"Cooking From the Grass Roots," Pakistani Style, at Zaidi's Grill

By Laura Hahnefeld Thu., Aug. 23 2012 at 11:00 AM

Categories: Cafe Review, Hahnefeld

Jackie Mercandetti

Zaidi's serves up classic Pakistani dishes made from family recipes, and hardly a detail is missed in the process.

Syed Zaidi tells me he believes a lot of Indian food in America has gone the way of a lot of Chinese food in America.

"They are not the same flavors, they are modified," he says. "In my style of cooking, we want to be as authentic as we can be."

He's doing a stellar job of it. Syed, along with his wife of 32 years, Tabassum, own Zaidi's Grill, the nine-month-old Pakistani restaurant in Scottsdale. In a style he calls, "cooking from the grass roots," the two serve up classic dishes made from family recipes and memories of meals in their hometown of Karachi.

Tasty grilled meats, curries nearly tripping over themselves with flavor, spicy Pakistani street foods -- you'll find them at Zaidi's. And odds are you'll enjoy every bite.

Here's an excerpt from this week's review:

"More memorable than the grilled meats are the curries. And if Zaidi's becomes famous for one of them, it most likely will be the chicken qorma.

Don't be put off by the bones in the bone-in chicken. Stewed together for hours with large handfuls of spices, they are partially responsible for making this rugged concoction so delectable. The rest of the credit goes to its rich gravy, which is lusciously intense, and packed with enough cloves, cardamom, and cinnamon in its mix of spices to camp out in your mouth for hours."

Hungry for more? Read my full review of Zaidi's Grill here.

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