In South St. Paul, in a truck stop off Highway 494 sits a Pakistani restaurant. I came across a reference to it in a Youtube Reel in mid-January and descended on them with friends almost exactly one month ago on an extremely cold Saturday morning. Only to find they were closed. Not forever but for two weeks for a holiday. That was the weekend we ended up eating at Mañana. That was a very nice meal but I had been denied nihari and paya and I was resolved to return not too long after they re-opened on Feb 4. As luck would have it, one of the friends who’d been thwarted alongside us was out of town the weekend after Feb 4 and since he really wanted to eat there, we agreed to wait another week (we went to Ramen Kazama instead that weekend). And so it was that we descended on them again this past weekend, on an extremely cold Sunday morning, this time having called ahead to confirm they were open. They were indeed open and I am very happy to say that I ate nihari and paya and more besides and that it was all very good. Details follow.
From the outside Biryani Stop looks like a veritable hole in the wall and I really did not know what to expect. When I’d first heard of them I’d wondered if this was another of the number of South Asian dhabas spread around the highway systems of North America, feeding the growing number of South Asian truckers. As it turns out, that is not what Biryani Stop is. Opening the unassuming door we found a quite cosy restaurant inside. There’s an attractive dining room with booths along one wall, six-top tables along the other wall and more tables in the center of the room. We grabbed one of the six-tops and quickly got down to bidness.
On weekdays they have an a la carte menu but on weekends a lunch buffet is all they serve. You’ve got to watch out for their hours. They’re closed on Mondays; on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays they’re open from 12-9 pm; on Fridays from 3.30-9 pm; on Saturdays and Sundays from 11-5 pm. So don’t show up for dinner on the weekend. And nor should you expect to find everything they serve available every day. Haleem and paya show up on the weekend buffet but otherwise only as specials on Fridays. Among the scant reviews of the place on Yelp are references to the weekday offerings being limited to whatever they’ve actually got ready when you arrive, which may not be everything on the menu. So it appears that weekend lunch is really the time to go.
The buffet costs $23.99 per head. What does it get you? There’s a small section right by the door as you enter that has salad, dahi-bhallay (a snack), and a couple of desserts. Past the cashier, on the way to the kitchen is the main buffet which is far more extensive. This past weekend there were 11 dishes on offer in that section: sweet halwa, chana masala, chana masala with chicken, alu karahi, mutton korma, bhindi masala, butter chicken, achari chicken, beef nihari, goat paya, and chicken biryani. On another table closer to the center of the room there were trays with samosas, haleem and white rice; and for some reason, a vat of hot & sour soup. In addition, when you sit down pooris and naans show up at your table fresh from the kitchen and are replenished as you need them. You can get water and soft drinks from a small refrigerator and they’re included in the price of the meal.
Between the six of us we tried everything. And we liked everything we tried. My favourites were the dahi-bhallay, the achari chicken and the paya. The nihari and korma were very good too and the biryani was more than creditable (which is more than you can say at most desi restaurants in the US). The haleem could have been quite good too if it had not been less than lukewarm in temperature. My only other disappointment—felt even more acutely by our boys—was with the complete lack of kababs or tandoori chicken in the buffet. And I am compelled to note that this buffet is unlikely to present value for money for the vegetarian: there were only three savoury dishes on offer sans meat; and there was no dal.
For a look at the restaurant and the buffet offerings, launch the slideshow below. Scroll down to see how much it all came to and to see what’s coming next.
Service was very friendly but not always present. There were two young’ish gents manning the front of the house but they spent most of their time helping out in the kitchen. One couple had to wait a while to be seated and it took a while to make payment at the cashier’s table as well when we were done. But they were very friendly when present, however. And we very much appreciated that they only charged us for five people. This because our younger boy was not able to eat very much of the food: unlike his brother he has not outgrown his childhood nut allergies and the kitchen was not able to say with confidence that more than a few dishes were completely nut-free. Thankfully, one of these was the nihari, and he loved it.
My guess is we will be back—though next time I might try to stop in for dinner on a Friday and check out the kababs on the regular menu along with the paya and haleem specials.
What’s next from the Twin Cities? Likely a Sichuan meal but in a shocker it won’t be eaten at Grand Szechuan. We are scheduled to meet visiting friends in Minneapolis on the weekend and will probably end up at Legendary Spice. That report will go up next Wednesday. Before that, I might finally put up the one remaining report from my Delhi trip in December.