A different kind of Paradise - Biryani in Hyderabad via MI, SQ and AI

[yflyer]

I recently made a couple of trips to Hyderabad in India. Not my first time to India, but a while since my last visit. A lot to see and experience there, not least the cuisine, and a highlight of any trip to Hyderabad for me is the biryani, which is far more delicious than biryani you get in Singapore, or almost anywhere else for that matter.

My Indian visa was set to expire mid-way during my itinerary. For some countries, the visa expiry date refers to date of entry: enter on the last day of your visa validity, and you can stay another 30,60 or 90 days. But for India they interpret this differently. You can stay as long as you want prior to the visa expiry date in your passport, and not a day longer! I did not realise this until a week prior to my trip. Yes even seasoned travellers get tripped up sometimes.

What to do? Change plans and split the itinerary into two trips! And in between, spend several days back home in Singapore while applying for a fresh visa.

Not ideal, especially since HYD-SIN is a red-eye...but great as far as material for writing a TR goes...

I have travelled to India a lot over the years. Much of it in the days before the new airport terminals in Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and elsewhere. Before the new airports were ready, air travel in India took some getting used to. In the past, many of the airport terminals were old and congested, and they have airport workflows and processes like no other country I have travelled to (Famous "gotchas" include getting a luggage tag with a security stamp on your hand luggage, which they check at the gate. No stamp, no boarding, and an inevitable argument with the gate agent followed by a long trek back to security to get your stuff rescreened). But I have always enjoyed travel to India...I have great friends and colleagues, and the food is spectacular.

These days, the airports are gleaming, modern structures. And the food remains superb. And one of the most delicious treats to sample is Hyderabadi Biryani. No-one prepares Biryani the way you get it in Hyderabad.

I had a tight schedule, but there was no way I was going to travel to Hyderabad and not eat this. And having been properly chastised before in another TR about mentioning hamburgers without actually displaying the merchandise in my TR, I remembered snap a picture of my biryani meal before devouring it!

And along the way, some brief impressions of Silkair, SQ and Air India as well...

[yflyer]

Silkair flies from Changi Airport T2.



Retro flight display...complete with flipping letters...I almost regard this as installation art these days.

I love T2. It is compact, comfortable and familiar. I know where the ATMs are, I know where the bookstore is, and where the food is. I even know where the toy store is (Named "Kaboom!", an unfortunate name in the post 9/11 world), where I used to stop to pick up gifts for my kids when they were young. And yet, whenever I head there, there seems to be something new...

Not content with just having a fish pond, they now have several floral sculptures.









I personally think this is overkill, but lots of tourists seemed to like taking pictures there. Took ages before I could get a clear shot without anyone else standing in the way.

My gate was E24. Unusually, this single smallish gate lounge was boarding two different flights departing at almost the same time. First time I have encountered this.



My Silkair A320 (or was it an A319?) was being prepped for departure. A 4 and a half hour flight in a narrowbody is no fun. I wished I was on the Lufthansa A380 in the background.



Funky aerobridge...



This was an older plane. No that was an understatement. It was REALLY old, and it showed. The Y seats were covered in faded blue fabric. (the newer ones have orange/brown seats).



There is no recline in the last row.



On Silkair, seat back entertainment consists of staring at the same patch of blue fabric for 4 hours. Madness. Bring a book or an iPad.

These flights are really too long for a narrow body. But I got lucky. Loads on the flight were light/moderate, and I got 3 Y seats to myself. No complaints, then!

Silkair catering on this sector is pretty good. I had an Indian vegetarian meal, washed down with a small bottle of white wine.

[yflyer]

Immigration at the new Hyderabad Airport, some distance from the city, was quick. On the way out, I passed by a branch of McDonalds. They have really tailored the menu to local tastes. There is no beef on the menu, and many vegetarian and spicy delights. No queues for Hello Kitties or Despicable Me Minions at this outlet, either (That seems to occur only in Singapore).

[yflyer]

Air travel is not the only mode of transport worth writing about in India. You also see a lot on the road that you don't see elsewhere.



I had a productive set of meetings, and once the work was done, I managed to carve a few minutes out of my schedule to head for biryani.

According to most locals, the most famous place for Biryani is Paradise Hotel/Restaurant. The original is in the adjoining city of Secundarabad, less than an hours drive from Hyderabad city center. This was a little far from where I was, but fortunately there was a branch close by.





