If someone told you that Ulavacharu was a restaurant in Jubilee Hills, forget it. That’s a big misconception. Ulavacharu is nothing but a glorified Andhra Meals Mess. But who is complaining? I had one of the most satisfying meals of my life today at this place.

So the waiters are sweet little villagers in drag, the stewards are bearers trained in Guntur and the Guest Relations Executive works part time in the movies as an extra. So bloody what!!! I didn’t go there for sight seeing. I went for a meal.

There was an acrylic tent card, no fancy menu. The art on the walls was an overabundance of tacky art but the rectangular ceramic plates came with a banana leaf dressing and that made the whole thing homely.

I had read up on the place on Zomato before going there so I was quite prepared to order. My friend and I asked for Crunchy Fish, Raju Gari Kodi Pulao and Ulava Charu Biryani.

And I tell you it was an order placed in heaven. The fish starter was a good alternative to the typical Apollo Fish that I normally see in bars and the chilled water and ice cold coke went very well with it. But when it came to the Pulao and the Biryani I was tempted to call up my Separate Telangana friends and convince them that whatever the Seemaandhra clowns took back with them to their land, the cook and the recipe of the Ulavacharu dishes had to be left here for us to enjoy. Seriously I’d rather wage war against an enemy for this kind of food rather than for any other Queen even if her name was Helen.

On a lighter note let me add that the loos are clean and conveniently located.

But it was when the bill was presented that I did a double take…okay, the restaurant is in uptown Jubilee Hills and I am sure overheads are killing…but an average of 750/- per person for a non-alcoholic lunch was a bit too rich. And I didn’t quite like the idea of being herded out, telling me that they were sorry, but there were others waiting for a table.

Aah well, 7 out of 10 is not a bad score…especially if the biryani served here serves as an apt distraction from Hyderabadi Biryani which is becoming more and more difficult to find in the real tasty sense of the word.