Mehfil Biriyani — Restaurant in Kerala

This restaurant is located near to Maharaja's metro station. I happen to hear about this place from well-known foodies based in Kochi through their Instagram handles. so finally I thought of giving a try and my visit to this place was totally worth it.

This restaurant operates for 12 hours round the clock starting from 11:30 am on all days. This restaurant is mainly focused on lunch, snacks, and dinner.

I reached here at around 1 pm and the place almost crowded even though it was a weekday. The place is not that much capacious and it has around 6-7 tables. Sometimes you may be required to share your table with others if there is any chair left at your table.

╫ Menu:

They don't have a printed menu card. The list of items provided will be mentioned on the top side of a wall. You can notice it once you enter the place. They don't have a vast variety of items and features only a concise number of items that are commonly ordered by a customer in a day to day scenario.

They are also providing different sets of combos like:

Combo Chennai - Rs 130 (Ghee Rice/Chicken Chettinad/Dal curry/Mint Lime) Combo Mumbai - Rs 135 ( Ghee Rice/Butter Chicken/Mint Lime/Dal Curry) Combo Malappuram - Rs 125 ( Ghee Rice/ Beef Varattiyathu/Dal Curry/Sulaimani) Combo Bangalore - Rs 120 ( Ghee Rice/Chicken Kebab/Lime/Dal curry) Combo Kozhikode Rs 120 (Ghee Rice/Dal Curry/Chicken Kurma/Sulaimani) Special Combo Rs 130 (Ghee Rice/Chicken Chukka/Dal Curry//Mint lime)

╫Place:

The place is clean and well maintained. The kitchen is more of an open type. You can get a glimpse of what's happening inside the kitchen.

╫Service:

The service was good and fast. I didn't have to wait much to get my orders. But I felt their staff needs to be a little more cautious while keeping the dishes on a table as I happened to see one of their staff spilling a bowl of beetroot salad on a customer's table.

╫ Food:

I ordered chicken biriyani (full) and Beef Varattiyathu. Both were scrumptious and I really liked it very much. The price of the full chicken biriyani was Rs 130 and it contained an ample amount of rice ( Kaima rice) for a person along with 2 good pieces of steamed,well-cooked and tendered chicken. The taste of the biriyani was really great and of course, the Beef Varattiyathu too. The price of the beef Varattiyathu was rs 95 and the quantity was ample for one person. It was served on a small chatti. The biriyani was served along with raita and beetroot curry. The former one was good but I didn't try the latter one.

╫ Verdict:

Altogether I had a great lunch at Mehfil and this was my maiden visit to this place. I really enjoyed spending my time here. The quality of the food was good and above all the rates were pocket-friendly. I wholeheartedly recommend this place to check out whenever you come across this area. It's certainly a good place to have lunch for families as well. I would be coming back again to try...

Longed to have a biriyani one evening. Reached this place reading the majority good reviews. Also I guessed since the place was called "Mehfil Biriyani" it would just be the place. So we went in with great anticipation and expected it to do justice. Located at an approachable place. It was late evening so it was not difficult to find a parking spot. It may not be so if you come to this place in the afternoon. The entry to the joint is brightly lit and attractive. Being close to the MG Road and the railway station, there is a steady pouring in of customers. That was assuring. No rest rooms.... Limited seating capacity for about 16-20 people. It is noisy and people are constantly moving around you.

We were told by the waiter that the chicken and beef biriyani were the best, however we could try other combos. We ordered for chicken biriyani. It was way below average. Few boiled pieces of chicken with a mound of rice over it was what we received. The look of it was itself a put-off. The rice and chicken both were totally bland. The raita was full of green chillies and the curd in the raita was throwing fire. The beetroot chutney (instead of the conventional dates) was totally insipid. We asked for a fresh lime and pineapple mint lime. Both were just sugar water. Well, the price is Rs 150 per plate. The quantity is just adequate but you would struggle to finish due absence of flavours of any kind. If a place is named after biriyani and serves biriyani so below par, I am not sure whether giving other items on the menu a try is even worth the effort. The waiter who served us was a cheerful fellow. That alone saved the evening!!

Definitely not recommended if you are craving for...

One of the best spot for all those biriyani lovers. All the biriyanis are dum biriyanis. What we tried from here was a Chicken Dum biriyani which was prepared with that beautiful small grain rice which has that great aroma. When I say it was a dum biriyani, i should also like to mention the dum was made to perfection in such a way the chicken was so well cooked and cane be very easily squeezed without any effort. It was very tender, fresh and soft. The biriyani had a well balanced proportion in terms of rice, chicken and masala. All these components was complimenting each other in such a way which makes the dish complete. The biriyani was accompanied by a salad and a pickle. Both the sides went so well with the biriyani. Quantity to price ratio was felt good. Recommended for all those who love biriyani. Apart from single biriyanis they also have biriyani packs of 2.5 kg and 5 kg including chicken fry which makes it a combo which is known as family pack. Other than this there is 5 different types of ghee rice combo, which served with different curry options and they also have porotta and different curry options. Parking is a bit lesser in front of the shop, i am not sure on there any other dedicated parking for the restaurant. Curry there are dine in...