Eat Street

The Scene
The Eat Street ambience is predominantly governed by the Hussain Sagar. The gorgeous view makes for a great setting any time of the day. One can watch both the sunset and the moonrise over the cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad stretched around the water. The tourist boats and the city lights make for an eye-catching distraction from the few seasonal mosquitoes. And put your fears at rest, it doesn't smell bad.

Eat Street has been the latest watering hole sans alcohol for Hyderabadis of all ages. One is always sure to run into school friends, ex-boyfriends with current girlfriends, colleagues, relatives and neighbourhood aunties and uncles. That's how vast Eat Street's clientele is.

The place is packed full every evening, and over the weekends be prepared to fight for your chairs and tables. However, the crowd is part of the Eat Street charm, and it can't really be avoided anyway. For the demophobes amongst us, try the afternoons if you can bear the heat.

The d飯r is snazzy. Right from the colorful snakes and ladders pattern that greets you at the entrance to the bright color theme that runs throughout. The furniture is simple and basic. None of those plush cushions and what not. The lighting is rather dim, the sound rather loud.

The seating is roughly in three places - near the food courts where you are bombarded with rather loud conversation-hampering music, or near the waterfront under cute-little-urban-plastic-minimalist-pagodas, or upstairs on the terrace where you can cross your legs on the railing, sit back, relax and gaze at the lake.

The Food
Where else could one sit down to eat and order pizzas from Pizza Hut, dosas from Minerva Coffee Shop, buttered corn from Corn Club, doughnuts and coffee from Cafe Coffee Day and gulp down a few pani puris, all at the same table? And if the above mix makes you sick, with the Hussain Sagar right next to you, you needn't go far to hurl. Jokes apart, the food's good here. It's priced the same as the food in any of the outlets.

The Verdict
Great ambience. Good food. Good value for money. Great place to hang out. You should definitely check Eat Street out if you're looking for a true Hyderabad experience - eclectic, set against the backdrop of the obvious Tank Bund.