Magan

Magan was a long time coming. Husband-and-wife Shabbir Walajahi and Asra Baig spent more than a decade running Beechworth Indian Restaurant before bringing their home-style cooking to the big smoke. The couple run the spacious two-storey venue with their daughter Wajiha Hussain, son Sarwar Walajahi and his wife Nida Khan.

The restaurant continues the family’s long-standing style of cooking and focuses on Hyderabadi dishes. Shabbir and Baig can usually be found in the kitchen preparing Hyderabadi dishes including dum biryani (biryani made by layering par-cooked rice, marinated protein and spices, which are then sealed in a pot and cooked) and dum ka chicken (creamy chicken curry). Both dishes involve long, slow cooking. The succinct menu also includes chicken tikka made in a tandoori oven and butter chicken.

The drinks are normally made in homes in Hyderabad. The lassi with rooh afza (a rose-like herbal syrup) and thandai (an almond-milk drink) cools down the body and is supposed to help with stress.

The interior nods to the family’s Hyderabad hometown. Places and historical monuments from the city are in the artwork on the walls and the woodblock-printing-inspired design on the menu.