Unveiling Hyderabad's vibrant F&B scene

From pop-ups to Asian restaurants to regional cuisine, Hyderabad's culinary scene has it all as diners experiment with tastes and flavours

- Ruth Dsouza Prabhu

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.