In my exploits as a Food Blogger mostly people want me to visit a place for sharing my experience with them and help them improve on customer experience.

Then there are places like Hichkee where I want to visit not because I haven’t been to a place like Hichkee before but just to gauge and understand if it’s really worth all the hype and is it really all glittery or does its food and hospitality really has its heart at the right place?

Location & Parking: Located on the rooftop of Hotel Alleviate next to Yamuna Kinara, the Valet parking is both necessary and works well to rush off to level 4, hoping to leave behind your day’s worries for a while !

Timings, Reservations & Waiting: They have started operating now from 5 pm till 1 am everyday to counter the heat. Reservations and Waiting is an area where they do come under some stick. For the record the reservations can be done up-to 8.30-8.45 pm but not on weekends. The best time to visit on weeknights is to reach latest by 8.45 pm and on weekends to be on the safe side reach by 7-7.30 pm if you want to completely avoid any waiting time.

The Drinks: Being a Teetotaller, I tried a number of Mocktails and Shakes however nothing could beat the Chocolate Oreo Shake & Drooling over Guava mocktail during my outing. #stronglyrecommended

The Starters: The Cheese, Capsicum, Corn and Coriander (hence named 4C) preparation was like a cheese bowl but in elliptical shape was a starter full of Cheddar cheese, that was both delicious and filling. For my veg counterparts this is a must order !

Among the crop of non veg starters the best I liked was the Zarda Chicken Kebab that first tasted like a Malai chicken kebab but then gave me a tangy chatpata flavour. #lovedit

The Mutton Kali Mirch was equally appetising with the flesh falling off the bone and an unusually creamy texture for a Mutton starter went well with a subtle flavor of black pepper and thankfully the pepper flavor wasn’t overpowering in nature ! #recommended

Steamed Chicken Momos with a twist of stuffed cheese was both surprising and appetising. Personally I am not a fan of Momos and if at all I do eat then fried is what I prefer but this steamed Momo was perfectly steamed with no rubbery exterior that are a deal breaker for many a preparations. The filling was done fantastically well with cheese and delicious minced chicken and I liked it a lot. #beststeamedmomosever

The Indian style pasta was very unlike your regular pasta and as the name promised, had flavours of a paneer Makhani like gravy and was served with tender chunks of Paneer. #innovativeforsure

Bhatti Ka Murgh was like a regular Tandoori chicken for me, that was a tad dry and needed to be a bit more juicy, gave the feedback to the Chef which was taken gracefully indeed !

Thai Curry Fish with Basa being served in Oriental gravy was further accentuated by usage of Lemongrass and ginger being the chief ingredients. The Fish was cooked very well with its sides being crunchy and the meat beneath extremely tender. The pickled Broccoli served with rice was pretty tasty as well.

Mutton Dum Biryani: My favourite food is biryani and expectedly if I see it in the menu I am always on the look out to try it. I wasn’t particularly hopeful about the biryani in Hichkee being a Cafe however I was again pleasantly surprised by both the quality and quantity of the preparation. It wasn’t quite the spicy types preparation like Hyderabadi however nor was it all aroma and nearly bland like a Lucknowi variant. This was a preparation served with dry fruits, tender Mutton, fluffy and  well moist rice that was medium spicy and went very well with a Mutton Korma like Saalan and very well made Raita. #biryanimasterkhushhua

The Verdict: Having dined at best of the best places in cities across India and the world, I can say this is definitely among the top 3-4 places in Agra and compared to top picks of Cities like Pune, Mumbai, NCR, I would rate Hichkee on par with some of the stalwarts both in terms of Ambience (the view of Tak is pretty good as well) hospitality and great food ! I am already getting hiccups where I think my taste buds miss Hichkee and I would love to visit them soon on my next trip to Agra. To conclude – Yes they do live up to all the hype and certainly gave me a dinner to remember for some time to come !