Ginsoy worth visiting Chinese restaurant in Karachi

There are many Chinese restaurants serving quality food in the city, since China is one of Pakistan's best friend, we get lots of Chinese people visiting Karachi for varies reason so obviously Chinese cuisine is more famous than any other countries cuisine in Karachi, we have number of classy Chinese restaurants in Karachi. Ginsoy has been around for a long time amongst food eateries in Karachi and has become a prominent name when it comes to choosing Chinese restaurants in Karachi. We Karachi food dairy team was also attracted towards this Chinese restaurant in Karachi and tried their rich culinary content. 

Ginsoy is located at many places in Karachi; they have two branches on khayaban e shahbaz phase 6 only, one in Sindhi Muslim Society and along with one located in north nazimabad. The one we visited was next to Espresso on main khayaban e shahbaz, Defence phase 6; it’s a nice cozy branch with a hospitable reception.

The food ordered was in the following order: first up in starter, we ordered Thai soup and Dynamite Prawns, Thai Soup: I’ve had Thai soup many a times before and so this one was also up to the expectations, I must say, the flavors inside are absolutely enriching to the taste buds. It’s spicy, tangy and had a hint of coconut to it with big chunks of chicken breast, not too thick like a hot and sour soup, nor rather too watery like a chicken stock, as a suggestion, for those who like spicy soups and are tired of having hot and sour over and over again, this is something you should definitely go for.

Second item for starter was Dynamite Prawns, not as such spicy, little bit sour taste, too saucy from outside and juicy from inside. I’ve had these at ample places and they’re usually served in a crystal glass on top of some lettuce and covered with thousand islands, it is something we usually have at like Tao or other Restaurants but these were different, they had a thin layer of batter around them and the sauce was a lot different from a regular thousand island, It seemed to me it was something of their own peri-peri kind sauce, which was good, but it can be made better. I think prawns without the batter taste better.

For the main course, we ordered Mongolian Beef, Beef Chili Dry, Thai Basil Prawns, Egg fried rice, Chicken Shashlik, Red Roast Chicken and Kung Pao Chicken. The Mongolian Beef and Beef Chili Dry are somewhat of a “must order” at any Chinese restaurant, so obviously we couldn’t skip out on that one and plus its beef, so we can’t say no to beef. The beef chili dry was good nothing great, probably something that every other place serves great; The Mongolian Beef on the other hand was my favorite, thick gravy, nice juicy chunks of beef that just make your palate jump up and down; it’s something you really should order with your food.

 The Thai Basil Prawns were out of this world. Really nice, crunchy yet tender from the inside covered in little gravy with a touch of spiciness that just makes your cholesterol jump high. It’s something I really enjoyed; heart patients beware! You might not want to take your hands off of this, I normally don't have Shashlik that much but whoever cooked it did it justice, sauce was perfect, the vegetables weren't overcooked, chicken was tender and had absorbed the sauce properly.

The Kung Pao Chicken is actually one of my favorites because of two things, the peanuts (peanut oil) and it's a traditional stir fry dish, it's one of the more traditional, stir fry recipes from the Szechwan or Sichuan cuisine that focuses more on flavors that burst in your mouth than anything else, they nailed it perfectly. The egg fried rice seemed a bit on the harder side though, Could've been left just slightly softer but this actually varies by taste. Finally the Red Roast Chicken, splendidly cut average sized chicken pieces dipped in thick red gravy (although I’m having trouble recalling if this was spicy or not, you might want to confirm when you visit). It’s something that goes nice with your fried rice.

Quality 8.5/10

Ginsoy has a good reputation in the market, and has always maintained good quality food as long as I’ve known to have visited them.

Quantity 8/10

Chinese food isn’t ordered in individuality here in Pakistan, so as a bulk quantity customer who would take his family/friends out to Ginsoy for Chinese, the quantity is pretty damn good.

Price 7.5/10

Nothing that will make you broke average prices around 800 PKR per head for a reasonable amount of food and great taste.

Menu Selection 7.5/10

They recently revamped their menu and the menu cards are aesthetically pleasing, as well as offering a great variety of Chinese, Thai and a (few) Mongolian dishes.

Location 3.5/5

This Chinese restaurant is located on a very narrow service lane near Espresso on main Khe-Shahbaz,Phase 6 Defence, the area around is full of restaurants there, the parking can be hard to find even though they have a free valet service but it’s a easy dine in spot to reach for people on wheelchairs.

