The Khyber Hotel, Shri Anandpur Sahib Review: Food, Ambience, and Service

It was another dining out date with my wife a few days back. Just like on many other occasions we decided to try out something new.

Thankfully there are many new options to dine out in Shri Anandpur Sahib now, although, not every is to our liking.

Attention, we said not to our liking, we did not say not to our standard, for every eating out restaurant in Anandpur Sahib is unique in its own way.

Last time, when we dined out at Roots Restaurant at Shri Anandpur Sahib we were a little disappointed. 

I wrote a complete article on our experience at Roots Restaurant which you can read by clicking on the link given below

So, this time The Khyber Hotel came under our scanner, and boy it was a complete delight to be there.

Just like the majority of the American and Canadian commercial outlets, Indian concerns too have also started erecting such sign boards which notify the presence of a facility from a long distance.

The Khyber Hotel, as the road side glow sign signifies, has a party hall, rooftop lounge, restaurant and rooms. Meaning it has a complete facility for tourists coming to Shri Anandpur Sahib.

Moving inside the restaurant, the restaurant is nicely designed. I would have appreciated it if there had been a bit more light, as the chandeliers were not providing enough of it.

For me, the first love comes from watching the food that is being served, and in case there is not enough light it means you cannot admire it completely.

Well, so far so good, next comes the menu.

Nice I like the green color, and the list is quite exhaustive. Just like most other occasions when we dine in a new restaurant we search for a cuisine that is unique, and we have not heard of it.

I am not saying that I have traveled the world, but it has been so for the amount of roaming we have had till now.

After scanning the menu, the two items that we zeroed in on were soya chaap tikka, and subz miloni.

The good thing about the menu at the Khyber Hotel at Shri Anandpur Sahib was that a short description was given for all the dishes that were mentioned in the menu.

We opted for soya chaap tikka because I like trying out soya chaap, and since I had been ordering it regularly when I was in Chandigarh, I wanted to know what it is like here.

There is a fresh new barely six months old eating joint that opened up in sector 40 of Chandigarh, that is completely dedicated to soya chaap and it has certainly the best and most diverse chaap collection that I have had till now. I will talk about it in another write up of mine.

I ordered the soya chaap tikka here at The Khyber Hotel because I wanted to compare it with the ones I have already had.

As the soya chaap arrived on my dining table it was a delight to look at. I don’t know about the technical terms of the restaurant industry, but as a normal person I was pleased to look at it.

So full marks from me on the presentation of soya chaap tikka.

Unfortunately, the pleasure stopped here only for me, because when I took the bite the soya chaap was quite dry for me. 

I was finding it difficult to bite it, chew it and swallow it.

My wife said it is dry because it is baked in a handi and they have not applied enough oil.

This may be the reason, but I may not like to order this item again here.

Next in line was subz miloni and as detailed in the menu, it had English vegetables cooked with garlic and spinach.

This dish scored much more than our expectations. The taste was good and the vegetables they used were just as described by them.

It was heavily garnished.

I must say that if you are eating out in Anandpur Sahib and you happen to be at The Khyber Hotel and you are open to experimenting new dishes then you should definitely try Subz Miloni here.

So this dish compensated for the soya chaap tika that really disappointed us.

Another thing that came to my attention was that the kitchen was visible clearly from where I was sitting. 

Just a part of the kitchen and from where we were sitting we could catch a glimpse of the kitchen, and it looked to be pretty clean and tidy.

They say the most important pillar in running a restaurant is the cook. If the cook is up to the mark then your restaurant business will be successful sooner or later, because it is the food that attracts anyone towards a restaurant. A good ambience is one of the supporting factors.

The way subz miloni was prepared at The Khyber Hotel at Shri Anandpur Sahib shows that the cook here knows their stuff.

Another point that came to my mind was that the waiters there lacked coordination or there was no clear demarcation as to who will be attending which table.

Every time we were attended to there was a different waiter and we had to explain things a little.

At one point we ordered something and after sometime another waiter came asking for the same thing.

After the pandemic there has been a considerable increase in the number of restaurants in Shri Anandpur Sahib. The good part is people are flocking these places and adapting the concept of eating out on occasions.

Something that Shri Anandpur Sahib needs to have is some good companies around. When companies will open up there, people from other cities will come in here and that is when the business of these restaurants will pick up.

Need be mentioned here that I did not get to see the parking space for those arriving at the Khyber Hotel. Since this restaurant is just by the road, it will create traffic problems as the footfall to this restaurant will increase.

Sad to say that we in India are already struggling because of increased traffic, and if every individual keeps up with their responsibility then this problem can be sorted out.

When we are setting up such a big hotel cum restaurant, and we expect good customer flow then we should create good parking space.

It can be quite irritating for many customers when they have to spend good time finding a parking space.

In order to fetch business out of every inch that a person has, they tend to forget that a parking space is required as well. The reason why most people tend to avoid it is because it does not earn you any money.

However, most good restaurants these days are waking up to the importance of having a parking space in running a good business. 

I am sure The Khyber Hotel must have a good parking space underground because it has a hotel and a restaurant. The standard they have set up most of the people will be coming there in a four wheeler.

The Takeaway

The Khyber Hotel is worth trying out and just like subz miloni there are sure to be many other pleasant surprises as well. I would certainly like to go there one more time and try out something new. We only hope that this restaurant at Shri Anandpur Sahib maintains its quality even after it picks up business. I have seen a number of restaurants that slipped down their food quality once they picked up the business.