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French Fries and Pulao, a new trend in Islamabad?

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Major

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Been going to Savour alot now adays. I have noticed one thing, people order french fries with pulao. Not only at savour, i have seen this at many different places aswell in Islamabad. People buy pulao, and with it they grab a plate of fries.

Has someone else also noted this new trend or am i the only one?
 
This is why I always say there is a massive opportunity for business in the developing world. There's an appetite for western flavours, but not much expertise. No wonder McDonalds and KFC are desperate to get a foothold. Pulao and french fries. :facepalm:

P.S. I'll bet Major was the first one in the line.
 
Cpt. Rishwat said:
This is why I always say there is a massive opportunity for business in the developing world. There's an appetite for western flavours, but not much expertise. No wonder McDonalds and KFC are desperate to get a foothold. Pulao and french fries. :facepalm:

P.S. I'll bet Major was the first one in the line.
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I remember when Burger King opened it's first branch in Karachi a few years ago people actually dressed up to go the branch :))
 
Pulao with fries seems such a burger people kinda food, not surprised that it is a hit in Isloo
 
Cpt. Rishwat said:
This is why I always say there is a massive opportunity for business in the developing world. There's an appetite for western flavours, but not much expertise. No wonder McDonalds and KFC are desperate to get a foothold. Pulao and french fries. :facepalm:

P.S. I'll bet Major was the first one in the line.
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I barely have enough money for a pulao plate and a drink.

But will try the french fries and pulao very soon :))
 
Cpt. Rishwat said:
This is why I always say there is a massive opportunity for business in the developing world. There's an appetite for western flavours, but not much expertise. No wonder McDonalds and KFC are desperate to get a foothold. Pulao and french fries. :facepalm:

P.S. I'll bet Major was the first one in the line.
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I dont know about whole of Pakistan, but in rawal pindi the awaam here likes chicken only. Beef items arn't really bought here so many restuarants refrain from keeping beef.

I think much of this chicken culture in rawal pindi is influenced by KFC. THere was a time when the only western fast food was kfc.

I think the business oppurtunity in Pakistan is Desi Fast food. There is still no concept of desi fast food in Pindi/ Islamabad.
 
Syed1 said:
Pulao with fries seems such a burger people kinda food, not surprised that it is a hit in Isloo
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If you ever head back there, might be worth considering a poutine franchise. If they'll eat rice and fries, imagine if they got something decent on their chips.
 
Major said:
I dont know about whole of Pakistan, but in rawal pindi the awaam here likes chicken only. Beef items arn't really bought here so many restuarants refrain from keeping beef.

I think much of this chicken culture in rawal pindi is influenced by KFC. THere was a time when the only western fast food was kfc.

I think the business oppurtunity in Pakistan is Desi Fast food. There is still no concept of desi fast food in Pindi/ Islamabad.
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Isn't pulao quite dry? I would have thought you need some sort of sauce to go on the fries. You get Brits eating them with curry sauces of varying flavours. |Chinese takeaways serve a lot of their dishes with fries as an alternative to rice.
 
Cpt. Rishwat said:
Isn't pulao quite dry? I would have thought you need some sort of sauce to go on the fries. You get Brits eating them with curry sauces of varying flavours. |Chinese takeaways serve a lot of their dishes with fries as an alternative to rice.
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Raita is offered as a side here.
 
lol how can anyone eat carbs on their own, forget a meat product I'd even have some veg with that
 
I've been to the KFC in Pindi when it opened for the first time, man their chicken was the best so crispy; way better then anything I've had from the UK branches outside their wings
 
Seriously hope it's just an Islamabad thing for the burger children that like to have a western option when eating out with mom's and pops. Can't see it being popular in a city like Karachi where they are quite serious about quality restaurants and international cuisines.

I know if popular restaurants tried marketing the 2 together here in London it would not stay a popular place very long. People living outside Pakistan seem to strive more for real authenticity then real Pakistanis these days.
 
I never really understood the fascination "burger" bachay have with fries. Some of my friends would eat them daily as a snack between lunch and dinner...like religiously.
 
Btw i dont understand why people expect pakistan to follow healthy diet.

