des pardes

des pardes
saidpur village, islamabad, pakistan
tel: 051) 2320008

what was consumed: naan, lamb chops, chicken curry, biryani, helwa ... 

des pardes! one of the restaurants in saidpur village ("we" regularly go to andaaz), one that i've been meaning to go to. luckily, a work-related opportunity took me here (we also produced a short video about it. hilarious, right?). yes! work! YUM.

des pardes features desi/pakistani food. the naans, the rices, the curries, the works! the naan came out first, and its delicious. we thought we could eat it all day long. and then the rice (chicken biryani in our case) along with a delicious chicken curry (i wish i could remember which of the curries we ordered. all i remember is that it was delicious).

that said, people have told me that when at des pardes, you really want to enjoy their meat dishes, to include lamb chops (so we did). the lamb chops come grilled, having been seasoned with pakistani spices. each chop has the bone end wrapped in foil, making it easy (and inviting) to grab one with your hands to enjoy. 

we ended our meal with a few bites of pakistani sweets - carrot halwa and gulab jamun. turns out, i really enjoy carrot halwa.

i hear that, on the weekends, there's a guy who plays traditional pakistani tunes for your enjoyment while you dine. i'll have to come back to check it out and eat more delish food!

online: http://despardes.com.pk/

    

andaaz

andaaz
saidpur village, islamabad, pakistan
tel: 300-45601707, 301-8445511

what was consumed: all the things! some naan, some chicken, some lamb, some veggies, all delish.

there are a few places in town that, along with pakistani food, have a sort of pakistani feel to them. andaaz is one of those places.

the andaaz in islamabad is located in saidpur village, a traditional-like village in look and feel. as you're sitting in the open dining area of andaaz, you get a chance to look out at all of the green that is part of islamabad. and, if you go for dinner as we did, you get to enjoy how the look changes as the sun goes down and the night lights go up. just to be a part of that is worth the visit to andaaz.

but the food! yum. we had a series of dishes that i can't recall (despite the availability of the andaaz menu online). it was definitely a combination of veggies, chicken, seafood (shrimp), and lamb. most things were served like a curry, unless it was a naan (of course). and everything was delicious. one person in our party was concerned we hadn't ordered enough food; i'd definitely recommend at least 1 dish per person, in addition to appetizers. but don't worry if you don't order enough! they'll always take additions to your order. YUM. 

if there's something i didn't like, it was that the servers brought around comment cards at the end of your meal and waited for you to fill it out (for my comment, i said that i didn't like that the servers did that), but if that's the biggest complaint, then that's not a big deal! so, despite the sort of hassle to eat at andaaz, i'd go through it again. so fun, so delish!

online: http://andaazrestaurant.com