Ambience 4/5

Ginsoy has Peaceful nice homey ambiance, they’ve made it in a way that blocks the outside traffic noise, commotion and it’s a casual place with great lightning and a very hospitable staff at your service all the time.

Service 4/5

Remember the wait kills your appetite but here service time was pretty fast, we didn’t have to wait for more than 15 minutes to get our order, not just our table, on a completely unbiased review; the tables next to us were also receiving their food on time and were satisfied with the restaurant’s service with Spot on hygienic conditions.

Presentation 3/5

Nothing unique about the presentation at a Chinese restaurant, it was similar to the ones elsewhere; there was nothing wrong with it but nothing that obviously stands out. They have patented steel bowls though, which was an interesting touch and I’ll let the people reading this be the judge of that when you go there, Please do share your comments on that here.

Best Biryani Restaurants in Karachi

Biryani is a globally famous Pakistani dish and in Pakistan its best prepared in Karachi city, most of the Karachi People is happy with this word "Biryani" itself aromatic rice, juicy succulent meat and all sorts of spices that bring back many tasteful flavors in ones mouth in one go. We can easily say one can find highest number of best biryani places in Karachi than any other city in the world, because best biryani restaurants in Karachi is much liked and appreciated by people here. 

People always in search of best biryani options in Karachi, biryani in Karachi is most liked and loved food, biryani is the food which relates to the lifestyle and weather of Karachi, the best thing about biryani is you can adjust the taste according to your liking when you are filling your plate with biryani, there's no wrong time to have Karachi's tasteful biryani, people in Karachi are lucky to have good large number of places selling mouth watering biryani, infect Karachi public likes to eat biryani so much that business is growing day by day in every other area, restaurant owners are aware of the demand of the dish and every restaurant prepares biryani in its own style, therefore people of Karachi always appreciate the efforts of restaurant owners whom are making best biryani of Karachi, It's an art to make biryani with right amount of spice, also to be known what is the right boiling level of rice, from boiling rice to mixing it with spices and giving it a perfect steamed level.

Being a Die-hard fan of good delicious Biryani, My hunt for the best tasty bryani in Karachi city shall never end, finding a good biyani place in Karachi is not so difficult and here is a list of restaurants where you can find yummy tasty biryani, these places have been the ones suggested and wildly talked to worth a try, decided to check out on those places with a request for extra spicy, an allooo (Potato piece) and fresh. There is not a top place distinctively, each and every restaurant in Karachi that serves biryani has its unique taste and blend of flavor, here are some good names to visit and try according to my visits and research. 

MADNI BIRYANI located near Sher Shah Suri Road, can find this place at Buffer zone area in Karachi, strong aromatic, right amount of chicken and rice quality was decent but lacked ideal spice level but the place is considered among best biryani places in Karachi

HAJI BIRYANI  at Jamshed Road, perfect rice, absolute perfect steam, aromatic but not as strong as Madni but spice level rocked and fresh, for me quantity doesn’t matter, the right amount of spice, rice Quality (Not sela please) and just the ideal steamed prepared Biryani is what matters most. So I m not suggesting anybody to opt for these but this is what I observed.

MAZAIDAR  a ten minutes drive to Madni and last but not least lacked steam, decent amount of chicken/allooo, lacked any spices at all, not happy with rice at all.

THE WHITE BIRYANI Located at Rahat Commercial DHA phase 6 near DHA College for Men, started business in 2004, the place only have 17-20 person's space for dine in, they mostly cater delivery or take away orders. As their name suggests the restaurant offers white biryani by using all green spices in preparation of their biryani with highest quality products, white chicken biryani is available all week and on weekends they have beef option available, besides biryani they also have kababs and qoorma too.

STUDENT BIRYANI A very well known biryani restaurant of Karachi, it's an old place serving biryani since 1969. At that time they were first famous restaurant biryani restaurant of Karachi, with passing time they have improved a lot with their menu and branch expansion in country and globally, In Karachi Initially it was opened in a small place near back side of rainbow center, but now they have many branches in other areas of the city as well, and offering wide verity of Pakistani dishes, but still their main and popular dish is biryani and its worth a try. 

