Pakka Local — Restaurant in Hyderabad

Being the Maharaj, if I had the power, I could have declared South Indian food as the national breakfast of India. From idlis to dosas, South Indian dishes have conquered our plates and palates. From North to South, East to West, South Indian food has left a mark. While breakfast is quite popular, the other dishes aren't quite popular.

Pakka Local was set up to do just that - to help people learn about the various South Indian dishes many of which are well well kept secret recipes. With a branch in Gachibowli and Kondapur already, this one is Banjara Hills takes it up a notch with the ambiance. The indoor seating is inspired by movies and the classy upholstery gels in perfect with the theme - perfect for a family outing. The outdoor seating is all about chilling with friends.

With a focus on South Indian food, the menu at Pakka local is expansive and includes a variety of different cuisines. We started with the Mirayala Chaaru which is a pepper-based Rasam and it was fantastic. The hot and fiery pepper with the tanginess of Rasam was one of the best that I've had. The spicy mini veg baskets were a good takes on starters with lots of veggies sans cheese and tandoori sauce. The Kurkure Paneer was crisp on the outside and soft from the inside, the filling could have been better for sure. Lastly, the Tandoori Mushrooms were one of the best I've had. Perfectly marinated and spiced.

Moving to the mains, the Chinta Chirugu Pulav is the highlight dish at Pakka local and MUST be tried. The tamarind leaves are used to infuse not only the characteristic green color of the pulav but all the tangy punch it leaves on the tongue. On the other hand, the Gutthi Vankaya Veg Pulav wasn't something that amused me due to the lack of flavors. Though they are all about South Indian cuisine, I was surprised with their North Indian dishes as well. The Dal Tadka deserves praise and so do the Veg Chatpat & Veg Chettinadu. The roti basket was one of the best I've had with each variety being baked to perfection.

Desserts and beverages were good too - sweeter to my liking. The apricot delight was nicely presented with the right texture and flavors.

Overall, I loved my dining experience at Pakka Local. The ambiance and service are spot on. In terms of food, Pakka local does justice to its name with the variety on the menu. With mostly hits a few misses, this is a great place for a family outing. Further, this dining experience was part of a food blogger connect initiative and hence the food was on the house but the review here is honest and based on my...

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As i heard so much about this place from my friends it happened for me to go here and i must say this place is beautiful

Ariana by safi is a place which is into the beautiful lanes of banjara hills exactly  in the opp lane to GVK, near to British council. It is one of the beautiful places i've been to.

You won't find any big board or landmark direction to this place. you've to direct yourself to go this place. The moment you enter the place, It gives you an aroma of the beautiful afghan cuisine.

In Hyd you'll find many places stating that they serve authentic Afghan food, But when you taste it. You yourself will get disappointed. But this place has got a lot to offer you.

The grand entrance with beautiful chandelier will captivate your attention, The indoor seating is beautiful. It's for people who comes with families and prefer calmness.

The outdoor seating is a great space with a lovely fountain and this is a 3 floor building. Food here served is complete AFGHAN which comes with a complete quintessence and taste of that.

Starting with the appetizers, I had

-Kubideh and Egg wrap rolls

-BBQ chicken wings

-Chicken tikka pizza

-Mutton chopan

-Chicken zeera tikka and

-Majestic baby corn.

In main course we had

Mutton kabuli pulao

Chicken dum pulao

Saffron Rice

Mutton do pyaza

Chicken korma

Palak sabzi

Rajma

Mixed vegetable curry

All these items was perfectly cooked and was mouth watering. Spices was perfect i loved it .

In dessert we had

Caramel custard

Phirni

Churros

A little bit of improvements are required which i already gave the feedback to their PR. If the desserts feedback are kept in mind. This place would rock

Over all good experience

If you think about the consistency in their food don't worry the Chef himself is all the way from Afghanistan and they use the Spices that are from Afghanistan,impressive to know that they have a 4 star restaurant in Afghanistan and the chef has 40 yrs beyond experience who worked in Iran and Afghanistan .

Cooking method is either grilled or slow cooked and they make sure the nutritive value of the food is not reduced.

So, without giving a second thought do plan your next hangout, family gathering...

This is one of my favorite restaurants in Banjara Hills. We live very near by so we do frequent this place quiet regularly. The ambiance is very unique and beautiful. I love the pictures of actors and actresses. Our family loves the food here. Anytime we have guests from the US, we most likely visit this place. And we do come here reasonably often for celebrations as it is very conveniently located (less then 5 minutes from our home)

Having said all of this, why have I given it a 1-star rating. I was super disappointed by the attitude of the management. We came here today afternoon to celebrate our nieces birthday. I ordered chapati with miriyala muttom (one of my favorite dishes here) for main course. I was shocked to see how the chapatis were served. They were dripping with oil/ghee. It looked like oil but I cannot confirm as I did not eat it. The amount of oil was so much that it was un-eatable and it was unlike anything I have seen in a good restaurant. I immediately asked them to replace it. At this point they could have simply denied my request but instead like any good restaurant they took the chapati back into the kitchen and opted to get me a fresh order of chapati.

Now when it came to billing, they charged us for two orders for chapati. This triggered me as they should have just told us upfront that they would not be replacing it. Instead they informed us at the time of billing. It is not about money as Rs.80/90 does not matter on a bill of Rs.14,000. But I found the lack of transperancy, and only informing the customer at the time of billing as a shady business practise.

I rarely write negative reviews but I just had to write this hoping someone higher up notice there is scope for improvement with their service. This is obviously a rant. And yet to be fair to the restaurant, the service has always been good during my previous visits and the food has always been good including today.

Update: The owner/management called my sister and apologized for our experience. As a customer, all we want is our feedback to heard. It was very nice of the owner to call back. Most restaurants do not do this and just ignore customer feedback. I have changed my rating as I honestly always had a great experience except...