Rightly named “Kaiser”, which means 'king,' the restaurant serves food fit for royalty. So it doesn't really come as a surprise when the owner, Malik Tanveer Ahmed, casually mentions that over the years his clientele has included General Zia, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto, Nusrat Bhutto, Pervaiz Musharraf and President Zardari.

Despite its location in the congested heart of the city, the restaurant is open for lunch and dinner and has people coming from all over to enjoy the Punjabi style food. “If a person comes once to Kaiser, they will come again. People who have migrated include a trip to Kaiser whenever they visit the city, sometimes even after 40 years, says Tanveer with a quiet sense of pride. “A customer once told us that he went to Switzerland and there a Paksitani cab driver asked him if Kaiser was still in existence. Another customer says that while there may be some who haven't been to the Quaid's Mazaar, there is no true Karachiite who hasn't been to Kaiser.”

Delicious brain masala, chicken ginger, chicken karhai, paalak gosht, daal gosht, spinach and daal are served in little karhais with foot long, soft kandhari naans. Their speciality is the mutton leg which is perfectly spiced and barbequed on charcoal. The succulent seekh kababs are not the usual Meerut style but more like what you might find up north. The food is lightly spiced and distinctly Punjabi in flavour. Recently handi and boneless chicken entrees have been added to the menu.

Huge plates of freshly cut, green salad and refreshing raita are served as an accompaniment with the food. The dessert menu offers unforgettable kulfi and egg custard which egg lovers must not miss out on.

Fifty three years is a long time for a restaurant to hold its own. With food outlets of all kinds at every step all over Karachi, what does it take to maintain an edge over others?

“We never compromise on quality. We serve at the restaurant what we eat ourselves. I don't like the quality of beef that is available so beef dishes are not on the menu,” says Tanveer and goes on to add, “Only if you are using the best ingredients can you deliver good taste and develop customer loyalty. I always tell my suppliers that they have to deliver the quality that I require. If I get sub-standard stuff, it gets thrown out.”

Talking about the early days of Kaiser, Tanveer said, “When we opened, back in 1957, this used to be a clean and less congested area and many of our clients, like Nusrat Bhutto, enjoyed a late dinner at a table set up on the pavement.

“Today young people give importance to convenience and pick up fast food from a mass produced product line-up; that's not what our food traditions are about. In our culture we get the food freshly prepared, served piping hot; at Kaiser we serve you just one naan at a time so you always have fresh, hot naan during your entire meal. This is what Pakistani food is about.

In the beginning, when Malik Rasheed Ahmed, Tanveer's 'Abbaji' set up Kaiser, the food was cooked by Tanveer's mother and brought to the restaurant. “All recipes are my mother's. Even today if we get a complaint from a dissatisfied customer, I immediately call my mother who then follows up with the chef who makes it again, sends it to my mother for trial and only when she gives the go ahead, will it be served in the restaurant.”

Asked about their 'Red Carpet' venture some years ago in Clifton, Tanveer said, “At the time there were hardly any buildings in that area and after dark it was completely desolate. When we opened Red Carpet, it was just us and Sea Gull at the two ends of the market. But people knew that Red Carpet was an off-shoot of Kaiser so it took off quite well and ran successfully for about 10 years. You can say it was one of the factors that brought Boat Basin to life. Gradually however, the whole area changed; small time restaurants changed the ambience of the place and it became so congested and dirty that we decided to close the place up.”

Is Tanveer thinking of more branches? “Who doesn't want expansion? But land prices are totally out of range. Now even survival has become difficult. That is the biggest challenge.”