I was really impressed by this place called Mediterranean last week. As the imaginative name suggests, Mediterranean food is the speciality of the house. We were a group of twelve but managed to get a table pretty easily. It’s located in Tolichowki, a little ahead of Yousuf Tekri – not a particularly happening part of town, but there’s a decent sized food court here with about 7 restaurants in it. I must try some of the others. Of the 6-7 restaturants there, one that really caught my eye was the Banne Nawab Hyderabadi restaurant. I’m a fan of Banne Nawab’s masalas and had no idea that they’d opened a restaurant. Action Item: Eat at Banne Nawab’s within the next week.

Anyway, coming back to Mediterranean. They’ve got a pretty exhaustive menu with over 150 specialites featured. Not all the stuff is Mediterranean though. They’ve chucked in a generous mix of continental food as well. Ordering can be difficult here, so make sure sure you read the description of each dish carefully before ordering. For the less adventurous of the species, they have a decent looking Indian menu as well with the regular North Indian fare.

We ordered some Hummus to get started and were really blown away. This was by far, the best damn Hummus I’ve had in Hyderabad. I just couldn’t get enough. We also ordered a portion of Governor Kebab and a portion of Adana kebab. Both of these turned up in a reasonable amount of time and were excellent. I got me some of the Turkish Onion soup too.. Not bad at all. The Governor kebab was basically a pizza with mutton mince on top. Pretty good with the garlic butter and salsa like tomato sauce. (kicking myself in the shin for not being able to remember what they’re called) [legs uncomfortably entangled now] {not worth effort, making note to self instead}*.

We moved onto the main course and most of the gang opted for continental stuff like the Chicken Fajitha and Chicken Schnitzel.. I ordered myself another round of kebabs. This time, the Izgara Tavuk. We also got a portion of the Veg Sach kavarma (jesht for try) and passed it around. All of these delivered highly in terms of taste and presentation.. I personally didn’t care much for the Schnitzel – a flattened deep fried breast of chicken served with some pilaf and sauce. It reminded me too much of the time my cousin sat down on a piece of Kentucky Fried Chicken and discovered it two hours later. (and plus I always thought Schnitzel was a sausage. From Austria or someplace. Wasn’t ‘schnitzel with noodles’ was one of Julie Andrews’ favourite things in The Sound of Music?).

Anyway, dessert! Since we were all pretty interested in the desserts we went ahead and ordered one of each.. Tried them all and didn’t really like anything.. Not much in this department, folks.. I wanted to show the family the place so I went back to this restaurant after two days. This time, I ordered the Hummus, a Non veg Sach kavarma and the Alinazik kebab.. The structured approach made for a much better meal.. Take a look at the menu – http://www.mediterraneanhotels.org/menu_turkish.html. Apparently these guys have been around for about four years now. Wish I’d discovered them earlier. Must thank Shalini and Khadeer for putting this plan in action.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself on both occasions and totally see myself going back for more.. The only drawback with this place is the location, but then again, the food is worth it!

Over and ou..

Wait.

I have a nasty one liner this week. 😀

Q. What would you call a porno featuring a chef and a slutty aubergine?

A. Bangin’ Bertha

..
..
..

as in Baingan Bharta.. get it?

Muhahahaha.

Over and out. 😀

* I love parentheses.