Filmy Decor & Telugu Specialties: This Retro Restaurant In Kompally Can't Be Missed

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What Makes It Awesome

Do food and cinema define what you like to do in your free time? Tucked in Kompally, this restaurant is all about that. Named after the local slang for cinema, say hello to Sainma, a restaurant deck with everything filmy. With both outdoor and indoor seating, their fancy, contemporary decor will go unmissed. We're digging their blue furniture, vintage photo walls with popular Tollywood and Bollywood movie frames, a corner decked with vintage cameras, and quirky chandeliers. For bonus points, this restaurant plays 100 per cent timeless Telugu songs which adds to their theme and sets a nostalgic vibe.

Popular for Telugu specialties, Sainma also offers a lot of dishes from Chinese and North Indian cuisines. After going through their menu (which had a lot of options), we ordered Mushroom and Cheese Kurkure Rolls, Paneer Ke Gappe, Tawa Chicken, Chicken Dum Biryani, Jeera Rice, and Dal Tadka. Paneer Ke Gappe is their take on Gol Gappe (Pani Puri) which had lots of flavorful paneer gravy and generous cheese shredding instead of the traditional Pani Puri filling. It was also quite spicy. Tawa Chicken was boneless and was cooked with all the right flavours. Aromatic Jeera Rice and authentic Dal Tadka is OG comfort food which was served with a bowl full of curd which we had no complaints about, and of course, we had to order chicken biryani which had all the dum a biryani in Hyderabad should have. We're talking about lots of biryani rice and chunky chicken pieces. If you're a dessert person we'd say you go for their Apricot Delight but TBH, with the quantities they serve, you're going to feel stuffed for sure.

Pro-Tip

If you're going on a weekend, make sure you make a reservation in advance as this place is bustling with people. But even if you have to wait, there's a small cafe called Cafe Gardenia in the same space where you can have a cuppa, grab some bites while waiting.