryani on our first visit and were honestly quite dissatisfied. While the plate looked big, the actual portion of mutton was extremely small. We shared this feedback with the owner, but to our surprise, he still charged us the full price — something we have never experienced at any other restaurant in Halifax.

The next day, we tried dosa along with idli, and it took almost 40 minutes to arrive. When we asked, they explained it was because they make it fresh. The dosa tasted almost the same as what I cook at home, and the sambar was unexpectedly sweet — nothing like authentic sambar. When I mentioned this, the owner replied, “This is how we eat in Hyderabad.”

Another time, we ordered naan and chili chicken. The naan was as hard as a brick, and the chicken tasted sweet, almost as if it was made with jaggery. Again, when we raised this, the owner said, “This is how Telugu people eat.” At that point, I lost my cool and told him that food should be prepared according to the name on the menu. As a customer, I want to try dishes the way they are typically known, not a completely different version under the claim of “Hyderabadi taste.” If he wants to serve food in this style, perhaps he should name his place “My Taste Eatery” and label the dishes as “Flavors from Hyderabad” so customers know what to expect.

I was quite surprised that instead of taking the feedback constructively, the owner kept arguing, which I have never experienced in any other...