Melody Food Park - Part 1 (BBQ)

 Well, Islamabad has its own FOOD PARK. Yes, as the title suggests, we are here to explore the MELODY FOOD PARK situated in the heart of G6/2 Markaz. The location is opposite to Islamabad Hotel and the place is staked with the desi style food dhabas and mini restaurants, an open air sitting arrangement with a tent roof and plastic, red table and chairs. My BBQ cravings brought me here. Since, the melody food park has many options for eat out and dine in, a single post on melody food park will not do any justice. Therefore, there will be many sequels to this post until the place is fully explored and reviewed. 

The general look of the food park is not too eye catching, and neither too shabby to be repugnant. Its a bit close to Karachi, street style eateries, except that it is a whole FOOD PARK. There are floors! The ground floor and the top floor which comes after climbing a rustic, modest stair case made out of cement! The view of the ground floor is divided into the front street and the street to the right. While, the center has a sitting arrangement that resembles our desi style, vintage wedding set up with round tables, and chairs. Nostalgic right? 

Well, the rush here depends on season. I have seen this place crammed with people only once. Otherwise, it has gentry but never really got a chance to see a full house even if we visit at office lunch break hours. This is perhaps because of the rates here. Melody food park may sound like a carnival of food with affordable options but the meals here are not less than PKR 500 (minus savour foods). Well, a small tikka is PKR 230 but that is barely enough. Karahi serving begins at PKR 650, and BBQ items such as Seekh Kebabs start at PKR 550. 

I had a craving for BBQ, and I also wanted to have soup. A strange combination, but a winterish craving that you can not simply ignore. As you enter the food park, you'd see multiple waiters approaching you with their menu cards, and directing you towards a sitting arrangement which is in front of their own little restaurant. The waiters are numerous, and too insisting to barely spare you a moment to decide which direction you want to go! 

We restricted our expedition to the restaurant in front of us, which is called the GALAXY FOOD RESTAURANT. They had grills ready with burning coal, and meat already getting grilled on them. Here is what Galaxy Food has on their menu: 

MENU OF GALAXY FOOD RESTAURANT

The restaurant has a lot of desi food, and BBQ options including:

- Breakfast

Chai, In famous paye, palak gosht, nehari (WOW! Yes! These are enlisted as their breakfast items!) 

- Special Mutton Karahi

- Special BBQ
(Tikka, Chicken Seekh Kabab, Beef Seekh Kabab, Chicken Malai Boti, Bihari Boti to name a few)

- Special Karahi or Handi
(Chicken White Karahi, Mutton Karahi, Chicken Achari, Boneless Handi etc.) 

- Special Rice
(Boiled Rice, Biryani)

- Others
(Salad, Raita, Roti, Cold Drinks)

DEALS

Galaxy Food restaurant offers deals on their BBQ and other items. Their cheapest deal is MIX BBQ PLATTER starting at PKR 1750. The menu does not identify how many people the deal serves, and what items of BBQ are included in this mix platter.

I was quite skeptical about the taste as I anticipated less spicy. However, I ordered while keeping the Islamabad taste stereotyping out of my mind and taste buds. So, we ordered a takeaway because we did not want to be sitting in a cold night in open air. We were served with our bag of seekh kebab, and soup within 10 minutes. We went home to enjoy our meal.

TASTE REVIEW

The taste was spectacular. We had six seekh kababs for PKR 500, and soup for PKR 120. The taste was spicy, and good for the desi mini restaurant. I would rate 8/10 for the taste of the BBQ. The taste of the soup however, was average.

Well, the food of the mood was BBQ. The mood was lighten up by a serving of single plate of seekh kebab, and a single serving of soup. Given the ambiance of the place, and the appearance of this restaurant which is more a dhaba actually, the rates are high. Is melody park a must try in Islamabad? Too early to make any comments on that because, based on one food experience we can not gauge the entire food park. So, most likely a couple of more trips, and trial to this place would unravel what options are available. One thing is for sure, this is a place with very rich breakfast options, and all desi styles as well as many BBQ options.