The first time I visited Urban Grill, I had a rather mixed experience. More than half of the menu wasn’t available, including the most of the dishes that Urban Grill is famous for. This was on the evening of the Election Day in Hyderabad, and would have normally been totally acceptable. However, I was bummed as I had called in advance and confirmed that the restaurant is operational. Urban Grill informed us about a discount on the food bill, but not that most of the stuff on the menu won’t be available. This was definitely disingenuous. When I voiced my frustration in the ‘Foodies in Hyderabad’ group, the management quickly contacted me and promised to make things up the next time.
Eager to taste some of their mutton delicacies, I revisited Urban Grill a couple of weeks back with a large group of friends. Urban Grill is brilliant place to hang out with friends. It offers both outdoors and indoors seating. Outdoors can be a little hot during summer months as the canopy hinders air flow, but you get the advantage of being able to watch live events on the big screen. They also serve a number of mocktails, hookah, and even paan. But, perhaps the best thing is that Urban Grill remains open till late at night. The only thing missing perhaps is the liquor license.
Although, I didn’t get most of the stuff I wanted during my first visit, Urban Grill had still managed to impress me with some of their dishes. The Tangdi Kulfi in particular deserves a special mention. It is is tender chicken leg doused in malai and is served in an aluminium wrap that looks like a toffee. I reordered the same dish as a starter, along with a plate of Afgani Raan. The Tangi Kulfi was again brilliant. The Afgaani Raan also proved to be another dish that you can’t miss out on. As the main course, I ordered Raan Biriyani. One plate costs Rs. 1200; however, it can easily serve five to six people. This dish takes time to arrive, but is well worth the wait. The Biriyani is very different from the typical Hyderabadi Biriyani, and there’s only one way to describe it – spectacular. Just for this dish alone, Urban Grill is worth visiting again and again. The only things which could have been slightly better is the service. The waiters were attentive and courteous, but did take an inexcusable amount of time just to get a can of coke.
