Food anatomization : Khiva, Phoenix Market City - Pune

After a late and tiring bowling session at BluO, we made our way to the restaurant. Frankly, it was the rating of 4.9 in Zomato, which pulled me to try the restaurant. 😍

Our bowling session at BluO got us quite late, but they were more than happy to welcome us even at 23:00-ish, since we had made a prior reservation. Serving a group of 10 plus people, and adhering to the requests of the guests, post the kitchen closing time is something highly appreciable.
Kudos, to you guys for serving us well.

Did some googling, and found that KHIVA is actually a small city located in Uzbekistan, established in the beginning of the Christian era.
KHIVA is a city of rugged people.
There are various stories establishing the name of the place - one such story was that: the travelers having drunk the water from the city would exclaim with "Khey Waah" - which was eventually shortened for KHIVA.
Another story was based on the sons of Noah: Shem - who after the flood, found himself wandering in the desert alone. One night, he dreamt of about 300 burning torches. On waking up, pleased with the omen he found the city with the outlines of a ship which were mapped according to the placement of the torches. He then dug the KHEYVAK well, which had a surprising taste and this then led the city to be called KHIVA.

Khiva specializes in Royal frontier cuisine, mainly from the Central Asian part of the world - biryanis and kebabs being their forte. A restaurant laid on the foundations of taste must not let down and Khiva, I can say is definitely etching its name in the city in the genre of providing with the best of taste. 😊

It is located on the 3rd Level of the Phoenix Mall and is tucked in one corner next to Cuba Libre. I won't deny, we were sort of lost, finding the restaurant. 😀

The huge wooden door with the artificial lamps or Mashaal as is called in Hindi, at the entrance gives a feel of entering into a gufa. 😉 Khul ja sim-sim!🙌

The main USP of their decor is the wall covering painting of the warriors wearing turbans, on their horses - is beautiful with a mix of colors. Overall a soothing ambiance was imparted by the wooden theme ceiling and the fancy hanging lamps.                                   

Loved these lighting on the walls, they were creating a great effect on off-white wall base.

An eye catchy part of their furniture was the karigari done on the wooden chairs - seriously such detailing. Wow!

The place can accommodate about 50 guests or so - with seating arrangement varying from the regular wooden table top and chair combo to the sofa seating.

The soft Arabic music being played adds to the ambiance. 😇

The menus are interesting in the form of a newsletter - nice concept guys! 😃

And as is stated on the menu - it was HAMLA time for us too, on the food of course. 😎

They claim to cook their dishes in earthen pots and I couldn't wait to start off.

They provided us with complimentary drinks for the group - we could choose from either soft drinks or virgin mojito. I chose for the VIRGIN MOJITO refreshingly minty - complemented the dishes.

By the time our order was being prepared, they served us with these unique colorful crackers in the form of long sticks accompanied with a variety of dips in mint, chili tomato dip, tamarind dip, mayonnaise, and cheese, if I am not wrong. Indeed, an interesting muncher, to calm the growling tummies by the time the food arrives on your table - we munched our way through it, relishing the burst of flavors from the dips - spicy, tangy, sweet!! 😉

CHOWKI KI TIKKI from their range of Central Asian innovation was deliciously drool-worthy. It was simple yet heart winning - aloo tikkis stuffed along with granular paneer, raisins and garnished with chopped coriander leaves.
The tikkis so soft - you would just feel like gorging on the whole lot.

Next in line were the PANEER PESHAWARI TIKKA - ultra soft paneer marinated in a mix of spices and creamy malai which were further charcoal grilled. One of the best paneer starters I must have had off late. Spicy and when teamed with the mint dip was my my....😋 Delicacy!

CHAKORI MURGH - chicken marinated in yogurt, spices, some sort of hara masala and roasted. Their spices have some sort of magic potion in them - it brings about such a perfection and balance of taste, one can't just have no option, but feel satiated. The charring effect to the dish enhanced the taste.
Although the plating seemed little chaotic, the taste was equally sorted. 😜

 TANDOORI SHIKARI TANGDI - grilled chicken legs in a tangy marination with their special spices. Tangdi, is always my favorite and they did full justice to the dish. Grilled & spiced - yet it did leave an ample amount of oil and juices by the time the serving plate was empty. 😓 Whatsoever, this was a blockbuster hit amongst us the non-vegetarians.

For the mains, it was the MURGH PESHAWARI which my friends liked. The only constant comment was that the chicken dishes seemed like mutton - not sure?! 😕 Even the gravy color looked too dark for a chicken preparation. I dug in for the vegetarian mains.

They term plain steamed rice as KHUSHKA - something unusual. 😃

PANEER KHURCHAN - this is a vegetarian's delight, long pieces of paneer sauteed with bell peppers, tomatoes and tempered in mustard seeds. Not a fan of tempering paneer dishes in mustard seeds, albeit the semi-dry gravy was the best I must have had in a long time in paneer. It was a mix of spicy and tangy. Hands down - their paneer dishes are just finger licking good.

The MELONI TARKARI was a mix of seasonal vegetables in home-style preparation and garnished with cream. Rich and veggie-licious. 😃

The PYAAZA KUCHA - perfect! Ek dum khasta...

The CHICKEN DUM BIRYANI was served in a clay pot covered with a layer of flour pack. I always enjoy the opening ceremony of such biryanis.
It is so intriguing to look on - as the layer is scraped off, the aroma and the steam flow through. The saffron-infused long basmati rice were cooked in layers of rice, spices and tender-juicy chicken chunks. The spices were cooked in a different style and had a sort of flavor, which was new in a biryani for me - all in a good way, of course. This one was flavourful and felt light.

The ZAFFRANI ANGOORI RASMALAI were these 6 balls of absolute delicate delights, immersed in a puddle of saffron flavored milk and garnished with dry fruits. Can anyone say no?! 💗

The LYCHEE TEHREE is their Masterchef's specialty dessert - a thick milky rabdi base with hidden lychee slices and garnished with dry fruits. It just blends in the mouth.
Rabdi with a combination of lychee was the first for me.

More pictures:

SUBZ BIRYANI

A special mention of the staff who very patiently served us with the dishes came up with recommendations and helped with the order. They were out of many dishes since we had arrived late, but I just can't complain - we were indeed served the best. Thank you guys for feeding the grumping stomachs plus not pushing us to vacate post the restaurant timing. 😊🙇

They do not have any facility of corporate discounts as of now - but hopefully, they start with it soon.

And yes, they are comparatively expensive - but trust me the taste would win you over and you wouldn't regret. 😋 It is a fine dining experience.

~Bon Appétit!!

P.S. All the above photos have been clicked by me.
It is a narrative of my experience and the views expressed above are solely mine. Folks are more than welcome to agree or disagree with the above review. My review does not guarantee that someone would also have a similar experience. 
The review is not in any way plagiarized from any other source, it is solely my hard work put into creating the content - except few excerpts about the restaurant picked from the publicly available information over the world of internet.