Spice 6 – The Global Cuisine, is a new café cum restaurant on Banjara Hills Road No. 1. The restaurant has two floors. The ground floor sports an elegant and understated design that’s meant to serve as a relaxed place where friends can sit and chit chat over a cup of coffee. The first floor serves as the family area, and looks like a more traditional restaurant.
The menu of Spice 6 is quite expansive and covers everything from coffee and quick bites to Indo-Chinese and North Indian dishes. However, the specialty of Spice 6 is its Lebanese food, and that’s what I got an opportunity to taste at a Desi Foodies event yesterday.
I’m a big fan of Arabic cuisine, and 4 Seasons has been my go to place till now for Khabsa Laham – the delicious Arabic version of Mutton Biryani. The rice is packed with flavour and aroma, but light and non-spicy. The mutton so well cooked that it effortlessly separates out from the bone. I have tried Khabsa at various other places in the city including the other hotspots like Marhaba (Nanalnagar), Yum Tree (Barkas), and Mataam Al Arabi (Barkas). But, 4 Seasons has consistently impressed me with its flavour profile and taste. I’m delighted to say that Spice 6’s Khabsa might be even better. The biggest differentiator is the chutney, which is a lot sharper than the one you’ll get at 4 Seasons. I’m also a big fan of Shawarma, and the one served by Spice 6 is probably the very best I’ve had in the city. Soft, juicy, and simply delicious!
In fact, none of the dishes that I tried disappointed. The Fattoush –a green salad with fried pita bread pieces and a hint of tanginess, was light and refreshing. Hummus and pita bread, another favourite of mine, were just as they should be. The Grilled Mutton tasted awesome and were very different from what you might have had at other places. The Chicken Nawabi kebabs weren’t bad by any means, but were undoubtedly the least awesome dish of the day.
In the desserts, I started off with Kunafa. It was a pastry soaked in sugar syrup with fried semolina on the crust. It was delicious, but the sweetness was on the higher side, which makes it hard to enjoy in larger quantities. Next up was Sitaphal Rabdi, which was good, but didn’t even offer a hint of Sitaphal flavour. Umm Ali, an Arabic bread pudding, was not as sweet as the version found in many other Hyderabadi eateries, which actually elevated the dish. Finally, I tried the Baklava, which surprised me in a good way. The flavour profile is aggressive, and the texture was just perfect.
In spite of a large bunch of foodies voraciously gobbling up food, the kitchen never missed a beat. The service was fast and good. Spice 6 was an absolutely delightful experience. Food here is a tad more expensive than in 4 Seasons, but still very reasonably priced. 1 plate of Khabsa comes with a large piece of mutton and costs Rs. 270. Chicken Shawarma is priced at Rs. 150. I’m definitely going back to this place to try out more of their dishes.
