Keep Calm and Eat Karachi – Burns Road Food Tour

You can’t really say you like being Christopher Columbus if you don’t venture out into exploring and discovering your own city. So I decided to get acquainted with my love, Karachi, a little more.  This city, known as the ‘most dangerous city’ and one of the ‘deadliest megacities’ by the rest of the world, is also the city of lights, the city of many languages, the city of many ethnicities, the city of vibrant people, the city of apartment buildings, the city of a colonial past, the city by the Arabian Sea and the city of AMAZING food. Though Lahore is more famous for its food and Punjabis for their appetite, Karachi is arguably the best city in Pakistan if you want to indulge in great desi as well as international food. Karachiites, I tell you, have a more diverse food palette than anywhere else in Pakistan and they, too, love to eat!

So, to bite into Karachi a little more, me, my husband and another couple, with our respective kids, headed out to Burns (locally called Buns) Road last a few days ago – and – were mind blown. The Mr. in this couple, who happens to be one of the co-founders of The East End, helped us navigate and the Mrs. suggested what to eat from where. My husband and I grew up in Lahore so we would have been lost at Burns Road without these two. We food-hopped from one restaurant to another, trying to maximize the trip in terms of taste and variety, yet coming back with an intact stomach, which, by the end, was ready to explode. Get ready for some food porn, ‘coz this kind, yo mama will endorse.

Nice ring, no?

We took along just one car because this place can be a challenge in terms of finding a parking. Better would be to take a rickshaw or your driver so you don’t tragically spend the first hour finding a parking spot. We were, however, lucky enough to find a great parking spot right in front of Malik Nihari. Also, if you go a little later, around 10:30 PM, you are more likely to find a good, convenient parking space. Nevertheless, be ready for some walking and please, don’t wear heels.

TIP # 1: Take along a dupatta (if you’re a female of course) to blend in a little more.

We started with ordering a plate of haleem from Karachi Haleem and 2 naans. The waiter brought us our hot plate of haleem, sprinkled some chaat masala, some fried and dried onions and then squeezed a lemon on top. It was fun watching him do his Master Chef moves. And then, we digged in – and ufff – kya baat thi haleem ki. It makes my mouth water while I write this. The mirchi made us buy two 7Ups too. The cost of this haleem plate was Rs.80.

Mana Lo Haleem ka Love with 7Up

The next thing we tried was a plate of kata kat from Agha Sajji House. Initially, I felt kind of averse to tasting the kata kat as I am not a fan of eating ‘various parts’ of animals but when the sizzling hot plate came in front of me, I just had to give it a try. It turned out to be better tasting than MANY of the Pakistani dishes I have had over my 32-year lifespan. The fragrant steam hissing off the hot plate perfumed the air. The green chilies cut into small pieces and mixed with the kata kat were conspicuously standing out and giving an extra kick of spice, which I love in desi food. The whole ambiance was amazing – the sound of kata kat being cooked in the background, the cook throwing in ingredients like a boss, the smoke of the food being cooked live, the chickens partying around a bonfire, the ghubaaray waley ke naarey, the paan walay ki peek, the bachon ka shor – it was all so typical Karachi – I love the halla gulla of the busy city and if you want to experience the real Karachi food scene, believe you me, you don’t get that at Zamazama or Shahbaz Commercial.

Chicken Party

And Karachi lives...

  

The plate of Kata Kat cost us Rs.560, a bit more expensive because we also added chaanpein.

Kata Kat Plate

Garam garam naan

TIP # 2: If you take your kids along and as a rule don’t give them fizzy drinks like me, then do take their water bottle from home – the glasses given at the dhabas/restaurants aren’t the most clean-looking. They probably just get a dip in the water and never get soaped.

Although we were already in the initial stages of food coma, we headed to Malik Nihari, where we again shared one plate of nihari with one naan and one sheermaal. Of course, the consumption of more drinks was made necessary by the super spicy, super oily but super yummy nihari. The family section is on the first floor, which gives you a bird’s eye view of what stages the nihari goes through before coming to serve your taste buds in a plate. I don’t know if watching the whole process from the top was good or bad – but looking at the deychka of oil that was being used as garnish sure did give my eyes a cardiac arrest. But once the nihari landed in my mouth, my brain selectively chose to delete the unpleasant memories. That was one amazing plate of nihari. Who wants those bland old pastas and pizzas when one can be on a pure-nihari diet? The bill was Rs. 250, including two drinks. Oh Em Gee. Yes.

TIP # 3: Keep hand sanitizer with you – the tissues they serve are kind of like butter paper and don’t really do a good job with wiping off all that oil from your fingers.

We had resolved to taste many more famous items of Burns road, but by the end of the nihari episode, we were close to death-by-food. So, being good kids, we promised to stop AFTER having the Babu Bhai ke Bun Kabab. And what a good decision that was. Now I know why they are so famous. We ordered just two and decided to share. The mirchi level was pretty high so now it was time to bring our sweet taste buds into action. We dived into a plate of rabri from Delhi Rabri House. Each bun kabab cost us Rs.30 (yeah, that’s crazy) and the plate of rabri was for Rs.35 (also crazy). The rabri plate can easily be shared by 4 people because it’s a sugary shock that can cause diabetes but it’s really, really good.

Construction of a bun kabab

Babu Bhai

 TIP # 4: Take lots of khulla with you. You might be refused service if you don't have change.

I found so many other intriguing theylas that we didn’t do business with but are worth mentioning – the mitti ke bartan wala, the rangeen soda wala, the gol gappaey and chaat wala, the kulfi wala – They were all contributing to give ‘Buns Road’ its character, colour and identity.

Meethi Tikya

Rangeen Soda

It was time to head back because our stomachs were desperately begging for a (long) break laikin, jab zaalim nazar gulaab jaman ko dekh le, to kahan maanti hai. SO, I shared a single gulaab jaman with my husband and daughter. One sheeray wala gulaab jaaman was for Rs. 20.

TIP # 5: When you order each time, order just a single plate of the dish you're eating so there’s space in your stomach to  try out more types of items.

Was that the end of our food tour? Of course not! What kind of a desi food saga ends without a meetha paan? So, after one meetha paan each which aided our digestion, we came back home for a piping hot cup of tea, totally regretting not having the dhabay wali chai from Burns road.

Chalo, Agli baar.

Choona Kattha

Rangon ka shor aur pachaas ka note

Paan khao gay paan?

Tip # 6: Bribe your kids with the prospects of getting a ghubaara before going home to make them act like sane human beings during your food tour.

Total Cost of the food: Rs.1300 approx including naans, drinks and paans

Number of Stomachs entertained: 4 adults and 2 kids

No. of drinks gulped down in total : 6 + 1 litre of water + 4 cups of tea

No. of kgs put on in weight: a million and a half

Overall experience: 10/10

Would I do this again? Yes, totally, I shall be a regular feature of Burns Road

Moral of the Story: Next weekend, when you want to chow down some real food like a champ, go to Burns Road, eat what Karachi is really made of and fall in love with your city all over again. Wo Karachiite hi kya, jo Burns Road ka Food Connoisseur na ho!

Hajmola, sir?