Royal Snacks, Sindhi Muslim

Royal Ice and Spice is a restaurant located right opposite the Bundoo Khan and Roasters outlets on main Sindhi Muslim. 

It is situated right next to Hyder's. 

You can clearly see the windows of the dining area on the first floor of Royal in this shot.

This review is pretty late, because we have been eating here for a few years, mostly while parked in the car in front of the eatery, which made it difficult to photograph the food.

Royal offers a variety of popular food, including Chinese, at affordable rates.
The portion size is extremely good value for money.

For rolls, I would recommend you stick to the popular joints in Defence/Clifton. I had a kabab roll once at Royal, and did not find it up to the mark.

Besides Chinese, barbecue, shawarma, soup, fried chicken (known better locally as "broast"), chaat/pani puri and rolls, Royal also offers ice cream, fresh juices and shakes that are actually quite delicious.

I have tried their cold coffee too, and liked it.

We mostly go for the deals at Royal.

You can see that the prices are - especially for Karachi dwellers living in the so-called "posh" areas -  to die for. The taste and quality of food at Royal is so good.

Chicken Burger, Rs 120.

Deal 2: Chicken Crispy Burger, Crispy Chicken Piece and French Fries, for Rs 205.
A soft drink came with this too.

Deal 7: Chicken Reshmi Kababs, puri paratha's and a soft drink - for only Rs 150.
Whenever I order this, I have to get 2 leftover kababs packed to be taken home, since the portion size is so ample.

One more shot of the food, with camera flash. :)

Verdict: I really like eating at Royal Snacks, even if we have to usually do that in the car, like most other families that park themselves in their cars in front of the eatery to dine there at night. Royal Snacks has a sitting area for families on the upper floor, and a more cramped one on the ground floor. The service done by waiters to the diners seated outside in their cars is quick and efficient.

Sheikh Abdul Ghaffar Kabab House, near Tariq Road

Sheikh Abdul Ghaffar Kabab House is beginning to gain more and more recognition and respect in the Karachi eating-out 'hall of fame'.

Recommended to me by someone in my family whose friends took them out to try this place, I decided to one day act upon their repeated requests to try it out at least once.

 Boasting a loyal clientele that it has garnered solely by the virtue of word-of-mouth, having no other major marketing strategy, "SAG" is located in a quiet side lane near Tariq Road, just a bit off the main signal crossing on which the prominent Naheed Supermarket is located:

There is a huge masjid right next to this obscurely situated, multistory kabab house, called Riyaz Masjid. This means you have the choice to pop in next door to pray if the isha salah happens to start while you wait for your dinner to arrive at your table.

A long queue of customers with takeaway orders is visible on the street downstairs.

Yummy meats being prepared live under the open sky.

Scrumptious but fattening: piping hot, deep-fried puri paratha's being taken out of the wok.

A dark doorway amid the outdoor barbecue stations beckons families who want to dine in.

This is one side of the first floor, where families opt to sit. Ground floor is reserved for men-only groups of diners.



The staircase leading upstairs.

This is our favorite floor: the spacious, open-air rooftop floor, reserved only for families.

This floor is the most airy and spacious.

The entire menu is visible on a wall placard in the middle of the floor.
I was thrilled to find on offer, for once, dhaga kababs made of mutton! This is because I am not a huge fan of beef.

The simple but holistic barbecue menu. The prices are extremely reasonable!

Green chutney and raw onion salad. The chutney was very mild.

Chicken Reshmi Kababs - Rs 160

Mutton dhaga kababs - Rs 180

Beef Bihari boti - Rs 120

 

Puri paratha's - Rs 30 per (4-quarter) piece

Zafrani Kheer - Rs 30

Suji Halwa - Rs 25

The whole bill. No taxes. Can you believe it? The portions were so generous that we had to get one seekh of Chicken rehsmi kababs and one seekh of Mutton dhaga kababs packed to be taken home.

Verdict: Barbecue doesn't get any better than this. Really, Abdul Ghaffar Kabab house is akin to Bundoo Khan in its impeccable flavor and quality of food.  Each and everything we ordered, including the desi desserts, were absolutely out of this world!

If you haven't yet visited this place, I would say that you must, because you obviously have no idea what you're missing. :) I know that most Pakistani's living abroad would kill to have a meal like this even once a year!

Please click here to view the location of Abdul Ghaffar Kabab House on Google Maps.