Hatimys, Georgetown

It was Eid and I found myself in this area again, hungry as usual. Unfortunately most of the usual joints in the area were shut on occasion of the festival so I decided to buy from the first good place that was open since it was getting late.

Went till the end of Mannady street since almost every joint was shutl. Noticed this restaurant with a different name almost at the corner of Mannady street and Broadway rd. Well, I hadn't heard of this place before and my curiosity got the better of me as usual so I decided to check out the menu at least.

On entering first thing I noticed was that this was a proper restaurant. One of the proper sit down restaurants with AC in this area which has more of street food. A lady was sitting at the cashier asked her to suggest what kind of food they serve. Interestingly, it seems Hatimy's serves Bohri cuisine and have been catering to the tight knit Bohri community in the city for almost 2 decades now! Well, I was definitely intrigued now and wanted to taste some new dishes from this well regarded cuisine.

Their menu seemed to offer items that I've not seen anywhere. Could see items like Lahori Chicken Laziz curry, Ajwaini tangri, Zafrani full leg and something called Crispy fry roll which interested me.

Since this was the first visit I just made a small order of Crispy fry roll (Two rolls for just 90 bucks) and the Shanghai full leg (rs 110) since i wanted to see their take on this. Also tried the mutton biriyani (rs 170 if Im not mistaken) which was being made specially for Eid! I was lucky enough to get it since it was almost over then. I could see the chef ladle marinade onto the grilled chicken leg. An entire portion of chicken leg including thigh piece was just rs 110 so seemed like good value.

The welcoming owner explained to me they use a combi oven machine which was visibly displayed to cook their chicken legs etc. The difference was the reduction in black char which is known to be unhealthy. I was pretty impressed by this and the fact that the curries was being vacuum packed! The restaurant seemed to give importance to convenience for the customer. Anyway was eager to taste the food now.

First the chicken fry roll was still hot and crispy and very yummy! Each roll was filled with plenty of tikka masalified chicken and there were two rolls for 90 rs. Damn good value I feel for the taste and quality. The Shanghai chicken leg was huge and well-cooked. The chinese influence was subtle as the chicken was grilled. One could just taste the Schezwan chillies without overpowering. Meat was extra juicy due to the addition of marinade. Not sure if the mint sauce is the right one for this though. Mutton biriyani was excellent, with the right amount of spices and subtle. Enjoyed it. It seems they cook this only on Sundays or special orders. Nothing was over spiced or salted.

 On the second visit I had to try one of the curries and immediately shortlisted the Lahori Laziz which was recommended. It seems they also churn their own homemade ice cream a la Bombay kulfi style! So I had a malai kulfi (80 grams for 50 bucks). It was very creamy and yummy no surprises there. Also tried the Crispy chicken which was an amazing looking tandoori flavored boneless piece surrounded by crispy fried strips! Again 2 pieces for just 90 bucks! Even one piece was quite filling.

Back home, I tried the Lahori Lazziz curry late that night with some home made chapati and it was probably one of the best curries I had tasted in the recent past. It was buttery like butter chicken but had a lovely smoky peppery flavor to it as they described it would! And for just 110 bucks it is an absolute steal. There were about six pieces of chicken and plenty of gravy to last me till the next day!

A Must Visit place for the amazing taste, quantity, pricing and good preparation methods. Definitely worth it to travel far for some exotic authentic Bohri cuisine which is rarely found in Chennai! Have fun exploring the menu! Signing out!! :D

Hotel Bismi, Angappa Naicken street, GeorgeTown

Another nice place found on a walk through the lanes of Mannady. This was a surprise find for me although this place is probably known among those of the area. It's in one of the lanes known as Angappa Naiken street. I am not sure of the exact location will update later. So while strolling through, imagine my surprise when I caught a guy frying a big bunch of fat parottas on a huge cast iron Tawa! Of course I had to stop and try. :D

I think someone has written about this place before so I recognized it immediately. The hotel with seating is in the middle of the narrow lane and adjacent to the takeaway spot while the parotta making takes place on the opposite side of the lane. In fact when there is no rush, the Parottas are flung across the street I've heard. During normal time the guy who rolls them throws it correctly on to the tawa in clockwork fashion. Anyway enough antics moving on to the food...

Their parottas are much thicker and filling than the normal ones. 3 of them is probably sufficient to fill up a normal eater. They provide a peanut based salna which is quite sweet. Usually I dont like salna with peanut in it since it's not blended in well but this was different. I liked it even though it was sweet. But I prefer the slightly more masalified one. Very few places get it right.

So I decided to get a mutton curry as well. The elderly cashier said they had Mutton korma, mutton chops, curry and a special mutton curry. He suggested the special mutton curry for 140 rs. I went for that and few parottas at 16 bucks a piece. They also have wheat parottas for 18 bucks each. They also have idiappams and idlies. No biriyani is made here. There are few chicken curries as well.

All the curries are placed in steel vessels right in front of the waiting area and we need to first get a bill for the items, then pay and present that bill to the packing guys. They look more than 20 minutes to get my order since the parottas had run out. So be prepared to wait a long time if they've run out since there will be a bit of crowd too.

Parottas were super thick and heated till crisp back home. The curry was really thick and tasted yummy with the main flavor of curry leaves in it and a sweet tinge. It was like a variant of Chettinad curries but not the usual taste. The flavor of mutton was clearly present which is nice. There was only a single huge mutton piece which isnt great quantity wise for a smaller hotel. One negative is the insane amount of oil over the curry. I drained out about 20 ml of it. :D But the parottas were a tad too thick I felt. I prefer lighter variants. Still when it is crunchy it's quite delicious with the salna and curries.

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