Like the main branch, they serve essentially the same biryani in different settings, a fast food setting, as well as a fine dining setting (with different prices). Special mutton biryani at the food court/takeaway counter is 250 Rupees, or SGD 5.20 / USD 4.20.



I went upstairs to the sit-down restaurant and ordered mutton biryani for one.





This was delicious and different even from biryani's in Delhi or Mumbai. The rice was long-grained, flavourful and light in texture and bite, with almost no oil at all. The spices in the rice were also very well blended, and the mutton exceptionally tender. This was served with a traditional gravy ("salan").

It was a delicious meal. What a wonderful way to end a trip to Hyderabad!

To be very objective, I felt that the biryani I ate that evening did not match up to the memory of my first meal at Paradise many years back at the original branch in Secunderabad. I also subsequently had several other biryani's in Hyderabad that were just as good as Paradise. Were standards slipping just a little? I could not be sure. But a very satisfying meal nonetheless.

[yflyer]

It was then off to the airport for my redeye home.



A much newer A319 this time, and with 3 Y seats to myself, I think I had more space, and a flatter "bed" than the folks in 2-2 "regional" business class up front.



Loads were light, and we pushed back a few minutes early, and a speedy taxi to the runway for a late-night takeoff. What a contrast to congested airports and long waits at Delhi, Mumbai or Beijing and Shanghai for that matter.

The Silkair flight to Hyderabad is a turnaround flight: the tech and cabin crew fly 4.5 hours to Hyderabad and the same crew fly and work the cabin back home, for a grand total of more than 10 hours on the job! I only realised this when, several years ago, I was chatting with one of the cabin crew and asked them how they liked Hyderabad. She replied that she had never gotten off the plane to visit Hyderabad, and always flew straight back to Singapore!

They must already be very tired by the halfway point, but the Silkair cabin crew I have met have never let it show.

They serve a full dinner on this flight, but I skipped mine in favour of a lovingly prepared gin and tonic, complete with a neatly cut lemon slice. Getting a lemon slice in your G&T on SQ is a hit or miss affair: sometimes you do, but most often the cabin crew don't bother. Score one for MI.



We landed a few minutes early and I was in a taxi home in almost no time.

Overall, really too long a route for a narrow body, but with light loads and 3 Y seats to myself both ways, I found the overall flight experience pretty good.

But this TR was really about biryani -- a dish done better in Hyderabad than anywhere else. If anyone knows where you can get a good Hyderabadi biryani in Singapore, do share this info!

[yflyer]

Not long after, fresh visa in hand, I found myself waiting to board SQ408 SIN-DEL. I would spend a day in Delhi (Gurgaon, actually, close to Delhi) before heading to Hyderabad again.



This is operated by a refitted 777-300 (a 77A). At one point, they used to fly 77W's on this route, but not now. The competition, Jet Airways, flies an NG 737 on this route, so maybe SQ didn't feel the need to up their game to a 77W.

Once again, I suffered from "gate envy" and wished I was boarding the JAL Dreamliner at the next gate instead.

[yflyer]

My seat was 31H, first row of Y, by the emergency exit. A great seat with lots of legroom.



Instead of peanuts, you get Muruku.



For dinner on this flight, you can choose from an international selection, or a veg or non-veg Indian selection.







I have always found that Indian cuisine tastes great on planes, and today was no exception.

[yflyer]

A short stay in Gurgaon, and it was time to head to Hyderabad again, this time on Air India.



I flew out of New Delhi's huge, new airport. This is a massive structure, very different from the old airport, which was really congested and unprepared for the boom in both domestic and international air travel in India.



At Indian airports, security personnel check your ID and ticket/itinerary before you are allowed to enter the terminal building. Ensure you have a printed copy of your itinerary or e-ticket with you, with the correct date of travel reflected.



The new domestic terminal in New Delhi is spacious and a delight to travel through. Be prepared for quite a walk to the gate, though as this is a sprawling terminal.



Check-in was quick and efficient.



I attached a luggage tag to my hand luggage (so that security staff could stamp it after clearing security/x-ray). AI are advertising their dreamliner quite heavily, including on their flaming red/orange baggage tags.