BIRYANI MASTANI It's located in phase 7, Sehar Commercial, the place has no proper dine in facility, can only handle 4-6 people at dine in, mostly handles take away or deliveries, a simple menu is on offer with three different types of biryani and three different tastes of Ritta and chutni's. Manu offers Hyderabadi mutton biryani, Chicken Bombay biryani, Shahi Pulao finding a good mutton biryani in Karachi isn't easy as compare to beef biryani or chicken one, but here you can have good mutton biryani, with mutton cocked to perfection, they have good chutney menu with three authentic Pakistani flavor chutney's the Imili, Tomato, and Aloo Bukharaa ones, and in sweet dish option they have Matka Kheer and Peshawari Zarda sprinkled with dry coconut. The eatery is certainly a place worth a visit.  

BIRYANI OF THE SEAS They provide wide range of Pakistani sea food dishes including fish and prawn biryani, the restaurant has two branches in Karachi, both branches presents clean and fresh environment to enjoy food, and can handle large number of people on dine in, a perfect place to enjoy desi food and specially their tasteful masala biryani menu with unique blend of flavor.

FOOD CENTER  Food center a one older restaurant in Karachi determined to provide quality food at affordable price basically serving Pakistani cuisine in nice hygienic setting; the restaurant is built in a large building and can handle hefty number of people and big gathering easily. Here you can find Chinese and continental dishes, along with good seafood items, their main branch is located at burns road a famous oldest food street of Karachi. Food center is famous for its damn hot up to the mark biryani, scrumptiously spicy and good quality of rice blended with tender juicy meat, perfect balance of spice and oil, here you can also enjoy tremendously delicious sweet dish milky Lab-e-Shireen and Kheer Khas,  if you're at down town the place is good to be tried. 

If you're looking for good tikka Biryani, these are the places you can visit: Biryani of the seas near clifton bridge, Biryani center at SMCHS, if someone wants to eat prawns biryani in karachi, Biryani of the seas is the place where you can find best prawns biryani in karachi, some people ask about best Dandaa biryani in Karachi?  Which is available at Chandni chowk restaurant opposite alamgir monsque Bahadurabad, well there are places I may have missed for a specific biryani in my research, I would ask my readers if you want to share your knowledge of any good place, please share it with people in comments section.

Where to find that bamboo biryani? anyone who have locations to suggest for Bamboo biryani in Karachi please, join us in comments and let us know where people can find Bamboo biryani in Karachi, which is bungali style cooked inside bamboo stem.

Best Biryani place in Defence karachi

1. Baba Biryani -:  D.H.A  Phase 7 near Axact office

2. White Biryani -: Plot 22C, Rahat Lane 2, DHA Phase 6, Karachi,

3. Pioneer Biryani -: Boat basin near motaaz they deliver as well. Or golden pakwan and sadabahar in phase 2 ext

4. Biryani mastani -: Phase 7 sehar commercial near ideal bakery

5.  Shahi Biryani -:   Khadda Market

6.  Jeddah Biryani -: Boat basin

7.  Indus biryani -: at khadda market

   

Casa Villa a Classy fine dining restaurant In Karachi

If you’re facing difficulty to decide where to eat out next, give casa villa a serious consideration. This place is definitely worth trying if you haven't already there. The Restaurant Casa Villa claims to provide delicious mouth watering taste on their signature dishes, and yes off course they do have significant position when it comes to provide tasty steaks and sea food items which can take your taste buds on a eventful journey, certainly a worthful every penny experience for any lovers of fine dining, The place is so cozily done up, certainly finest dining experience of Karachi, located within the neighborhood housing the elite club of eateries of Karachi.

Upon arrival, we were welcomed warmly at the entrance, serviced immediately by the hosts and shown to a table in a slightly quaint place, you can have seats both indoor and outdoor, and it also has a lovely patio for parties. It's a nice trendy place with a pleasant ambience and absolutely perfect lighting and spacing to enjoy a beautiful evening with loved ones. Serenity of light music tunes was creating a perfect balance in between the silence of atmosphere around.

It’s all about how your staff performs when it comes to give an exceptional result in a highly competitive service market, the chef at Casa Villa knows how to prepare good steaks, from the texture to temperature to serving size and presentation, the entire package was exceptional. The professionalism did show perfection in every aspect of providing customer satisfaction by Casa villa staff whether it’s cooking of tasty dishes or table service. With these qualities you can easily say Casa Villa is the best Steakhouse in Karachi.

We were around fourteen friends this time to visit Casa Villa, Everyone selected different dishes of their choice from the Menu, the menu has a wide range from Chinese to Thai, Italian and much more, food served sizzling hot and delicious. The main thing was when food arrived they knew exactly who ordered what without creating fuss.

