Ziyaafat

I went there for Lunch Buffet today. First of all they its not ‘Ziyaafat’ anymore its ‘Shamiyaana’. Took an half hour to find the place. Buffet starts at 11:30 am and we reached at 1pm but the restaurant was empty. Anyhow out of modesty we inaugurated the buffet. My friend was veggie but he didn’t find any appetizer to start with. Still we consoled ourselves that its a Mogul cuisine so they are good in non-​veg dishes. But when I started with the tandoori chicken then i realized why nobody was here before us. The tandoori chicken was old and damp. Still out of courtesy I tried the mutton curry. But alas! it was a old goat cooked and served without an ounce of salt. Then I called the manager to give him some positive feedback. The first question he asked «Are you a Chef?». Then I replied «You don’t need to be a chef to give a review about your food.» I told him how unhealthy it is to serve old goat. Then when i gave a review about his lack of veg appetizers, he argued with me that Aloo Gobi is like an appetizer only. His attitude was like ‘Take it or leave it’. Obviously his main business was not the restaurant, still there are certain standards of treating the customers. He even threatened that he will post the picture of the two mutton pieces I tasted if I gave a review on the food today. So here it is, enter at your own risk.

I went and had the weekend buffet. Not only was it pricey, but I really didn’t enjoy the food. Much of it was cold and didn’t have a good flavor. It also doesn’t have traditional items that I expect from an Indian Buffet.

I’m always on the prowl for new interesting places to eat close by. So I’ve been meaning to check this place out for some time. There really aren’t many middle eastern restaurants around this part of town. So it sort of sticks out.
And…I had a groupon. My wife bought the thing months ago and it was about to expire so I was more or less compelled to go. So I took a friend for lunch the other day.
Let’s start off with the décor. It’s dark. Strip club dark. Even with the windows open. There was one dude working the place, as both host and waiter, and a handful of middle eastern people, two families it seemed, eating. I took that as a hopeful sign.
Granted, it was a little after noon and most other places are packed. By the time we were done our first run at the buffet, the place was all but cleared out.
Lunch apparently is a buffet. There were no menus, and no mention of any other choices. Our host took our drink order and told us to help ourselves.
I’m no expert on middle eastern food, although I’ve eaten it before. It was OK for the price. I sure wouldn’t go out of my way for it. But I do know something about buffets in general and this one was a sad affair. There appeared to be no turnover. The whole time we were there, no one added to the thing although some of the choices were a bit depleted. Not even a swing by to tidy up some of the pans. The Naan was a bit long in the tooth and was soggy from sitting. There was a ground meat and egg type dish that I wasn’t sure whether it was supposed to be hot or cold. It was tepid. It was tasty, and I didn’t get sick from it. Made me wonder how long it had been out. I’m guessing since opening. I appeared to be the first person to dive into it. So that’s scary.
When we settled up I handed the host my groupon, which he stared with a kind of a look like «does anyone new come in this place without a groupon?»
So here it is — mediocre, and probably long standing buffet food, with lethargic and indifferent service. Go there if the Thai or Korean place in the same center are too packed.

Went here on March 10^th’ 2013; Sunday lunch buffet;
Awful! Pathetic! Useless! Worst food I have ever had. Gods mercy I had the deal of $ 5 for $ 20 else would have regreted even more.
Save yourself from the worst n highly spoilt time n a meal. Not even worth for a penny. Wish I could give negative ratings!!!

Came in to use my Groupon ($ 10 for $ 20). There weren’t any restrictions on what we could order and the waitress even let us redeem my free dessert from checking in on Unilocal.
The dishes we ordered… sorry I don’t remember the actual names.
1. Mutton with chilis. This was our favorite. The mutton is ground up like hamburger meat but has these yummy green chilis in with it. It was spicy but soooo delicious. Don’t tell your friends what mutton is if they’re weird about that kind of thing… just tell them it’s hamburger. :)
2. Butter chicken. Was just okay if not a little a bland. I know it said the dish was mild but mild doesn’t need to equal devoid of flavor.
3. Saag paneer. Pureed spinach with paneer cheese. Again this one was a little bland but I liked it… my dinner companion did not.
4. Plain naan. Good bread which I used to scope up the saag paneer.
5. Those little dough balls that look like donut holes and are soaked in a sweet rose syrup for dessert. The menu described them as caramelized paneer cheese I think? Whatever they good.
Waitress was a little scatter brained but in an endearing way. It was slow on a Sunday night so maybe she was moving slow to mirror that.

My friend and I met here for lunch last week to use our 2-​for-​1 Groupon on their buffet. I eat Indian food at least once a week, and have enjoyed the cuisine all over the world. The first thing that struck me was how I did not recognize any of the dishes on the buffet, with the exception of the Naan. The items leaned heavily in the vegetarian category.
No Tandoori chicken, no Tikka Masala, No Saag Paneer (cream spinach with cheese).
Perhaps Mughal cuisine is unique and unlike what I have come to know as «Indian» food. The dishes were heavily spiced, but not with curry, which was unusual. I am not suggesting the food was «bad», just not what I was expecting. The service was good, and the prices fair. I think I will be going back to Maharaja, still my favorite Indian buffet.
D Magazine rates Ziyafaat as the Best in Dallas. Not sure about that one.