My 2 hour flight from Delhi to Hyderabad was on an Air India A321. The picture showing the tarmac should give you a sense of the scale of this airport. And this is just one tiny part of it. On the downside, we had an exceptionally long taxi to the runway for take-off.



This aircraft appeared to be configured for international travel. Business class was 2-2, with each seatback having a large IFE screen.



I was in Y, a very full Y-cabin that seemed to stretch out forever in an A321, laid out in the standard 3-3.





The aircraft was clean and well maintained, with the exception of the bathrooms, which were a little run down.

[yflyer]

Y seats have IFE video screens (not AVOD, a fixed set of 4 programmes, including Airshow).



They also had earbud headphones distributed for each seat.

Not a great movie selection (Just 4 channels, non-AVOD), but video quality was good. Lots of folk onboard seemed to be enjoying the movies. Much better IFE than on Silkair's airbuses, with their ridiculous silent features on shared, dropdown video screens.





A full dinner (choice of veg or non-veg Indian) was served on this evening flight, and it was very good.



Inflight service was warm and friendly, and I was quite happy to see that rules about staying in your seat when the seatbelt sign was on were very strictly enforced by the cabin crew.



A nice thing about this meal, apart from the delicious curries and preparations accompanied with rice, is that to accompany the meal, you had real dahi / curd, rather than the plain yogurt that most international airlines (SQ included) serve as a substitute.

The flight was uneventful and landed at Hyderabad Airport (actually located in nearby Shamshabad, south of Hyderabad), which was another spanking new and modern airport. A 45 minute drive later, I was at the Westin Hyderabad Mindspace (in Hitec City), a great hotel to stay if you need to be in that part of Hyderabad.

[yflyer]

A couple of days and a couple of biryani's later, it was time to head home, once again on Silkair's red-eye from HYD-SIN.

As this was approaching the National Day long weekend in Singapore, loads were even lighter than usual, I suspect, and I had 3 seats to myself once again, on a very new A319.

I had dinner this time, again the Indian vegetarian meal, which I enjoyed. As mentioned, it is hard to go wrong with a spicy Indian meal inflight, whether on Silkair, SQ or Air India!



I would call out the dessert for special mention: not sure what it was, but it was a traditional Indian dessert which I found very tasty.

[yflyer]

And that sums up my recent trips to India, and it is great to be back in Singapore in time for the National Day celebrations today, August 9th.

Now if only I could find a good Hyderabadi biryani in Singapore...

To end off, something not really related to my trip. On my initial outbound flight, we had Silkair and Tiger boarding flights to Hyderabad and Dhaka at the same gate, at almost the same time (though different aerobridges). I wondered at the time if anyone heading for Hyderabad ended up at a different destination from what he/she planned, i.e. in Dhaka instead, or vice versa. I then recalled this Heineken ad around "Departure Roulette" which is a slightly different take on this topic. Enjoy!

Heineken - Departure Roulette:
http://youtu.be/PenROORvLyw

[9V-SIA]

Thanks for sharing.

Always enjoy your TRs, especially the pictures

I find the old Y is much more comfortable on MI. More leg room for sure

I agree about these long flights without IFE

I hope the new 738s will be better, especially when you see what US airlines are rolling out now

[yflyer]

Thanks for sharing.

Always enjoy your TRs, especially the pictures

I find the old Y is much more comfortable on MI. More leg room for sure

I agree about these long flights without IFE

I hope the new 738s will be better, especially when you see what US airlines are rolling out now

9V-SIA: Thanks for your message! Always glad to get feedback on these TR's...

I did not realise Silkair had bought 738's. I hope they do justice to the interiors. I was quite impressed with the Y cabin on the Qantas 738's that fly between NZ and Australia. Those have very comfortable cabins, with pretty good IFE (And decent catering too).

[Kyo]

I enjoyed this TR and I hope to be able to visit India someday

[yflyer]

I enjoyed this TR and I hope to be able to visit India someday

Kyo, thanks for reading!

I have travelled to India many times for work and have found it an incredible place (Yes, the Incredible India tagline from their tourism authority is completely justified...)...if you do find yourself heading there let me know...I would be happy to share tips on how to make the most out of your trip.

Apart from work, I have only travelled to India once on vacation, though, and apart from the usual Delhi, Agra, Jaipur sightseeing, I spent a few magical nights at Neemrana Fort Palace...(http://fort-palace.neemranahotels.com/).