For starters we ordered

Chowder and Wasabi prawns:  The hint of Wasabi could have been generously done for that oomph effect, but still it was nicely done. Seafood chowder was outstanding with a rich creamy texture and with a reasonable serving size.

Sriracha Prawns and smoked salmon: The Sriracha prawns were more like a pair of flaming flamenco dancers that stomped and thumped the inside of your mouth before finally settling down thanks to the crispy iceberg lettuce.

For Main course we ordered

Chicken Santa Fe, Blue cheese steak, Chicken with feta, Steak deluxe, and one Chicken that is served on stone. The chicken was so perfectly cooked not dry or under-cooked just right loved it.

Angus mushroom steak (medium well):  was perfectly done

Steak Chardonnay (medium well) was perfectly done 

Blue cheese steak: Specially instructed by person who ordered that it should be pink from inside and not hard from outside and Steak was perfectly cooked just as we wanted.

Spicy beef steak with jalapenos:  It was juicy from the center all the way to the sides which are just what the doctor ordered. Premium fillet of steak cooked right and done ever so differently by adding jalapenos and adding that extra kick to the taste.

Spicy fettuccine alfredo with shrimp pasta jumbo prawns with rice: Loved the pasta but the prawns were a bit dry, but when we asked them to make it a bit saucy as the prawns were a little dry, we were dish up freshly made prawns. 

For desserts we ordered

Chocolate lava and bread pudding:  Chocolate lava spongy on the outside and molten in the center perfect in taste.

Chocolate mousse topped with hersheys chocolate sauce:  smooth on the tongue and silky taste.

Must try at casa villa?

Moroccan chicken, Santa-fe-chicken, Red snapper, Steak Florentine, Blue cheese steak, Molten Cake and Lava Cake is a must try.

The service was at par with Kolachi for me with their waiters being so attentive and smiley and was happy to help us in every way, polite and ready to assist as much as they could (Which included taking lots of pictures in every angle). In retrospect, they were the actual stars of the night.

The whole experience was a 10/10, including the value for money. I would rate it as good as the top five restaurants in Karachi, at a much more economical and reasonable price. Do visit and take your dining experience to another height.

If you are looking to celebrate a Birthday party in a Karachi restaurant then Casa Villa is also a good choice because they are offering complimentary decorations on all special occasion celebrated at Casa Villa.

 For Reservations call: 03005972313

For Home Deliveries call: 021-35302400 

Best Naan shop in Karachi

Stuffed Naans concept introduced by “Cloud Naan”

A visit was made by team Karachi food dairy at “Cloud Naan” we people are exceptionally selective regarding what goes in our tummy these days from the time when we always on a fantasy diet and feel extremely guilty after a disappointing meal. Went to Cloud Naan over the weekend and found it’s a classy idea, a unique concept brought into eatery world, they really do signify it when they call it "fusion", the blend of flavors around the world filled in Naans, the traditional item of almost every meal now with distinctive stuffed taste, freshly baked Naans served peeping hot, baked in traditional oven, I love the concept and it seems like they put a lot of effort and time coming up with the different fillings they offer.

Perfect Hi-Tea Manu with different taste 

The place “Cloud Naan” located at Bukhari commercial. We ordered creamy Tikka Naan, zinger Naan, cheeseburger Naan, Doodh patti and Kaahmiri chai, the cheese burger which is basically a big juicy patty of minced meat topped with cheese wrapped in a double layer Naan, It was super delicious, everything on the Menu was fabulous, A whole Naan is more than sufficient for a single person. Cheese was drizzling out of fresh hot Naans.They all came with different dips that complimented each flavor and all had a different blend of cheese. I loved that they used a brick oven to make these Naans and it came out tasting like a mix between a Naan and cal-zone. I do wish they come up with more Desi fillings.

This Naan place is having Increasing acceptance in people’s choice day by day which doesn’t have much lavish furnishings and interior but still their popularity is increasing in numbers. It was excellent experience trying out cloud Naans famous Naan. Waiters were helpful and courteous, the owners are three young guys and its great how young people are venturing out and doing such a great job. They were there and were so open to any suggestions anyone had.  I would totally recommend everyone to go try the great Naans and support all the young entrepreneurs that are working so hard. Overall, Cloud Naan lived up to its name

