Mian Rehan's Blog

Food Review: The Hungry Toad The tiny, blooming commercial market in V block, Phase 2, DHA mostly houses small emerging fast food restaurants. A new entrant into this market is The Hungry Toad, with a small, pop-up shop after several successful reviews at food festivals like Lahore Eat and Coke Music and Food Festival. Their menu, at the moment, comprises only of three core items: an appetizer and two classic burgers. I was intrigued to visit the place after hearing about their appetizer, called the Mozzetto, which is their unique take on Mozzarella sticks. Their signature quality, which sets them apart from any ordinary Lahori mozzarella sticks, is their coating. As opposed to bread crumbs, the rich, gooey cheese is breaded with crushed Flaming Hot Cheetos. My friends and I ordered everything on the menu, and were served hot, freshly made food after only a short wait. The appetizer consisted of three mozzarella sticks served with a honey mustard dip. The first bite delivered...

Street Biryani: The Pocket Sized Restaurant That Packs a Punch Situated along Bhitai Road in F-7 Markaz, along a line of other eateries and cafés, Street Biryani caught my attention with its modernist exterior. It was a quaint looking restaurant with a palette of royal blue, hunter green, and mustard yellow. The lack of parking space proved to be an issue, since there were too many restaurants and no specified parking for each designated restaurant. But once my friend and I found a spot, we unknowingly headed inside to what would become one of the best biryani experiences of my life in Islamabad. Street Biryani does not have a lot of seating, with a total of four tables inside and two outside. We had to wait 5 to 10 minutes before an internal table cleared up, and we could be shifted into the air conditioned area. The waiter passed us their booklet of a menu, which had snacks, starters, drinks. The main courses were three types of biryani, in chicken, beef, and mutton. We wan...

Mirchi 360 Biryani: A Medley of Taste in a Matka (Earthen Pot) My first instinctive reaction was, “Who serves biryani in a matka (earthen pot), traditionally used for curries?” I was at Mirchi 360, an unassuming small eatery in F-10 sector that has been gathering a lot of steam lately, for its taste and quality. But delicious Biryani is welcome no matter how it is served. Allow the writer to indulge the reader on the origins of Biryani before the review of Mirchi 360. Undeclared but almost unanimously accepted as one of the national dishes of Pakistan, Biryani landed in the subcontinent with the Mughals. One theory states that the word Biryani actually originated from ‘birinj’, the Persian word for rice. Another claims that it comes from ‘biryan’ which means "to fry" or "to roast" in Persian. Regardless of its history and origin, Biryani has evolved into a dish devoured with equal zeal by the rich and poor, in the north or the south, made with chicken or b...