Review Akbar Durbar - Auckland Central

The shop is tucked away in a back street, and the only reason i found it is via a recommendation as I was after a Hyderabadi biryani. Loved it. Not as good as my usual go to place in Melbourne, but close enough. I got the chicken and lamb version (pictured), and the portion was also quite generous. Leaving a 5* as I would recommend this place as a go to for Hyderabadi biryani.

Although this is a small, literally hole in the corner places, the food is excellent and quite authentic. This'll be the second time I've eaten here, during our two trips to Auckland. Goat and chicken biryani were yummy, also had some dal fry and garlic naan...both very good and tasty. So glad this place is not close to my neighborhood or I'd be eating from here almost every second day...

I had stay 10 days in Auckland, tried their food almost every day. Biryani, Haleem, fish, chicken tikka was so good. Me and my mother we both visited from Sydney Australia, Sandeep who cooked the food was so great:)

Food was very delicious. I got myself the Chicken Biryani in just 5 minutes around closing time. They assured me it would be the best I've had, which they were wrong, my mom's the best 😉 But regardless it was very delicious and close to the hostel I was staying at. Nice and convenient 👌 Highly recommend 😇

Very economical place to enjoy "Authentic Biryani"

“Syed ali “ This waiter has excellent service and very delicious cooking..

I ordered the fish briyani and it was simply awesome. Though it costs $20 and I waited 20 minutes for it, it was worth it!

Awesome biryani and tandoori chicken. It’s so good that I go here on almost a daily basis for dinner. I even became friends with the lady who works there (Sandeep), she’s a lovely person and treats everyone respectfully.

The best thing to try here is chicken Tandoori legs, Smoked chicken and Pepper chicken. U can try other food too, I can assure you it is tasty. The staff especially Sandeepji is very friendly and will prepare you a dish accordingly to your choice. Kudos to her service.

Best biryani in Auckland. I've been going here for the past 3 months and I have always been satisfied with the food here. The restaurant is just a simple place, reminds you of the small local eateries in Asian cities. Owner and staff are professional and good. Me and my girlfriend are still going to eat here regularly given the chance, since they are that good.

Underwhelming look from outside, amazing food within. Recommend!

Small place in a corner but very tasty authentic biryani. Variety in the menu. Open till late in the weekend. Prawns biryani, Chicken biryani and hyderabadi biryani.

Such a good authentic place for biryani and hydrabadi food 100% recommended

Liked the lamb biryani. Not the best but yes its quite different from the other biryani's available in auckland. Having eaten so much there, developed a taste which really like the biryani and the curries.People are friendly and you get value for money.

Unfortunately the butter chicken was quite bland and the sauce was extremely bright like it was out of a jar, rather than made from scratch. The garlic naan barely had any flavour and just felt no care had gone into making it. Quite expensive as well given the quality, so unlikely I would order from here again.

Stale n Smelly Biryani, one of the worst biryani I ever tasted. Worst experience ever, they deserve minus rating

Best prawn biriyani I've ever had and it's more of a take away place rather than a dine in. And all ten of us Indians agreed that the food was mind blowing so that's gotta be something!! Thanks allot for the amazing food! It's even better than Paradise!

Best place to come in late from work <br/>The biryani being their speciality is really good <br/>Loved the place <br/>Do visit the place when you don’t know what to eat

Great place for Nonveg food. Loved the biryani. chicken and fish biryanis are awesome. Recommended. <br/>Smoked chicken is amazing. Highly recommended. <br/>Ambiance is good. <br/>Service is good.

Loved the tandoori leg piece (was freshly prepared when I got there). Biriyani was alright, not too heavy on spices (masala) as one would expect from a Hyderabadi style biryani. Will surely go back for tandoori and maybe try their meat curries while at it. If you love moderately spiced biryani, then highly recommended.

I have only tried their Chicken Biryani and the price was reasonable and good serving for 2 people for $14.<br/>The location is quite hidden but because of good feedbacks from friends have decided to try. Quite known in the area for their Biryani....would try other curries next time. Wait is not too bad....

