Last week, I received a message from a restaurant owner. He asked if I can write a food review on a traditional Pakistani-Indian cuisine. I’m not an expert on Indian food but I love it especially Chicken Biryani. It reminded me of the time when my sister’s friend from India cooked dinner for us. It was my first time to eat Chicken Biryani and since then I’ve been looking for that dish each time I go to an Indian restaurant. Since I miss it bigtime, I said YES to the collaboration in a heartbeat!
Rana Zafar is one of the owners of Sollie’s Pakistani-Indian Restaurant. His love for cooking made him decide to make a career shift. He was a civil engineer and procurement professional before he became a chef. At the onset of the pandemic last year, he thought of introducing Pakistani-Indian food here in Cebu right after he decided to stay here in the Philippines. Together with his Filipina wife, Marigen, they opened Sollie’s last October 26, 2019 in Liloan with a common goal to let Cebuanos know about the cuisine and give alternatives to their food choices and cravings for South Asian food.
Rana shared that Sollie’s is not a big scale restaurant but they aim to provide quality food. They take pride in being a halal-serving restaurant that means they don’t serve pork. The meat and other ingredients used are halal certified or “slaughter-halal.”
Photo from Sollie’s Pakistani-Indian Restaurant’s Facebook Page
With the quality of food they serve, in a span of few months, the restaurant was able to gain loyal customers — 95% of the orders they get are from Pinoys and the rest are from Arabs, Indians, and Americans. When they closed the physical store in Liloan due to the pandemic, they thought they would lose their customers but “by grace of God,” according to Rana, they get an average of 10 to 15 delivery and pick-up orders everyday.
For now, they are operating from home and delivering via Grab, foodpanda, LEB, eatigo, Maxim, and Lalamove.
So last Wednesday, I had an early dinner of a whole spread of Sollie’s Pakistani-Indian food right in the comfort of my home. So here are my thoughts on their food.
CHICKEN AND VEGETABLE SAMOSAS
Samosa is a popular Indian deep fried snack. Usually, it is stuffed with potatoes, spices, herbs and vegetables or any minced meat.
I find both chicken and vegetable samosas delicious, flaky and crispy. However, if I’m going to choose between the two, I’d go for the chicken stuffing because I like my samosas with meat in it.
CHICKEN BIRYANI
The traditional Chicken Biryani is considered one of the luxurious treats. It takes time and a lot of expertise in making a perfect biryani.
The dish reminds me of my first biryani experience which I mentioned earlier. It is a layer of flavors of the marinated chicken, rice, and herbs which make the whole meal so rich. The flavors of the dish are enhanced even more when I added the yogurt mint sauce.
BEEF NIHARI AND MUTTON KORMA
Mutton Korma (goat) is made by slow cooking the mutton together with the herbs. This cooking process makes the meat tender which I noticed while eating it. The dish can be served with Paratha or plain rice.
Beef Nihari is a Pakistani beef stew that is easy slow-cooked over a low flame for about 6 hours or overnight. The beef stew is popular for its deep and thick flavor of fresh spices. I enjoyed the tender beef stew by dipping it with a piece of Roti which was the highlight of the whole meal.
BEEF SHAWARMA
Beef Shawarma is a popular Middle Eastern street food that uses a heavily-marinated slow-roasted meat.
Rana shared that their shawarma is completely different in the market. They use marinated beef stripe and not minced beef. Then they only prepare it with fresh homemade pita once they receive orders from their customers.
I noticed right away it was not the regular ones I’ve tasted in some commercial shawarma stores. It was full of rich flavors with a nice kick to it.
NUTELLA WRAP
The Nutella roll up is an appetizing treat. A generous amount of Nutella spread filled the whole wrap. I warmed it over a low flame because I wanted a little crisp to it.
ROTI AND PARATHA
Roti is a round flatbread. This is made of whole wheat flour and is a well-known staple food of North India.
Paratha is a shallow layer of fried bread. It is more crispy than Roti. I enjoyed them both because they complement well with the stew of the Beef Nihari. So if you’re planning to order the beef stew, order extra pieces of either roti or paratha.
SOOJI HALWA
Just like the Beef Nihari, this dessert is only exclusive in Sollie’s. It is a Semolina pudding similar to cassava. The taste is something new to my palates. It is not my favorite, though.
BASQUE BURNT CHEESECAKE
This Sollie’s bestseller is creamy and delicious. This burnt New York-style cheesecake is one of the best cheesecakes I’ve ever tasted. I highly recommend this dessert.
COLD COFFEE AND CHAI MILK TEA
Surprisingly the chai milk tea is yummy. Though the cold beverage is a mix of milk and sugar with black tea, I still prefer the cold coffee. I am more into coffee than milk teas. I am fond of Sollie’s cold coffee because it’s bittersweet and not overly sweet.
As a whole, my backyard foodtrail prepared by Sollie’s Pakistani-Indian Restaurant is an enjoyable feast of flavors and culture. It’s not everyday that you get a taste of traditional recipes which showed a beautiful blend of South Asian food. Definitely, this food adventure is a memorable one.
You too can feast on their food without leaving your home. Sollie’s Pakistani-Indian Restaurant caters to delivery and takeout. Foodpanda delivers in Lapulapu areas. Grab delivers in Lapu-lapu, Mandaue, and Cebu City. LEB delivers from Liloan to Talisay. Eatigo delivers with different hourly discounts. Maxim, Lalamove, and Toktok delivers from Danao to Minglanilla.
SOLLIE’S PAKSITANI-INDIAN | FOODTRAILWITHBEYEE DISCOUNT PROMO
Avail of their promo of 15% to 20% discount with a minimum purchase of Php 1,000 by simply following the Facebook pages of Sollie’s Pakistani-Indian Restaurant and FoodTrailwithBeyee. Take a screenshot showing you followed the two Facebook pages then show these screenshots everytime you order from the restaurant.
Enjoy, fellow foodies 🙂
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