One word. Awful! I have been ill the whole day-​after eating here. This horror all started when they refused to make my order because it did not meet an obscure $ 25 minimum (my total was only $ 23) for delivery orders. Instead of saying something when the order was placed, they waited until the delivery driver showed up. After increasing the order to meet their minimum, they took 40 more minutes to make it. They do not use cream, yogurt or whatever in the chicken tiki masala. It tastes like spicy ragu tomato sauce. But the naan was good so I gave it one star. Don’t eat here. Let them go out of business so something worthwhile can use their space. These people should not be in the Resturant business.

This restaurant has appeared in the ‘Best of D’ Magazine! With high expectations, we drove 15 miles to Ziyaafat — and were pretty disappointed.
The ambiance is ho-​hum — a typical ethnic restaurant. It was not at all busy for a Saturday night. Even then, service wasn’t really prompt; though the server was cordial.
For appetizers we ordered ‘Hari Bhari Mirch’ – jalapenos stuffed with potatoes and batter fried. One bite of the dish and we were gasping for water. Usually when one makes these chilli pepper tempuras, one removes the seeds to tone down the heat. Not so here — they had mixed the pepper seeds with the potato filling — making it quite a kicker. The chilli pepper underneath the batter also appeared raw, despite being fried. And the batter lacked seasoning.
For the main course, we had two chicken dishes — Murgh Zafarani Qorma and Murgh Achari, and two vegetarian dishes — Mirchi Ka Saalan (chill peppers in spicy peanut gravy — yes, peppers again; we like spicy!) and Palak Paneer (pureed spinach with cottage cheese). The first three dishes were swimming in oil. Not that one expects Indian restaurant food to be particularly healthy, but a little less grease would have been nice. The Murgh Achari was quite good. Spicy and tangy and flavorful. That is the only reason I give this place a 2 star rating instead of 1. The Murgh Zafarani Qorma was acceptable — different kind of spices, slightly sweeter tones. The Mirchi Ka Saalan was extremely hot and sour — we could barely finish half the dish.
The biggest disappointment was the Palak Paneer — a dish that is staple of all Indian restaurants, and hence readily lends itself to comparison. In stark contrast to the other dishes, it was completely devoid of spices and seasoning. No sir, not even salt. What a let down!
And finally, an interesting observation about the check. Since we were a party of 7, they added the gratuity … as is the standard practice. But they added it before tax! So we ended up paying tax on the gratuity as well! I was in no mood to argue at that point, so I just let it go.
If you live or work in the neighborhood AND are a meat lover AND are a Indian food fan, I would give this place a try … but if any of these three is not true, then this place is not worth a visit.
… and oh yes, I am never going to believe in D-​Magazine reviews again!

I loved the food and the service. I loved the Nihari with rice and Murgh malai boti with nan.

I went for their special July 4^th buffet. Since my last visit, they have updated with a big steam table. This really helped with keeping the great food at a consistent temperature. This place is so good if you like spicy, flavorful food. The staff couldn’t be nicer. Upgrading them to five stars.

I discovered Ziyaafat few months ago and was really impressed with it. They had an awesome weekend buffet with very good Sindhi Masala biryani and nehari. We actually took out few take outs from there and tried their other dishes to find them great too (like Peshawri Murgh Karhai and Bihari Pasanda Kebab).
However, recently their quality is gone down; they run out of dishes on their buffet menu regularly (especially after 1:30 pm) and there is a significant difference in portions when you eat in and when you take out something for delivery.
I would have given this place 5 stars few months ago but recent experiences don’t qualify them for that at this point. I will visit Ziyafaat again in near future and give them another chance to see if things are back to normal.
Update — 11/​12/​2012
A visit to the place over the weekend was a pleasant surprise. They have revamped their buffet area and things look more orderly now. The food looked fresh and was plentiful and full of flavors — we thoroughly enjoyed each and every item.

Their qulaity is gone down hill. Last two times we had a very bad experience. Undercooked chcikend dishes and half of the food containers were empty. Not plannign to go back at this place any more.

My wife and I went there on a wednesday evening for dinner with some friends.
Starters:the fried jalapeño starters had a stale potato filling, the panipuri water was tamarind juice mixed with some stale lemon juice with no trace of mint or anything a panipuri has. The samosa was the worst tasting samosa I ever had, the chicken boti was good though.
Main course: Sindhi Biryani and Murgh Mughali were decent. we also ordered Shahi paneer after checking with the waitress and being told that its not sweet, when it finally arrived it was pathetic, sweet and not salted at all.
The waitress told our friend that Achari Chicken was the customer favorite and it was pathetic too.
I do not complain about food much, this is the first time I am so offended with some restaurant and writing a review.
This place needs to be closed or needs some decent chefs. I am suprised that someone actually gave it 5 stars.

