Today was my farewell and since all my colleagues knew that I am a big Foodie critic they asked me to pick up a restaurant. So when I saw that there is a new Hyderabadi Restaurant in the vicinity (Bandra - Hill road) I decided to get in and check how it is. Well I am Hyderabadi and knows much about the Hyderabadi food so please forgive me if I have overly criticized any dishes or anything. Well coming back to Restaurant ofcourse the name says it all THE GOLCONDA BOWL which now stands where there use to be Independence Cafe earlier and then it was Oriental Palate. As we step into the restaurant the ambience, decor, Pictures depicting Nizam’s legacy and those anitque stuff makes you feel like a Shamiana in any Hyderabadi Palace so star from me. At your entrance a quite hospitable staff welcomes you and makes you seated comfortably, (there are private tables as well with curtains just for large crowds or family friends who would like some more privacy). The crockery and the cutlery made of Copper and steel gives a more traditional feel. Then we started our order, since I know what the dishes would be like I scanned through the entire Menu Items. Starting from Soups and Starters which we ordered were Gosht ka Marag which was lamb cooked in a creamy broth ( stars from me as the meat was succlent and broth was almost )near to the actual marag soup from Hyderabad) then Murg Yakhni Shorba it was chicken stock with some chopped garlic in it (* star as it looked like chicken clear stock with no piece of meat in it though it had flavors in it but it was quite a shame) Starters were Pathar Ka Murg ( stars from me, it was rightly spiced and chicken was juicy) Haleem in any Hyderabadi joint its pride will be two dishes Biryani and Haleem. So over here it was quite closer to actual Haleem so ( stars from me as still it lacked some feeling of Haleem). Main course was Dum Ka Murg, Murg Koftay ka korma which was very tasty ( stars from me).
Then came Biryani over here Murgh Dum Biryani which was good in proportions for 2 people to enjoy it. It was good but not closer to authentic Hyderabadi Biryani and I have never tasted it anywhere here in Mumbai. What people relish on in Mumbai is not even closer to Hyderabadi Biryani so coming back to Biryani here it was decent but too much of brista (fried onions) made it taste completely wierd and I would rate ( * stars for not making it oily and full of masala like most restaurants do). Finally while we were to order Dessert we were so full that we thought to let it go. Anyways overall experience of food was not great but Satisfactory. Service staff are fantastic as they keep checking on regular basis if the dish was good and rightly spiced or not. The most important part and that it ones brownie point from me is they recommended us to have Biryani with hands and not with spoon and fork which was a right suggestion.
At the end for mouth freshner they gave us Meeta paan and some mukhwas which was bang on. A hyderabadi meal is always complete with Paan. So now if you think what would it be priced well it was moderate and for 4 people our bill came to around 3500 which was quite good. Atlast my recommendation is you should visit this restaurant but dont compare it totally with authentic Hyderabadi Cuisine its just 70% there