This is best place for having hydrabaadi taste. Biriyani is the most delicious dish you can have as good quality meal. Other food in the menu are okey okey!Colourful and hint of same taste in curries.<br/>Recommendation:Chicken Biryani

This place is by far the worst I ever had food from. I don’t know how they managed to make such tasteless biryani. I also ordered paneer butter masala, it was an inedible orange goo. Daal was pathetic and stale.

The biriyani the earlier used to be good. But over time it feels like the taste is deteriorating. Although the place has cheaper options compared to the other place it can still improve in the taste

Have gotten food delivered from here a couple of times. I usually order the chicken biryani. Tried the butter chicken and tandoori chicken as well. Both are tasty. Good pricing compared to other Indian take aways. Would come back

Love biryani here .one of the best in Auckland and quick service. Extremely friendly staff always helpful . Love coming for biryani take away .

Worst customer service, we parked our car in front of the restaurant, none of the staffs said anything about parking when we are middle of having food they told it tow away area. one of the (fair stout Punjabi guy) was rude. Food was not up to the standard. Never recommend for any one.

Very bad quality , testless food, never recommended. Please improve your quality. Never go for it again. Only the name is big not the food .

Rubbish food..poor hygiene..arrogant owner and workers...dirty unclean plates and glasses...mixing color and bones to rice is not called biryani...my indian friend told me its called crow biryani in india....horrible

Sadly..Zomato doesn't allow 0 or negative rating cos this place doesn't deserve any even 1. I've been to this place several times and I had a decent to good opinion about it as they make proper biryani and other dishes as reviewed by other people.<br/>.<br/><br/>But today I encountered the bitter truth about how Akbar Darbar treats its patrons or what kind of food they serve on our plates. I ordered a chicken biryani at 12.40pm this afternoon. I was hungry as hell as it was lunch time and I had also overlooked 2 other places so that I could come here and have a decent serving of biryani. So I took a seat and patiently waited for the yummy stuff to come out of a rather dinky and cramped up kitchen. I'm sure it takes atleast few minutes to plate the food. But here it was, just after 2 minutes - steaming hot!! Before it was served, I had heard 3 beeps from the kitchen and that's when all the good opinions that I had about this place got flushed out in a matter of seconds. I was furious at myself for having ordered something that was heated in a microwave to a degree that could melt my inners. When I'm parting with $13 for a plate of good freshly made food, the least expectation that I have is that it should be freshly made and served hot, not "stale" and "nuked". So when I asked the person serving, he confirmed that it was "made this morning" and "microwaved" only for 1 min (?!?). <br/><br/>If I ever wanted nuked food, I'd get a ready to eat noodles or Uncle Ben's and nuke it. I hope the owners are aware of the harmful effects of nuking food and I'm not aware if the folks who provide the Food Safety and Hygiene certificate are ok with this. I hope that this is happening only at this place and not at other Indian takeaways otherwise nobody will ever go to eat at an Indian place again. <br/><br/>Dear owners...Can I have my money back pls?

I will give zero rating to this restaurant. Went to have dinner on 18/12/2016 ordered 2 butter naan and chicken tikka masala. Service was good assuming the food to b good as well, when I got naan thinking of having fresh naan as it took them 15-20 minutes to make the order but they had old naan don't know when they made it and reheat it n put butter on it. Chicken doesn't taste like chicken tikka masala. I had to leave my dinner in between as I couldn't finish it and then after leaving I thought of calling them and making a complaint, the guy over the phone told me that they don't make naans here it comes from other branch then why did u open restaurant here if u don't serve fresh naans only thing he said was sorry it won't happen again but why would someone will go to the restaurant again where u don't serve fresh naans. I had to go somewhere else to have my dinner and wasted my money and I just got is apology nothing else.

It's a good alternative for Indian food. They make unique taste of chicken and prawn biriyani.... I recommend for others to give it a try...