Just awful — and a waste of money even with a 50% off Groupon.
This was place was so, so good just a few months ago. It gives me no pleasure to write this review because I was hoping it would succeed and continue to put out quality food. Too bad.
Here are the lowlights:
— The Groupon is good for 2 entrees up to $ 15; funny how they «run out» of the 13– and 14-​dollar entrees leaving only the ones under 12 bucks
— Kababs taste off– either an issue with the quality of the meat or the marinade. Could barely eat 2 pieces and then had to place the plate at the other end of the table because the funk was making me gag
— Pretty decent keema and nan
— Mediocre gajar halwa; actually inferior, but at least the excessive sugar got the taste of Kabab out of my mouth
Overall a poor experience– will not return.

One of the best Indian/​Pakistani food I have had in DFW area. Service was par excellence, their meats are hand cut, dessert was superb, so good we did got an extra plate just to take home for later. Try afghani mutton and gajrela (carrot halwa).
But…Stay away from Anda (Egg) halwa, its basically sweet scrambled egg :(

You would think that Indian food was a lost cause if you are a foodie from India. But then all hope is not lost. Because someone still can make the delicacies like they should taste! Nicely done!
The Zaffrani Mutton Biriyani was rather bland but had all the necessary flavors to make it fly all the way to share top ranks with Paradise. We also ordered the Zaffrani Chicke Korma and the Mahi Tikka. And I will definitely, positively and surely be back there for a taste of home!

Awful is the only word I can use to describe it.
I went with my mother to Ziyaafat with a groupon that included an appetizer, one entrée each, and a dessert. The atmosphere is decent, but the first thing we noticed was the lack of staff. There seemed to be only 2 waitresses, and while there were only 3 other groups in the restaurant, they definitely couldn’t handle it. It took about 10 minutes just to get menus and water.
We ordered some ground beef samosas for the appetizer. There were only 6 small samosas, but that wasn’t a big problem. Firstly, the insides were frozen, not joking. Second, they were spicier than anything I’ve ever tasted even though they were not marked so on the menu (the menu has a mark next to any spicy dish). We asked for them to be heated some, and they brought out 4 heated ones. I could definitely tell that they were from like a frozen bag, they weren’t made recently.
For entrees my mom got the chicken tikka biryani. The portion came on a mound of a mixture of rice and noodles. There was a total of 6 small pieces (about a chicken drumstick’s worth of meat total). The meat was dry and burned and the dish had no sauce at all.
I got the murgh nizami which was listed as «fried chicken pieces in a sweet and sour sauce.» Firstly, the chicken was not fried, it was grilled. Second, the sauce was even spicier than the ground beef samosas. I couldn’t take a bite without gulping down water. There was even less chicken in mine than in my mother’s entrée. Keep in mind that the entrees we ordered are usually 11 – 13 dollars each. In my opinion they were worth maybe 5 or 6.
For dessert the waitress recommended some kind of pudding. It was literally the worst thing I’ve even tasted. It looked like a solidified bowl of vomit and had the consistency of it. It had the taste of spices, not sweet at all. I couldn’t even finish one bite.
Stay far far away from this place. I wouldn’t go again even if it was free.

Given the plethora of Indian/​Pakistani restaurants in the metroplex, I would rate this place mediocre for both food and service. Went for Sunday dinner with a few friends (one of them swears by the chicken biryani here) and ordered chicken biryani, daal and achari bhindi (Okra cooked in spice and sour sauce). Except for the Daal, which was quite tasty. the rest of the items were just ok. Achari bhindi was way too sour, and chicken biryani was just ok. Our waiter had to go and check the kitchen for every question we had, looked like she had no clue of what desi cuisine is all about.
Don’t think this place is worth giving another try.

Very mediocre. Small buffet and they won’t serve off the menu at lunch. If the idea is to fall in love with the buffet so you’ll come back for their «fabulous» dinner menu, they missed the mark. At the end of the meal I felt it was a waste of calories.

Ziyaafat is essentially Pakistani food (the Moghul empire once ruled most of India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan — the Taj Mahal, etc. are from that era), which is mostly the same as northern Indian food, except with more beef. It packs a spicy punch and is filled with curries.
The Ziyaafat lunch buffet was fairly simple. There were two sides, three curries (the tilapia was a pleasant surprise) and chicken tikka. There’s plain white rice and chicken biriyani, naan, and two desserts. Everything was tasty, spicy, and pretty much what I’ve experienced before at Pakistani restaurants. The buffet varies day to day, so you never know what you’ll get. On another day I found kari, mutton curry and spinach curry, rice pudding with cardamon for dessert…
Service was excellent, the restaurant is pleasant and spacious, and the half-​price buffet essentially was lunch for $ 5. However, when that deal ends (tomorrow), I’d say $ 9 is steep for a simple buffet. Also, if you’re sensitive to spice, you might have an issue here!
So, I may have to edit this review later since it’s based on a half-​price buffet and they’re newly opened.