Shahi Dawat — Restaurant in Pune

During our first official trip to Pune, we decided to explore a local restaurant for lunch. After searching through Google and YouTube, we stumbled upon Shahi Dawaat. The auto dropped us off near the restaurant, and at first glance, the surroundings were less than impressive—a damaged road and a nearby drainage leak made the area seem a bit rough. When we asked the driver for directions, he told us in Hindi to walk about 75 meters and look to the right.

As we walked, we passed two street vendors selling shawarma on the left. I was taken aback by the vibrant red color of the shawarma and the incredibly low price of just ₹50 (₹55 with extra cheese). Although it was tempting, I decided against it, thinking it might not be the healthiest choice.

Finally, we reached Shahi Dawaat, and let me tell you, the food was beyond our expectations. We ordered Tandoori Roti and Chicken Patiala, which turned out to be one of the best dishes we’ve ever had—truly next level in taste. The highlight was their famous Sheek, made purely from meat without any fillers like dal. The fresh mint leaves served with each plate of Sheek added an amazing flavor, making it even better than Kareem Hotels, Delhi

My only cons are the lack of seating and no air-conditioned hall, which can be a bit challenging for families. But overall, the food is exceptional and well...

We are one of the regulars ar Shahi Dawat and generally we like this place however this time we had a very unpleasant experience. We had chicken biryani and it was full of oil, since we have had the biryani before we know how it's served and the quality. This time it was not eatable and we left as we could not eat much!! I tried giving a feedback to the person on the counter, I guess he is called Mohammed, the person was very rude. I told him it was very oily this time and he wasn't receiving the feedback very well. When I mentioned that you are being indifferent and your attitude is really poor, he said yes yes. I mentioned that customer service and attitude is very important in a service industry, he yelled at me. I replied saying if this is the attitude people will not come to your place and you have lost a loyal customer. Again indifference. All this while I was talking in a calm and composed manner but I lost it when he yelled back. I generally don't put any reviews for places but this behaviour got me to do this today. It is one of the old places in camp and I will miss going to this place. Anyways I hope the owner teaches the staff some manners, etiquette and...

Heard a lot of hype about this place, and since it was packed, we figured the food must be worth it. Big mistake. Went on a Sunday night — the owner was straight-up rude. Told us to wait 10-15 minutes, then barked at us to go wait upstairs like we were doing them a favor by being there. Literally said, "You can wait or leave" — what kind of arrogant attitude is that? Clearly, the crowd has gone to their heads. They act like they’re running some five-star joint, but the food is nowhere near that level. The mutton biryani? 450 bucks for a laughably small portion, barely enough for one person, and on top of that, it tasted average at best — made with regular rice, nothing special.

This place seriously needs a reality check. The owner, staff, and whoever’s running the show should get some basic training in how to treat customers with respect. Just because your tables are full doesn’t give you a free pass to act like jerks. Success clearly...