In such a country, healthy diet is the least of concerns. Thats a concept that would be introduced here in maybe 15-20 years
 
Also another thing, burger bachay etc dont go to savour :facepalm:

So yeh....
 
shaz619 said:
I've been to the KFC in Pindi when it opened for the first time, man their chicken was the best so crispy; way better then anything I've had from the UK branches outside their wings
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Tell me the year
 
sshakir411 said:
I never really understood the fascination "burger" bachay have with fries. Some of my friends would eat them daily as a snack between lunch and dinner...like religiously.
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Hey...there's nothing wrong with fries, one of the best snack foods in the world. But you don't eat them with pulao for God's sake. Try burgers, or fish, or with some type of sauce. Someone send a memo to Islamabad. Forget about Major, he's a lost cause.
 
Syed1 said:
I remember when Burger King opened it's first branch in Karachi a few years ago people actually dressed up to go the branch :))
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That happened when Starbucks opened in Mumbai. 500 for a sub standard coffee and people were still clicking selfies with the coffee
 
Cpt. Rishwat said:
This is why partition was a bad idea. Even the Afghans would have more sense than this.
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Afghanis eat rice with naan... so lets not even go there. Also their rice is sweet since it has raisins in it.

Sweet rice with salty naan :ashwin
 
Also do people know what savour is?

That is quality pulao, it could be easily be eaten dry, thats how good it is
 
Major said:
Btw i dont understand why people expect pakistan to follow healthy diet.

In such a country, healthy diet is the least of concerns. Thats a concept that would be introduced here in maybe 15-20 years
Click to expand...

Healthy diet ≠ eating vegetables.
 
Oh yeah? Well here in Cairo you can find potato crisp sandwiches.... that is, potato crisps and/or french fries inside roti. :ibutt
 
The Potatos i found in Pakistan just didn't have the same quality for chips as we have in the UK.

Pakistan has amazing food , I really dont understand why people prefer to eat burgers, fries. My friends go to Pizza Hut or KFC and I dont bother. I prefer a Chicken Karahi with hot Nan.
 
Kabuli Pulao with 3-4 different kind of Kebab and a Qurma dish + Chakni + Salat is food to die for.

Who f eats french fries and Pulao?
 
I just had pulao couple of days back in Islamabad. I live there. I've eaten fries couple of hours back and I am currently in no mood to eat pulao with it, neither I've heard or seen anyone doing that in Islamabad so NO!

However, delivering popular brands of pulaos (Savour, Tayyab, MS, Baoji) at home is becoming athing.
 
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KingKhanWC said:
The Potatos i found in Pakistan just didn't have the same quality for chips as we have in the UK.

Pakistan has amazing food , I really dont understand why people prefer to eat burgers, fries. My friends go to Pizza Hut or KFC and I dont bother. I prefer a Chicken Karahi with hot Nan.
Click to expand...

Fun fact...


Potato isn't native to the Indian subcontinent. The European colonizers brought it with them and grew them there, maybe that would explain why quality of potato is lower in Pakistan. Also in Pakistan you only get one or two species of potato while in West there are literally dozen or more.
 
Syed1 said:
Fun fact...


Potato isn't native to the Indian subcontinent. The European colonizers brought it with them and grew them there, maybe that would explain why quality of potato is lower in Pakistan. Also in Pakistan you only get one or two species of potato while in West there are literally dozen or more.
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Because of delicious Sauces and Steaks?
 
Never liked Pulao, too salty, biryani is much better because it has a hint of sour and spicy.
 
KingKhanWC said:
The Potatos i found in Pakistan just didn't have the same quality for chips as we have in the UK.

Pakistan has amazing food , I really dont understand why people prefer to eat burgers, fries. My friends go to Pizza Hut or KFC and I dont bother. I prefer a Chicken Karahi with hot Nan.
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Fast food is so overrated, you can cook all of it at home, cleaner, make it healthier the way you want it.
 
CricFan2012 said:
Fast food is so overrated, you can cook all of it at home, cleaner, make it healthier the way you want it.
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True but its hard to find all the ingredients in local stores. Even black olive is hard to find. Forget olive, I've been searching for ice-berg all over local stores, no luck.
 
