Lazeez Affaire in Hyderabad serves a generous spread of North Indian classics

Indulge in North Indian classics at Lazeez Affaire, Hyderabad, featuring a seasonal Ramzan menu.

Bathed in sunlight, Lazeez Affaire’s, in Jubilee Hills, dining room immediately presents a small dilemma: where to sit. The long table by the windows is perfect for that Instagram shot; but with summer already making itself felt, the cooling does not quite reach that sun-drenched corner. Thankfully, most of the restaurant is awash in natural light without the glare. Done up in tasteful dual tones of beige and brown, the space gives off an easy, beachside-resort sort of calm.

The menu is resolutely Indian — North Indian, to be precise — and a quick scan reveals the familiar comforts: chole, dal makhani, Amritsari kulche and the like. The beverage list sticks to non-alcoholic drinks and avoids unnecessary theatrics. There are no elaborate names for nimbu pani or iced tea; instead, the drinks are simply numbered in the Indian system — ek, do, teen, all the way up to gyarah. Gyarah turned out to be a spicy kokum sherbet, while dus was a spiced guava mocktail. When gyarah arrived, I leaned in for a cautious sniff, promptly sneezed, and realised this drink meant business.

Mughlai Mutton Burra at Lazeez Affaire | Photo Credit: Dinesh Kakollu

Sipping one non-alcoholic drink after another, I turned my attention to the food. The vegetarian section, featuring dahi ke kebab, beetroot galouti and black chana galouti, suggested that some thought had gone into making the menu more than an afterthought for vegetarians. The in-house welcome bite arrived as a mini kachori chaat, a pleasant opener.

The menu runs to nearly 15 pages, so I quickly gravitated toward the special Ramzan menu and almost immediately decided that the mutton marag was non-negotiable. When it arrived and I took the first spoonful, I knew I had chosen well. Creamy and brothy, with the occasional sweetness of birista cutting through, it was deeply comforting.

Encouraged, I decided to stick with the Ramzan menu — from kebabs to dessert, I found myself wanting to try most of it, especially the darbari lukmi kebab. Here, the lukmi is not stuffed with meat; instead, the kebab arrives in the form of a meatball. Abdul Kareem of Lazeez Affaire explained that the traditional lukmi was never meant to be stuffed. Unfortunately, the dish did not quite deliver. The kebab was overly dense and heavily spiced, while the pastry lacked the expected flakiness. In parts, it was simply too hard.