Persian Darbar, Bandra, Mumbai

Persian Darbar is one of Mumbai's more famous Mughal food eateries and has been welcoming its clientele since 1976. Persian Darbar tries to serve authentic food in an authentic setting and that needs to be appreciated. The Biriyani for example is served and is had by its regular patrons in the true tradition of community eating with people expected to have food from the same very large plate served at the centre of the table. Lately I have read advertisements of its Byculla branch renovating its decor to add to a truly Mughal experience and setting to sample some fabulous food.

Persian Darbar also drives home one of the oddities in my culinary discoveries in Mumbai. The fact that the non Mughlai dish of crispy chili prawns is so fantastic, yet so Non Mughal had been first discovered by me at Shalimar and the version at Persian Darbar underscores that fact. The dish if you can get yourself to order it is fantastic and the serving is also very, very generous.

The last time we were there, apart from the prawns, we ordered the Raan Biriyani and Bheja Tava Masala.

The Biriyani needs to be ordered just for the grandeur of the dish, the Raan is very obviously the star of the show and is covered with Biriyani rice and adorned with sliced boiled eggs, cucumber and onions on the sides of the serving plate. The biriyani rice does not have the greatest taste and sort of disappointed me but the Raan was succulent and with loads of flavours. I would definitely recommend the dish for the taste of the Raan and the way the dish is served up.

The bheja was also disappointing, the masala was greenish and sort of overwhelmed the taste of the bheja. I prefer the version at Bade Miyan and Jaffer Bhai any day. Overall though, the meal was still worth it because of the Prawns and the Raan!

A meal for two at Persian Darbar will cost you approximately Rs 450/- without drinks.

How to get there: Persian Darbar is on Bandra, Linking Road. If you are driving from Khar towards, the highway, Persian Darbar will fall to your left once you cross Shoppers Stop.