Best Pizza Deal in Karachi

After listening so many good reviews on Triple Treat Box Finally I ordered it. This amazing triple treat box by Pizza Hut. Although i am not a pizza hut fan, usually try Pizza Hut when they come up with some exciting deals, This time they came up with triple treat box a box filled with treats of pizza and giant cookie. I ordered my deal and got it on time, pretty impressed with this box absolutely loved everything about this box, the huge 'drawer like' box comes with three tiers. I loved the fact how with the two pizzas, an entire Hersheys Cookie was also present in the box, and some potato wedges and chicken wings too, I mean talk about a whole package, one can cover it all that is a Perfect Family box with full of Happiness  for all age people. Verdict  :  Since this was my first Hershey's Cookie, I have to say, this is a must try, The cookie was moist, gooey and chocolaty and just to die for, cookie is one of the best thing in this box which completes it with perfection, was perfectly baked, Soft from inside crispy from outside. The chocolate flavor was well balanced.

The Pizza itself was really good (we had fajita sensation and Fajita). There were two different bases  and both were absolutely on point. Pizza was fully fresh and very well cooked with my favorite toppings, was covered with enough cheese, wings were perfectly cooked moist and flavorful, the spices were well balanced. Potato's wedges were average as the size of the wedges were bit small, I'm not a pizzaholic, it's super hard for me to actually like every pizza but Pizza hut definitely raising bar in the game and the re-branding and marketing is much more on point now. And as well as the usual pizza hut flavors. Everything was just spot on I personally just loved this all and all. Do order the triple treat box when you want to try a little bit of everything in a budget, the box contains one Regular and one 10.5" pizza,6 pcs of chicken wings, 12pcs of wedges, one Double Hersheys Cookie, price is reasonable and its more than enough for 5-7 people. overall really good delivery service. before it runs out or deal is closed by Pizza hut,  Its a must Recommended box to all the pizza lovers.

Best Mandi in Karachi

Finally paid due visit to newly opened Ridan Mandi house and it was totally worth paying. The place called Ridan house of Mandi is situated below Marca city at Khalid Bin Waleed road, Al Ridan is known as house of Mandi started their operations from 21st October 2016, your tummy will surely love the food on offer by Ridan mandi house. I didn't expect any restaurant in Karachi to have a good concept of traditional Arabian Mandi, but I stand corrected.

Real Mandi is what you get in the middle east, If you are familiar with authentic taste of mandi then it can be some different for you, this is for sure adjusted for the local taste so cannot be called authentic, it has Pakistani touch, not a 100% proper Arabic ethnic taste, but Restaurant have surely tried its best to keep it as much close to authentic Arabic taste, I don't think Pakistani's taste buds can accept the taste of Middle eastern Mandi.

Restaurant have wide range of Arabic dishes on offer chicken Mandi, mutton Madfoon and chicken madbi and kunafa, Yakhni and Kehva. We ordered mutton Mandi with salad. It was mentioned for two persons but we were three and it was enough for us, even some food was left. Their quantity is double what they mention. Yakhni and Kehva are complimentary. Food served immediately, infect the food arrived within 15 minutes. Chicken madhbi is must try as have same traditional taste as of original Arabic Mandi. Mutton Mandi was all up to the mark, and well cooked, tender and juicy, meat quality was excellent. Also had Kunafa and chicken Mandi, Kunafa was superb. The biggest winner of the night was that red tomato sauce. Salad was also well prepared with cucumber, tomatoes and onions. 

Have to say that it was worth the wait and brought back some very nostalgic memories. Ambiance is good, the environment was perfect for eatery, they have that regular dining facility (Table/Chairs) and they also have Dastar khuwans, like carpets with cushions (gao takiya) in small separated cubical and all waiting time depends on which day you decide to go normally its 15 min for floor sitting but on weekends it can take 30-45 minutes to find a space. Before visiting called them and asked if they can reserve the space, to which they replied, we don't accept reservations from Fri-Sun.

Recommended for people who want to try new and amazing experiences and also for those who have lived in the Middle East and want to take a journey back through taste, choice is yours after seeing the pictures.

Timings for Dinner 7:30 pm till 12:00 am and Lunch starts from 12pm to 3pm  

Address:  Khalid Bin Waleed Road, Opposite Danish Motors, White Palace Tower, P.E.C.H.S, Block 3. Karachi, Pakistan    Contact:  0301-3450845      Web site : www.RidanMandi.com

What's the difference between mandi and madbee?

Mandi is cooked in pressure cooker or special made something like tandoor you can say which is a hole in the ground with coals in it, Madbee is the one that has charcoal grilled chicken.More like chicken Tikka.