Biryaneez & Thali

Biryaneez & Thali is tucked away in the Asiana Tower on Exhibition Road. If you know Patna, you know how crazy the traffic gets on this road. We are right across from the HDFC Bank, which is a good landmark because people are always going there. We started this place because we wanted to serve the office crowd that works in these tall buildings. Most of the guys come in for the thali because it’s quick and fills them up for the afternoon. We have a few small tables but it gets tight when the lunch rush starts. The elevator in the building sometimes acts up, so people have to walk, but they still come. We use regular steel plates and the kitchen is right there in the back. You can hear the pressure cookers whistling all morning. I spend most of my day sitting at the little wooden desk near the entrance, taking the cash and saying hello to the regulars. We don’t do any big advertising. People just find us because they work nearby or they’re shopping on Exhibition Road. Sometimes we run out of certain items by two o'clock, and we just have to tell people sorry. It’s not a perfect system, but it’s honest work. The walls have some old calendars on them and the lighting is just basic tubes. We just wanted a simple shop in the middle of all the Patna noise where you can get a decent meal.