When asked for Suggestions in Eating in Kashmir, One name everyone suggested in Unison was Ahdoos. And I had promised myself to have a meal at Ahdoos for sure, even if that would mean postponing my return by a day.
I was lucky, didn’t have to change my plans much but the urge was so great that I went to Ahdoos for lunch on the very same day I landed in Srinagar.
Ahdoos first started as a Bakery in 1918 and soon graduated to become the First Stand Alone Restaurant in SriNagar.
It is located on the banks of River Jhelum and for this very reason was drowned completely in Water during the floods of Sep 2014.
The Entire restaurant has been redone though the Character of the place remains the same.
While crossing through the DalGate and other roads we could sense we have reached as we could see a Ahdoos Board in the front.
As we climbed the stairs to the first floor we could see some wood work still happening for bakery at ground floor.
When we entered the main restaurant, we could get a familiar sense of belonging. A feeling like one gets on entering Host, Volga, United Coffee House in Delhi. Some old World Charm, Some Old conversations kissing my ears and something inside told me that this is the place to be.
We settled at our tables while appreciating the Wooden and Stone work all around. The smartly dressed servers presented us the menu. However, in my heart of hearts I knew I’m going to try Tabak Maaz and along with that we ordered Mughlai Chicken with Naan.
I would have loved to have Goshtaba, Rista, Yakhni, Haak etc….. But since kids may not appreciate it, We settled for Mughlai Chicken which was a Boneless Chicken Pieces in white Curry made with paste of Cashew nuts. Every bite of it was flavourfull and I literally licked the plate and bowl through my fingers. The same act was repeated 2 days later at Krishna Dhaba.
Tabak maaz was very soft inside; Lots of Saffron was added in it. I usually have had TabakMaaz which has a soft crust, but here probably they had fried it a bit, so the crust was a Bit hard. Bas, yahi kami thi.
Or may be shayad it was kami from my end, and yahaan aise hi bnta ho as Tabak maaz I had 3 days later at Mughal Darbar was similar too.
We would have loved to have Shashi Tukkra too from here but had to hurry as we had some pending engagements. I would have loved to come back here to have a few more meals, however due to a packed schedule we were not able to.
As soon as we stepped down we could smell the aroma of fresh puffs and saw bakery below Ahdoos. On enquiring we go to know that this is part of Ahdoos only, We ate a few Puffs and got some packed. They were fresh and tasty too.
One thing is for sure, whenever I go back to Srinagar, a Meal at Ahdoos is for sure. The place had just started to talk with me and I had to leave. 🙂