Sounds intriguing. I can have french fries with anything. Crisp from the outside, soft from the inside. Kind of like me.
 
There is some backward country out there where they eat fries with gravy or something, this isn't much worse although it still sounds like a tragedy.

But I love fries by themselves. Waffle fries especially. No difference in taste, purely aesthetic.
 
Last edited:
Burger = Barbadi ka ghar

Pizza = Jo sehaat ko pii jaye

Those are Ramdev's words. Ghar ka khana zindabad!
 
Suleiman said:
There is some backward country out there where they eat fries with gravy or something, this isn't much worse although it still sounds like a tragedy.

But I love fries by themselves. Waffle fries especially. No difference in taste, purely aesthetic.
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There is a third world country out there that made burrito out of sushi
 
Pakistanian said:
I'm not surprised, in Punjab people also eat pakoras with naan :))
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But that's not a bad combo and there are veg/chicken pakoras out there that would go nicely with a naan. This is just carb on carb lol
 
shaz619 said:
Allah ni marzi, am very sorry to hear that bro
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The human body is incredibly adaptive. There was a time when I used to crave for fast food twice a day, compulsory. After I had my pancreatitis attack, I had to stop it. Now I don't crave it even if it's in front of me. I'm simply not interested.
 
Hitman said:
The human body is incredibly adaptive. There was a time when I used to crave for fast food twice a day, compulsory. After I had my pancreatitis attack, I had to stop it. Now I don't crave it even if it's in front of me. I'm simply not interested.
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Did you stop consuming alcohol? That is far more important than ghar ka khana.
 
Hitman said:
The human body is incredibly adaptive. There was a time when I used to crave for fast food twice a day, compulsory. After I had my pancreatitis attack, I had to stop it. Now I don't crave it even if it's in front of me. I'm simply not interested.
Click to expand...

That's a shame to know, hopefully your new diet changes keep you in good health brother
 
CricFan2012 said:
Fast food is so overrated, you can cook all of it at home, cleaner, make it healthier the way you want it.
Click to expand...

I do eat fast food reguarly, cheat days etc But I dont see the point of eating fast food all the time when in a place such as Pakistan where the local food is simply amazing. Even in the village, the home made food is so nice. You can taste the flavour of meat and vegtables much more than here in England, probably due to lack of chemicals in the soil so most of it's free range meat or organic vegtables.
 
KingKhanWC said:
I do eat fast food reguarly, cheat days etc But I dont see the point of eating fast food all the time when in a place such as Pakistan where the local food is simply amazing. Even in the village, the home made food is so nice. You can taste the flavour of meat and vegtables much more than here in England, probably due to lack of chemicals in the soil so most of it's free range meat or organic vegtables.
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I think they are spoilt for choice in that they eat that amazing local food everyday so the alternative when it comes to fast food becomes more appealing
 
shaz619 said:
I think they are spoilt for choice in that they eat that amazing local food everyday so the alternative when it comes to fast food becomes more appealing
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Makes sense.

I remember when I was young and my granmother said go and choose a chicken. As a child I loved animals so thought she was going to give me a chicken to take back to England lol. Once chosen she cooked up a bbq roast with butter tandoori roti's and fresh mango achar from our own tree. Before this as a kid I would only eat fish and chips, burgers etc but this was the best meal I had and from then changed my eating habbits. May her soul reach paradise :)
 
KingKhanWC said:
Makes sense.

I remember when I was young and my granmother said go and choose a chicken. As a child I loved animals so thought she was going to give me a chicken to take back to England lol. Once chosen she cooked up a bbq roast with butter tandoori roti's and fresh mango achar from our own tree. Before this as a kid I would only eat fish and chips, burgers etc but this was the best meal I had and from then changed my eating habbits. May her soul reach paradise :)
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Same we all grow up on a similar diet here before we see the light :)) iA she will be granted paradise. The food there is amazing and I usually like going to places like akbars as well rather then burger places, nothing better then a chicken/lamb/keema karahi with naan and tandoori roti
 
shaz619 said:
Same we all grow up on a similar diet here before we see the light :)) iA she will be granted paradise. The food there is amazing and I usually like going to places like akbars as well rather then burger places, nothing better then a chicken/lamb/keema karahi with naan and tandoori roti
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What's you cooking skills like bro? I wish I could cook but have no skills at all. :shehzad
 
