Exploring Hyderabad's evolving food culture

Mint

25-05-2025

The Hyderabad dining culture has largely been associated with biryani. Think Grand Hotel in Abids, Paradise, Hotel Shadab and Shah Ghouse. While biryani is still the go-to food in the city, the culinary landscape over the past decade has opened up to international cuisines, breweries, nightclubs, curated dining experiences and restaurants that elevate the state's cuisines.
While legacy places continue to thrive in the Old City, around the Charminar, premium restaurants and hotels can be found in the upmarket Jubilee Hills and Banjara Hills. Thanks to the IT boom, the influx of people from across the country and an increase in high-rise residential spaces in HITEC City, Financial District, Gachibowli, Narsingi and Kokapet, the culinary scene has secured the space and audience it needs to expand.
One City, Many Concepts
Restaurants like Terrai, Istham Kitchen and Telugu Medium present micro-cuisines from Telangana, Rayalseema, Rajamundhry, Kakinada in innovative ways. Like Antera's Raju Gari Kodi Pulao (a mushy chicken and rice dish pressure cooked in milk) or Terrai's Golchina Mamsam, a Telangana mutton stir-fry.
Asian restaurants are on the rise. For a Vietnamese fix, Nirmala Vanamali's Banh Mi Babe in Jubilee Hills has created quite a buzz. In November 2024, Mumbai-brand KOKO opened doors. 'We saw that diners here were travelling outside the city for premium culinary experiences, and we felt the time was right to introduce KOKO's distinctive blend of Cantonese and Japanese cuisine in one seamless format," says Ryan Tham, chairman and co-founder of Pebble Street Hospitality, which owns KOKO.
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Another Mumbai-brand, Akina, opened in March. Their menu has warmer, spicier notes, keeping in mind the local palate: for instance, Chevella Baby Corn with Spicy Chickpea Miso and Kyoto Karam Podi, or the Firecracker Chilli Chicken, with Crispy Chillies. 'Hyderabad retains its uniquely Telangana roots. We consciously embraced this dichotomy and adapted our modern Asian fare to have a uniquely Hyderabadi flare," says Rahul Punjabi, corporate executive chef of Aspect Hospitality, which runs Akina.
The menu at One8 Commune, which opened in May 2024 in HITEC City, features inventive dishes like Soya Haleem and Bamboo Biryani that pay homage to the city's culinary heritage. And also modern Indian, Asian, and Continental cuisines. 'We reinterpret regional influences—like the comforting richness of mutton dalcha—with slow-cooked depth, while dishes like Chelo Kebab Chicken or Lebanese Mujadara Rice reflect the city's growing appetite for global, ingredient-forward plates," says Agnibh Mudi, corporate chef.
Besides the signature offerings of charcoal-grilled kebap and house-made breads, the menu at Kebapci Hills, which opened in April, also features regionally exclusive dishes like the Biber (Pepper) Mandi, infused with Urfa pepper from Türkiye. 'Hyderabad has strong influences of the Mughal, Persian and Turkish cultures. The historical alignment of Nizams with the Ottoman Empire also made it interesting for us to position ourselves here," says Aasim Shah, founder and MD, Kofteci Foodkrafts Pvt Ltd, which owns the restaurant.
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Pop-up experiences in Hyderabad have gotten exciting too. Guwahati-based Farha Naaz is the consultant chef and founder of Mamazaki, a concept kitchen showcasing food from the North-East through pop-ups and private dining across the country. Her tables have had dishes like Datshi Dumplings in creamy Himalayan-style cheese sauce; Pitha Crepes or Assamese crepes reimagined with smoked duck, bhut jolokiya and baby potatoes. 'Diners are curious, open, and willing to engage with stories and flavours they've never tried before. It is that curiosity keeps me coming back," says Naaz, who has been coming to Hyderabad since July 2024.
Hyderabad also enjoys the supper club experience through Pragati Mitta, chef and founder, The Long Table by Legally Delicious. 'Diners want chef-led concepts, hyper-seasonal menus, conscious sourcing, and formats that feel personal and elevated. More than market demand, I was responding to a creative impulse: to bring a restaurant-level culinary experience into a home setting for cuisine and conversation to be savoured, not rushed. The enthusiastic response is an affirmation," says Mitta, who began her initiative in June 2024.
Classics and More
Bars and mixologists have been keeping pace too. Cocktails are taking the savoury route, catering to the spice-loving palate of the city. At Firewater Neo Bar and Kitchen, which opened in January, in the Financial District, the Pola Adiripola is a margarita with tamarind purée and the Aakasam Erragaa Undi is a Bloody Mary with a touch of garam masala. At MOAI, mixologists Claudio Caprio and Saurav Samanta go technique-forward with drinks like the Strawberry Curry Colada, which blends clarified strawberry and coconut with ginger and curry leaf milk.
Bar Kin-Rü features on the 30 Best Bars India list 2024 and is known for mixology collaboration bringing to the city global names like Bar BenFiddich along with top Indian talent from Jaipur's Paro to Mumbai's Bandra Born.
Hyderabad's culinary scene is catching up with the rest of the country at an incredible speed. While tributes to the local cuisine and ingredients are a smart way to resonate with the audience and make inroads, the message is clear: Hyderabad is open to it all.
Ruth DSouza Prabhu is a features journalist based in Bengaluru.
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