This particular column is based on my last trip to Lahore from Cambridge, where I am considered a ‘Lahore Specialist’. Just imagine!! Last month the university further promoted and confirmed a ‘lifelong’ research position. I will not tell what it is named.

The last time I flew in on our national airline trip, it was a disaster. Oh it was delayed several times with an unannounced departure. Not surprised. No wonder it was banned. The seats were reshuffled, disgraceful food quality, insipid tea (… most like cold tea, Sir!), the lights inside going crazy and snappy crew reassuring the aircraft will not crash. It was a delight to enter the dust-bowl skies of Lahore and the searing heat. For once, the Begum literally looked red.

Before leaving for Lahore I visited a sub-continental eatery in Cambridge called ‘Dishoom’, which started pre-Partition in Bombay (Mumbai), then opened a branch in Karachi and then moved to London and finally to Cambridge. It is a Parsi-owned eatery and if you tell them that you are from Lahore, they get excited. The manager came and commented: “From Lahore I see. Then you understand food”. “What is your order?” he asked. “Maghaz and Mash Ki Daal’. He looked at the chef and said: “Exactly as I predicted”. I smiled and he smiled. “Slightly low on chillies and lots of ginger cuttings”. He commented: “Excellent”.

A few British students sitting next to us kept peeping at our order, wondering just what we had ordered. So we got going and let me tell you the food was amazing. The maghaz, as requested, was not cut into small pieces and the daal was dry and well-cooked. The naans were fine and suddenly I was propelled to Lahore.

Now back to my old method of marking a food experience. It seems ‘The Guardian’ of London loves my markings, what to speak of desi food choices. So here we go. The system operates on an average of any number of variables, depending on the nature of the outlet, with ‘One’ being ‘unacceptable’ and ‘Nine’ being excellent. The average of the combined score is the rating.

For ambience of the eatery it is 5, for cleanliness a clear 7, for service a very reasonable 7, for quality of the food a 7 is well-deserved, for quality of crockery and cutlery 7. We now progress to prices which get 5 (this is no cheap place), for car parking ease a 4 is reasonable for one has to park a long way away. For range of dishes to choose from it gets 7. Too large a spread reflects a dispersed effort throwing excellence out of the kitchen window.

So over eight variables we get an average of 6.125, which is fine. Given the quality of the food it provides excellence. Highly recommended. But next week we will be visiting several eateries in Lahore, but my preference always is my old Bhati Gate days’ Ravian classmate Sheero whose mother makes the best Hareesa I know of. It is a rare event where we will meet Khalidi (the best tale reciter of Lahore’s ancient history).

Just to remind that my wife’s old schoolteacher-friend Tahira has invited us (she actually orders us) to Maghaz and Maash Ki Daal. Also we will be trying out Lahore Gymkhana’s ‘Club Sandwiches’. Few people realise that this sandwich was invented for the East India Company (EIC) soldiers camped in the Company Bagh collecting for their march towards Delhi in 1857.

The EIC chefs then started working for the club, which was located in the old Company Bagh, then renamed Lawrence Gardens and now called Jinnah Bagh. Old city folk still call it Company Bagh. On my last visit the sandwiches were a wee bit soggy. Let’s see this time what we are served.

Published in Dawn, August 13th, 2025