ChI Eats
Restaurants – where to lunch, where to dine
Veggies are in for a challenge. Pakistan is wall-to-wall meat country.
However, the subtleties of the international Insider palate can be pleased by the following…..
Lunch At…
European & Asian food:
• Join “the Sofa Brigade” and the “Diplo Crew”, to see and be seen at Mouse Afzal Khan’s Khaas Café and Art Gallery - (quite apart from the great food, the coffee is good – by no means a given in Isloo). Long Friday lunches will see young hip politicians, major socialites, powerbrokers and the odd passer-through, hanging out and shooting the breeze. The Westerners eat early and the Insiders come at 2pm….Closed for dinner. Located in F6/2 in the most upmarket residential area of town (you can tell by the trees – old, tall, and very well established!)
• Try out Tiramisu near Emirates at the beginning of Jinnah Avenue, especially for its mouthwatering home made bread and famously fab desserts made by its elegant and beautiful owner, Shahida Salman. It’s in a “commercial” location (and parking can therefore be a bit of a challenge), but the Insider Crowd hangs there for dinners, lunches, or drops in late, for specially-ordered after dinner desserts. 051 287 0886 (and their Lahore sister restaurant of the same name, 042 587 1684) email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
• The Nirvana café (behind the Spa of the same name) on St 99 in G6/4 near the Afghan Embassy, is a little haven of East-South Asian fusion, located in G6/4, the old government housing area, in a building which used to be the Turkish Embassy residence (till the latter moved to a huge architect-designed new combined embassy & residence, in the Diplomatic Enclave)
• Table Talk in Khosar Market, understated, home-cooked, beautifully presented Asian and European food, in a small, cosy inside-outside restaurant with London Books (shop) next door (one of the oldest and most loved by Isloo-ites), both owned and overseen by Riffy of ….
• Riffy’s Restaurant in Chak Shahzad is a bit out of town, but worth the 20 minute drive. Like most Isloo locales, it’s in a private (farm) house, custom-decorated, and seating outside in a fabulous garden.
• Or on a clear, sunny, but not hot day in autumn or late winter/early spring, lunch at Kashmir Wala at Daman e Koh, for great barbeque and a spectacular view of Islamabad.
Islamabad seen from the Margalla Hills
Photo from http://www.worldisround.com/articles/35849/photo58.html
Dine At….
For European/South Asia fusion food
• Riffy’s , for the great food and the relaxed atmosphere
• Tiramisu in the Blue Area (especially for the dessert), good for a business lunch, though tables are a tad close together.
• L’Atmosphere 30 A St. 55 F-7/4 . Open from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. (without interruption). Closed on Tuesdays. For reservations, call Joelle 0302 896 3949 or Robert at 0301 574 7494 (manager).
For Asian, check out
• The Thai at the Marriott – when it reopens - (for the food) – cavernous, and live Thai music, but great, authentic tastes. Book a private room at the back – much more cosy.
• Sakura , the Japanese at the Marriott (ditto) or if you absolutely must eat meat, Jason’s for the Australian steaks, also at the Marriott;
• Café Lazeez near the Telenor building in Jinnah for fusion South Asian cuisine and really decent coffee. Check out their place in the Margalla Hills, at Pir Sohawa, for al fresco dining and lunching. Located at 15, School Road, F7 Markaz, Islamabad 44000. Tel (051) 265 0975; fax (051) 265 0974; Email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
• Omar Khayyam , on Jinnah Avenue, for authentic Iranian cuisine, complete with ’70s vintage Tehran ambiance. Some of the best grilled lamb chops in town.
• Kabul Restaurant , Jinnah Super, for meat, meat and yet more meat, Afghan style, which though it looks a bit like a hole in the wall, has quite a large foreign patronage, despite (or because of!) its no-nonsense, basic fare and service.
For fast food – (if you really, really must – or you have small children who need feeding. They do take out, too).
• KFC, MacDonald’s, Pizza Hut, Subway , all in and around Super & Jinnah Super, for when all else fails. Check out the MacDonalds in F9, a sector known to ChI’s as “east of Taxila”
For Central Asian “fine dining” a la Genghis Khan, try:
• Khiva at 64 Main Margalla Rd F6/3, tel 051 287 8788, which has great upmarket Afghan-style Central Asian and Shinwari food, at reasonable prices and great quality, as well as a lovely little “chai khana ” (tea room) for smokers and sheesha. (Check out the large, beautiful Koi carp in the pool in the back garden, under the water lilies, too.) Fantastic lamb for meat-lovers, and great soups and vegetable dishes
For Middle Eastern, the place to be seen is at…
• Majlis Lebanese restaurant on St 4 in F/3 (for the atmosphere, the sheesha) and the location (round the corner from Kohsar),
And ChI can hear you all asking “why not Pakistani food recommendations?” Well, that’s because everybody knows that the best is found only in people’s homes.
So get yourselves invited, right?