Biryani360, Bandra
53, Hill Road, Bandra West, Mumbai Phone No : +91 75067 35085
1430 hours, 27th September 2014, Saturday:
Imagine a scenario.
A rock star. A pop artist. A musician, a singer. Someone who shot to fame when he attempted (and succeeded) in selling a portion of his future earnings on eBay. Someone whose maiden production featured a crew of 135 musicians, vocalists, engineers, arrangers and multi-Grammy, Emmy and Brit award winning producers.
And someone who, along the way, developed another passion. Of Biryanis. Of cooking Biryanis and selling them online. Music and food? Wow!
The same someone does not take this alternate ardor as just a passing fancy. Not because there's loads of money available to splurge upon a whim. Rather he goes about it in the same fashion as he did for his music. Intense research. Months of them. Tasting of biryanis all across the globe. Heavy duty consultations - with chefs, five star hotel head honchos, food consultants, nutritionists and heaven-help-me, even a psychologist. Time, money, energies and intellectual investment. Travel. Travail. Trials.
And finally he's ready with the finished product. And to unleash it upon the world.
That's Shayan Italia for you.
Imagine a scenario.
A rock star. A pop artist. A musician, a singer. Someone who shot to fame when he attempted (and succeeded) in selling a portion of his future earnings on eBay. Someone whose maiden production featured a crew of 135 musicians, vocalists, engineers, arrangers and multi-Grammy, Emmy and Brit award winning producers.
And someone who, along the way, developed another passion. Of Biryanis. Of cooking Biryanis and selling them online. Music and food? Wow!
The same someone does not take this alternate ardor as just a passing fancy. Not because there's loads of money available to splurge upon a whim. Rather he goes about it in the same fashion as he did for his music. Intense research. Months of them. Tasting of biryanis all across the globe. Heavy duty consultations - with chefs, five star hotel head honchos, food consultants, nutritionists and heaven-help-me, even a psychologist. Time, money, energies and intellectual investment. Travel. Travail. Trials.
And finally he's ready with the finished product. And to unleash it upon the world.
That's Shayan Italia for you.
I am there on a special pre opening food tasting invitation. Which is a privilege 'cos you are becoming a part of the product yourself. You are making a contribution, and in the days to come by, you can look back and say "Hey, this is where I came in...".
As against the tradition, I am introduced to the Un Veg Biryani first. Steaming hot delight spread across a large platter on the table. But you have three competitors laid down as well, lets name them LSD respectively.
How much can one biryani be different from another - I muse sardonically. Beyond a point, its just cooked rice and meat meshed together with a dash of browned onion and some spices. So what else is new?
Little did I know that I knew very little. My host labored to educate me the finer nuances and hues of a fine (Michelin grade) Biryani.
"We've taken advice from the best nutritionists in the world to create something special. We've combined three unique grains of rice in our biryani (the most expensive being Rs 600 a kilo) , for three reasons. To reduce the carbs levels, to make it lighter and more digestible and for aesthetics' sake."
"Another difference is the oil quotient. We hardly use any oil. Little bit of ghee and its completely organic. We have approximately 700 calories in 300 grams of the Chicken biryani, and approximately 600 calories in the Veg one. Which is a whopping one half of that of the competition."
"Our biryani is spicy, but not fiery spicy, Its not the masala spicy, its more like back-of-the-throat spicy. And that comes from our highly secret flagship ingredient, a herb incredibly rare to source and enormously expensive. We use real saffron strands imported from all over the world, and we use a combination of rare crushed flower petals to give our dish that intoxicating aroma."
"The normal standard is the rule of 80-20, 80% rice to 20 % chicken. We have 60% rice to 40% chicken. Moreover, our chicken is not sourced from anywhere, but from one of the top food industrialist suppliers."
“We use a different technology for our biryani. Its not like layered or anything. Rather the chicken is cooked in a certain way which can only be made on a blue flame, a thousand degrees blue flame which is possible from special stoves by Hindware. A lot of rice is actually par boiled (rice that has been partially boiled in the husk), white rice boiled, cooled down, chicken halfway boiled, cooled down, its like building up a pyramid where everything just culminates into a perfect balance”
I taste the Chicken Biryani. And I found every word spoken of the product to be true. The oil was minimal, the three grains of rice distinct, the fragrance thick in the air, the generous portion of boneless chicken chunks labyrinthed inside, the kesar strands amply available, the-not-too-much-nor-too-little raisins interspersed within, the onion browned to perfection, the rich use of herbs and a fairly high spice quotient. No boiled potatoes to create a noise. No artificial coloring. Every bite carried off librarian hotness with grace. Absolutely superlative. But even at that, it was impossible for me to pin down that X Factor, the one thing which elevated the experience to an entirely new dimension. It was there doubtless, but as ephemeral as a chimera. Like you can only sense it, its not there for you to touch and see.
As against that, the three competitors fared utterly poorly. Biryani L had boiled potatoes, and they were not even properly boiled at that. It was also replete with pungent thick masala. Biryani S had artificial coloring visible and Biryani D had a very high grease content. They evidently didn't stand a whisper of a chance against the real product.
The Veg Biryani, came off with equally flying colors, trouncing its peers into downright embarrassment. Since the meat is not there, all the premium stuff is used in twice the quantity as that of the Chicken biryani, to bring the elan at par. The herbs offer a spicy charge, the more number of saffron strands generously lend their aroma to the complete product and the finely chopped vegetable bits - carrot and french beans and peas are intricated perfectly within the concoction. The gifted chef Ibrahim's cooking is celebration-worthy.
Biryani L, on the other hand had green coloring agent added to it, making it unpalatable by the very look, leave alone taste.
The entire methodology is patented, everything has been filmed and true to industry standards by the way - I am informed.
The product goes live on 16th November 2014. This is going to be a pure delivery system model, there's no dine-in. The price is going to be Rs 360 for either biryani, for a pack of 300 grams. Purchases would be possible strictly online - either via browser or through apps. No order over phone, no cash on delivery ("Every business loses 25-40% of payment on Payment on Delivery, all the more so with food"). You can choose to have a biryani delivered any day in the future. You can specify your preferred delivery time slot. You stand eligible for discounts, top ups, credits and promotional offers in the currency of biryanis only. You can even Gift a biryani.
I can only fault them on one front. They don't deliver till Andheri.
The ratings, they go like this:
The Food Quotient : Food Quality 4.5 / 5, Food Choices ---, Food Portion 4 / 5 Food Presentation : 5 / 5
The Other Determinants : Location ---, Cleanliness ---, Service ---
The Hygiene Factors : Ambiance ---, Space quotient ---, Delivery time 4 / 5
The Conclusives : Food Price 4 / 5, Honesty 5 / 5, Overall Experience 4.5 / 5, Will I Visit again 4.5 / 5
PS: Bouquets / brickbats on the review can be addressed to [email protected] or submitted below.
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