October 12, 2006

One would think that with the advent of the month of fasting, one of Karachi’s best known wedding caterers would be morose and out of business. Think again. Wedding feasts have given way to the Ramazan Food Fiesta in the KDA lawns on Kashmir Road. On offer is one of the most reasonably priced iftaar buffets in town.

People start filing into the venue well before dusk. The place seems to be the most popular with office colleagues, families with young children and large groups comprising extended families. Tables are assigned by the booking (and billing) staff at the reception desk so it is best to call in advance and reserve a table, but the staff tries to accommodate guests on the spot, too. There are marketing gimmicks put in place by a tea company, and a juice and cooking oil manufacturer to attract visitors. Even a fashion apparel stall has been set up on location by some enterprising ladies. Most people, however, hold on to their seats as they count down the minutes to sunset when the feasting would begin.

And what a feast it is. The iftaar table is separate from the dinner options, and spread with a variety of deep-fried fare from fried wontons and donuts to the traditional Ramazan staples jalebis and samosas. Also close at hand are lassi and sugarcane juice stands. One had to be careful not to fill up on the appetisers, lest the dinner buffet should suffer neglect in consequence.

After a short prayer break for both men and women in the designated area, all caution was thrown to the wind as the crowds spread out to finally partake of the tantalising treats. A variety of salads vied for attention as breads and fried parathas of all kinds were made right in front of the guests. On offer are qeema made on a tawa, sajji (slow roasted) chicken, fish chappli kababs and shawarma filling stuffed into cute little pita pockets. And that is just the barbeque stall.

Moving further down, the next table was loaded with traditional Mughlai dishes such as paaya, nihari, pulao and haleem. This fare appeared to be somewhat neglected, even by self-proclaimed connoisseurs, perhaps because they were not as piping hot as one might like them to be. The Chinese dishes, on the other hand, specifically the egg fried rice, beef and chillies, and sweet and sour chicken were very popular and surprisingly good.

Not amazingly though, with so many dishes to choose from, it fast became a situation of too much food and too little space in the stomach to stuff it all. Friends tried to convince each other to attempt a second round but most admitted defeat as they had simply lost the steam to venture any further.

Dessert, obviously, is a completely different matter altogether. One felt almost morally obligated to visit the dessert table and sample some of the sugared goodies on display. The choices include good old-fashioned kulfi on a stick (that can be dressed with crushed coconut or dipped in red syrup), gola ganda, absolutely scrumptious gulaab jamans, shahi tukray, and even the strangely out of place apple pie.

The gulab jamans were warm and moist and simply to-die-for; one felt actually guilty for not being able to eat more than two. The perfect companions to dessert, tea and coffee, are also part of the buffet and served in liberal amounts at the tables. Meanwhile paan and sheesha are available on the premises, but for a price.

Apart from being seated on tables, guests in an ultra relaxing mood also have the option of takhats and tents with rugs spread on the ground. The rugs, however, offer easy access to the few stray cats that roam about the venue. Also marring an otherwise remarkable feasting experience is the conspicuous lack of bright lights around the dining tables, and the fact that it becomes harder and harder to get a waiter’s attention as the evening progresses. But these small drawbacks aside, breaking ones’ fast here is a pleasurable and memorable experience.

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