One Plate of Biryani and We Gained a Regular

Every restaurant has that one customer who walks in saying, “I’m just trying it once,” and somehow becomes part of the furniture. We have one such customer at Royal Biryani House, and his love story with our hyderabadi chicken dum biryani started with just one plate.

The first time he ordered it, he told us he was “very particular about biryani.” Fair enough. We quietly let the biryani do the talking.

Our Hyderabadi biryani starts with good ingredients and a little patience. The chicken is marinated overnight with yogurt, ginger garlic paste, salt, red chili, turmeric and spices. We use aged basmati rice which is soaked and little bit boiled before being layered with the marinated chicken.

Now, we add the finishing touches to dum biryani. Chicken and rice are layered in a handi, which is sealed to make the handi cook in its own steam. Everyone’s favorite part is smells coming from the different ingredients used. We bring everything together with milk infused with saffron, fried onions, fresh mint, coriander, lemon, green chilis and spice with whole cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves, star anise, cumin and black pepper.

When we finally opened the handi, the aroma practically announced, “Your diet can wait.”

Our customer took his first bite. Then another. Then there was that very familiar moment when someone stops talking because the food has become more interesting than the conversation.

He finished his plate and said, “That was really good. I’ll come again.”

We smiled. We hear that quite often.

What we didn't expect was how quickly “I'll come again” would become “Same order, please.”

He memorized the menu with a few repeated visits. Now like everyone else he ordered the specialty Hyderabadi dum biryani, a comforting combination of basmati rice and tender chicken cooked in aromatic spices and herbs to create layers of deliciousness.

For us, excellent customer reviews are the best compliment a restaurant can receive. Snappy reviews are good signs that customers enjoyed the food. Most importantly, customers that return are the strongest indication that our food was experienced and enjoyed.

If you're looking for hyderabadi biryani in US, especially the kind prepared with traditional dum cooking and carefully selected ingredients, Royal Biryani House love to have you try it. Whether you're discovering hyderabadi biryani in United States for the first time or already have a serious biryani habit, there's always room for one more plate.

Just be warned: “I'll try it once” has a surprisingly high chance of becoming a regular order.

And our customer? He still comes back. At this point, we don't even ask what he wants. We already know.