Sabri Nehari vs. Usmaniya

I've been a long-time lurker on this board, but this is my first post. I'm happy to be a member and I've gotten lots of great info since I've been surfing this forum.

I've read many of the post about Indo-Paki food in the Devon Avenue area and am a recent convert to Pakistani cuisine. I've been to Khan's quite a few times, but my wife and I are looking to try some of the other restaurants. From the posts I've read, it seems as if opinions fall to either side of the fence regarding Sabri Nehari and Usmaniya. We like meats, spicy food (both 'dry' and 'wet', but our meat preferences fall more along traditional lines (chicken, beef, etc.) rather than such things as brains and organs. We are quite adventurous with vegetables, spices and preparations.

I'd love recent rec's as to which of these restaurants (or others) would be good for our next experience. We'll probably do take-out to start with, if that might factor into the decision.

Thanks in advance for any specific recommendations.

jbambuti

Personally, I don't think you can go wrong either way (especially since it sounds like you'll be trying both eventually!)...

Usmaniya has some fantastic dishes - my favorites are the Chapli Kabob (Best on the strip, perhaps Khan's only weak kabob is chapli, all the rest are tops on devon imo) and their Haleem.

On the other hand, I haven't been to Sabri since the fire (reminds me I really should get there and support them, lest they fade away), but in the old location they did almost everything well imo. But Chicken Charga, Dal, Bhindi and most of the "wet" dishes are very good at Sabri.

Report back if you eat at Sabri, I'm curious to hear a review of the new location...

Pretty much agree with the above. Not sure if chicken charga would travel so well, but the nehari would, of course (and no visit to Sabri Nehari could be complete without the eponymous dish).

To steer you in a slightly different direction, if you're doing take-out on a weekend, go to Hyderabad House and get the Chicken 65 (or the very similar Chili Chicken, if they don't have that) and a mutton biryani. Good stuff.

Both can be outstanding. Usmania has the best Haleem, Sabri Nehari the best nehari.I like Bismillah for frontier chicken.

kuhdo wrote:Both can be outstanding. Usmania has the best Haleem, Sabri Nehari the best nehari.I like Bismillah for frontier chicken.

Both *can* be outstanding, yes - but I remain a Usmania partisan myself, especially
after a few overly-oily (as in, swimming in oil) dishes, and a few too-dry
kababs.

Sabri Nehari has probably the best nehari in town (though the last time at
Usmaniya I had a very very good nehari too... however, in general, I'll pick
up nehari from Sabri most times just due to reliability - its almost always
very good). And probably the Chicken Charga, I guess. Pretty much
anything else (non-vegetarian) I personally end up choose Usmaniya.

Both are, of course, good options - the two best restaurants of their kind
in town IMHO - and youre usually assured of a pretty good meal regardless.
But Usmaniya has just been consistently more reliable on most dishes,
for me personally, after a few dozen visits now. (Apart from the
Chapli Kabab and Haleem mentioned, Ive had excellent luck with their
Kadai Ghost and the Goat Biryani, IMHO two of their best dishes. I
think Usmaniya, in general, does the best goat in town, bar none).

c8w

Both of us had a yen for Pakistani food last night. Partially spurred by the multiple recommendations for chapli kebab in this thread, we headed to Usmania.

The chapli kebab was excellent, with a good depth of flavor and a nice flavor contrast between a crisp exterior and soft interior:

Click for hi-rez version

We also enjoyed the dal palak, which, is ghee-heavy and very tasty (especially if you are in the mood for lentils, as I was):

Click for hi-rez version

Condiments at Usmania:

Click for hi-rez version

We rounded out the meal with a tasty and perfectly spiced chicken quorma.

Usmania was bright, lively and chock-full of families enjoying the food and festive atmosphere.

Link to another thread about Usmania and the nearby Chopal.

Best,
Michael

Usmania Restaurant
2244 W. Devon Ave.
773-262-1900

I took my family to dinner at Usmania last night. It was a toss up between Khans and Usmania and we chose Usmania for the atmosphere in the end. The service was absolutely fantastic. Our waiter had us in fits of laughter and we asked question after question about what to order, Pakistani food, how to eat each dish, and Pakistani culture. We had so much fun and really enjoyed the atmosphere of the place as well as the service we were given.

I took recommendations off of this site and we ate family style. We tried the chicken boti at my husband's recommendation. It was too spicy for my tastes so I can't comment on it. We tried the nehari, the karahi gosht, the mutton biryani and of course naan and the complimentary salad.

I particularly liked the karahi gosht - it wasn't too spicy and was such a rich, warm flavor to go with the naan. The biriyani was also fantastic. At the end of the meal our waiter brought us a cut of hot Pakistani tea to try. It was slightly like English milk tea but there is some taste in it that I can't quite identify. Very good.

All in all, what a great evening. Thank you to LTH contributors for setting me on the right path again. (I'm attempting to post a photo, my first try at this so my apologies for any newbie mistakes)

[img][img]http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/4743/usmaniaforwebwn0.th.jpg[/img][/img]

Had one of those "perfect" meals at Usmania last night with the wife a couple friends who'd never eaten on Devon before... Ordered Chapli Kabobs, Chicken Boti, Alou Keema, haleem, Chicken Makhni and Dal. Other than the Chicken Boti (spoiled by Khan's) and Alou Keema (nothing like my mom's, which is what I'm looking for with that dish), everything was outstanding.

As a rule, Haleem is one of the heartiest dishes on earth - and I love turning people on to this long-cooked amalgam of wheat, lentils and beef/meat. Last nights was high on flavor and I honestly feel more energetic this morning because of it

Chaplis were perfect as always...

Finished off with a round of tea

It's truly nice to have Usmania in town.

I was thinking about assembling the perfect Devon meal:

1) Meat Samosas from Tahoora
2) Seekh Kabobs and Chicken Seekh Kabobs from Khan's
3) Chapli Kabobs from Usmania
4) Haleem form Usmani
5) Nehari from Sabri
6) Pullao from Khan's
7) Bhindi from ??
Shami Kabobs from ??
9) Gulab Jamin and Chai from Tahoora

Who does serve good Shami's on Devon? I honestly can't think of one right off hand...