KingKhanWC said:
What's you cooking skills like bro? I wish I could cook but have no skills at all. :shehzad
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The only thing I can make which is decent is keema, everything else is average :kohli and I tend to use them laziza spices packets for chicken karahi or a biryani so can't take credit for what am able to get out of them but for a student when I was cooking everything is 10/10 :)) and better then getting expensive fast food from the bengali takeaways in the area, even my cooking was way better then there's
 
shaz619 said:
The only thing I can make which is decent is keema, everything else is average :kohli and I tend to use them laziza spices packets for chicken karahi or a biryani so can't take credit for what am able to get out of them but for a student when I was cooking everything is 10/10 :)) and better then getting expensive fast food from the bengali takeaways in the area, even my cooking was way better then there's
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Seems you have a hidden talent there. I tried a curry once but the spices got to my eyes and it took me hours to finish but only minutes to eat. I found this not logical or sensible. :inzi
 
KingKhanWC said:
Seems you have a hidden talent there. I tried a curry once but the spices got to my eyes and it took me hours to finish but only minutes to eat. I found this not logical or sensible. :inzi
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It takes ages :)) but what I do is cook once and make loads of portions which I freeze. Have not made anything in a while though and lmao at least you've never set a toaster on fire :yk
 
Not surprised. I've always thought a perfect complement to a plate of daal chawal is some hot spicy fried potatoes, whether in french fry form or even as crunchier tater tots. Adds a new texture/flavor to a staple meal.

Even tastier if the daal chawal is flavored, e.g. tomato rice + spinach daal.

Sadly such meals are a surefire way to obesity, so can only be enjoyed once in a blue moon.
 
The OP meant Pulao and Fries and not pulao with fries. For pulao you use vegetables and raita where as for fries you can have sauce.

I have been to that place in my university days, the place offers pulao with kababs and there are other fast food items (although it is by no means fast enough because pulao gets served quicker than burgers etc ).

Their main item is pulao-kabab and some people for variety have fries to satisfy their taste buds.

But Major has again generalized the things very much. This food combination exists only at Savour foods, which is known for its good service, decent quality and economical prices. Basically, it's a Pakistani Mcdonalds for a quick lunch during office breaks.
 
shaz619 said:
It takes ages :)) but what I do is cook once and make loads of portions which I freeze. Have not made anything in a while though and lmao at least you've never set a toaster on fire :yk
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Haha, you'll make a good husband one day :malik
 
It's not the case of people ordering palao with fries.

Savour serves fast food as well as palao. Different people on the same table order either palao or fast food (burgers, wings, drumsticks) along with fries.
 
Major said:
Beef items arn't really bought here so many restuarants refrain from keeping beef.
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Surprised to read this. I thought beef would be very popular in Pakistan. I wonder if this a hangover from the Hindu ancestors.
 
Napa said:
Surprised to read this. I thought beef would be very popular in Pakistan. I wonder if this a hangover from the Hindu ancestors.
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Actually chicken is multiple times more popular than beef. We have chicken in practically everything.
 
I had very good beef today.
But i would call a broiler a broiler and not a chicken. If i am given a choice from all meats then a desi chick would be my first priority where as broiler would be the last.

This would be my ranking.
1. Chicken
2. desi bakra/dumba
3. fish
4.beef
5.broiler

Broiler is popular because of its use in fast food items.

Good quality beef is 350+ per KG where as chicken is on average at 200-220.
 
Napa said:
Surprised to read this. I thought beef would be very popular in Pakistan. I wonder if this a hangover from the Hindu ancestors.
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Its just another choice here. Chicken is easy on body so its little more common here. But obviously beef lovers would prefer beef anywhere. In fast food I've seen many prefering beef patties/steaks.

However thanks to Sharif's Donkey selling actions, people have stopped trusting beef while eating outside. For many, the only beef they store is the one they slaughter on Eids.
 
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