Karachi, Pakistan: Recalling the annual Karachi Eat festival and reminiscing about the dishes, what eateries come to mind? Saniyas Kitchen was bound to make it to your list, with the classic khaousey dish being their claim to fame.
Initially being a solely home-based setup for 3 years post the KEF(Karachi Food Festival) 2015, they have now set up a restaurant with a limited menu. Focusing more on quality rather than quantity? Perhaps.
Located at the Khayaban-e-Sehr strip, which is filled with pop up eateries. In between Rocks and Pancakes and Cheese Crust and Co. is Saniyas kitchen. When you enter the restaurant it gives off a very old school vibe. The wooden tables and chairs reminded me of my school cafeteria, the colors of the restaurant were such that it was following a butterscotch yellow theme.
Moving on to the food, we ordered their specialties. The ever famous khaousey and the Mongolian beef along with mint lemonade.They were in the process of expanding their menu and venturing out into thai dishes. well, since this menu was in the works; lucky for us we got served a papaya salad.
Papaya Salad: This dish is pretty self-explanatory, thinly sliced papaya along with toasted peanuts with a tangy dressing, it had a kick to it and could be a bit spicy for some palettes, but delicious nonetheless. We think they should definitely add this to their Thai menu.
Khaousey: We had heard many people rave about these Khaousey, and had tried them we were a bit let down by the khaosey sauce as it was a tad bit bland and needed some seasoning, otherwise, the chicken chunks were perfectly marinated.
Mongolian Beef with Steamed Rice:
We ordered this on the owner’s recommendation and boy we were impressed! Perfect mixture of both salty soy and caramelized beef, we would go back any day, just for this!
The steamed rice complimented the beef very well, but on reaching the end of the bowl we found it to be a bit greasy with the oil accumulated at the bottom, this needs to be worked upon.
Mint Lemonade: Poured into cute little mason jars, with the no-fuss lid the lemonade was perfect to gulp down all the food and the addition to mint in the basic lemonade made it quite refreshing.
What we loved
The Mongolian Beef was an absolute winner for us,with the sweet and salty sticky sauce, the quantity was plentiful too
The thought which went behind it all,On one wall there was a mirror covering the whole expanse of the wall, the other side, caught my eye which was clad in clusters of clay butterflies, which seemed quite intricately made.
All around the restaurant walls, there were different wall hangings and when inquired about, Saniyas Husband, Faisal who was quite welcoming stated that each had a different story attached to them. The hanging atop the clock was a souvenir from Vietnam, the clay butterflies were all handmade.This seemed quite interesting to us!
The downside, the khaosey sauce was a bit bland and requires a bit of seasoning, sans the condiments.
Food: 3.5⁄5
Ambiance: 3⁄5
