A note on the words: nihari is a slow-simmered South Asian stew of tender mutton cooked in deeply spiced gravy, spiked here with generous pieces of lemon for a bold sourness. Biryani is a fragrant spiced basmati rice dish layered with meat or vegetables, while kebab refers to seasoned roasted meat skewers.
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KHAN KEBAB BIRYANI on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
Hello, this is Hangover Meshi. For lunch, I wanted to go to a Chinese restaurant in Ginza, so I headed to the Hakuhinkan Theater building in Ginza. But lo and behold, that Chinese place was temporarily closed! What a letdown! Still, I couldn’t just skip lunch, so I decided to check out another restaurant in the theater building and picked “KHAN KEBAB BIRYANI.” Thinking Indian food would make a nice change of pace, I casually stepped inside, but an unexpected miraculous encounter was waiting for me!
Biryani set — 1,367 yen
Nihari set — 1,367 yen
Creamy butter chicken curry — 1,367 yen
When I saw this menu, I thought, wait, haven’t I seen this somewhere before?
And that “Nihari set” right in the middle — that’s it!
This is the menu of “Sahifa Kebab and Biryani,” which used to be my favorite curry spot in Roppongi! Looking back at my old article, even the logo mark is the same, ha. To think there was a sister restaurant in Ginza too! I loved their nihari set so much I can’t count how many times I went, and to run into that flavor again here… Naturally, I chose the nihari set.
I never would have imagined such a chance encounter! The name is different, so I hadn’t suspected a thing.
First came a salad and soup. The soup has a tart, sour note. Since nihari is also tangy, it ends up being sour on sour!
At long last, the eagerly awaited nihari set.
The bowl is slightly different, but this is it!
Taking a quick mouthful: delicious! So good!
This distinct, sharp tanginess is absolutely fantastic. The thoroughly simmered mutton is fall-apart tender and bursting with flavor. Along with all the spices, the secret behind that sour tang is lemon: chunky slices of lemon are generously right there in it. The somewhat soupy, loose curry is quite spicy, but delicious. Yes, this is the one! Remembering that taste from Roppongi, I felt quite touched!
And here is the accompanying rice.
Way too much rice, ha.
Looks like it could be about three bowls of rice… there’s no way I can eat that much.
Naturally, it goes wonderfully with the curry and tastes great, but truly this portion was so heaped that I had to leave a little behind.
Maybe that Chinese restaurant being temporarily closed was a blessing in disguise. An unexpected reunion with the nihari set. Actually, I had even been cooking curry at home trying to recreate that very flavor. Now that I know where I can taste the genuine benchmark, I think I’ll drop by now and then to use it as a reference.
KHAN KEBAB BIRYANI (Indian / Shimbashi Station, Ginza Station, Uchisaiwaicho Station)
Tabelog lunch rating ★★★☆☆ 3.7
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