!!Very poor service order was never delivered!! I rung them to order few things at 9pm. I was asked to wait until 9:45pm. I rung them again at 10pm they said we got really busy so we need another 30 minutes. I called them at 11pm after 2 hours of order they said we need just 2 minutes. But our order was never delivered to us. <br/>

About as good as it gets in terms of really nice flavoursome biriani.<br/>Sadly some times I go they re-heat some precooked, rather than making fresh, which is noticeable (making meats a bit chewy). But in the interest of keeping this review on the last food I got, it was amazing.<br/>I've a bunch of Indian friends who recommended this place and I agree with their recommendation. <br/>Random side note: The shop next door also sell Gulab Jamin for some amazing dessert! <br/>This shop should seriously consider doing the same!

This place has the worst service ever. Today we went there for lunch and there were 7 of us. But the two guys serving initially tried to send us away saying it will take more than 20 ins for our food to arrive. When we said we were willing to wait they said they'll have to serve other people asked us to wait outside even when there were empty chairs for all of us. To my shock the second guy says actually we are going to only takeaway now and wanted us to leave. All this happened while they continued to serve other people. At this point we were ready to leave and wanted to speak to the manager to make a formal complaint but they kept saying that the manager was in India and that he can't be contacted. After insisting that I need a contact number they gave me a number 021 023 17964 when I tried calling the number the same guy who said he won't serve us has answered the call. The service is pathetic and disgusting. And the people who work there have no respect or manners how to serve the customer.

The worst food ever. They don't know what a garlic naan is. They served me fried Puri when I ordered garlic naan. I will never suggest anyone to this place.

The most disgusting Indian food in Auckland. Dirty looking place while the price is pretty high compared with the service. Microwaved naan. Gross curry. Over over cooked meat and etc

You won't find the place unless you are good at reading street signs. Well, you can dine in or takeaway, The place is always crowded so i would suggest takeaway as the better option. Staff is super friendly and humble. So I visited this place for a lunch with a friend and we were confused with the menu and ended up ordering a Prawn Chilly Curry, one portion of Indian Breads (Naan), Rice (Complimentary), One portion of Chicken Biryani and for desserts Small Gulab Jamun and some Custard Dish(It was something really different, It was made of two layers. The base had poached apricots and on top of it was vanilla custard, we could resist the last bite of it). The Food is Big Thumbs Up. Rice and prawns were cooked perfectly and was not chewy! But yes I have had better biryani than this! Though this was scrumptious as well 😊

Its a takeaway! Unless you dont mind the 3rd world experience of dining there, which I thought was pretty cool and  interesting!. AMAZING Biryani and the manager/owner very friendly. Recommend Lamb / Chicken biryani - VERY NICE, authentic and plentiful with lots of meat!

Ordered a lamb biryani - the guy at the counter was gruff to say the least. The biryani really didn't have a whole lot of the 'biryani' feel but it's all subjective I guess. Lamb wasn't anything to write home about - not a whole lot of meat compared the amount of rice supplied. The chutney was a bit grainy. Binned it unfortunately.

People always ask me, “Danny, where can I get the best biryani in town?” Actually, people never ask me that. But I get the invariable “Danny, where can I get the best curry in town?” Well if you loosely associate Indian food with curries, you are missing out on some of the best cuisine the world’s largest democracy (yes) has to offer.

Best biryani in town 5 of 5 . But will just give 3 overall because customer service sucks. Very long waiting time. Even if you order over phone and they say half an hour. But you reach there after half an hour and still they say another half an hour. Has happened every time I've been there!

It is a Biryani Takeaway. No less, no more. Other stuff is way below average. The biryanis are above average though, and that's what I mean by a biryani takeaway. Still not perfect, mind. I've had much better biryani at so many places. But it does alright for its part.<br/>Not really expensive at all, but take away you must. Don't even think of eating there. <br/>¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Their chicken biryani is awesome. Very flavorful and delicious. Their curries are hit and miss. The service is prompt and friendly. Would recommend it over Raviz for takeaway.

I tried the family pack chicken biryani for $45. Awesome. Very nice Biryani enough for 4-5 people. The service is OK (not much service, it is more like takeaway outlet).

For a biryani lover this is must visit <br/>Also they have a good selection of kebabs, chicken 65 and more<br/>The orders come out fast and hot<br/>Also delivery was prompt and spot on<br/>There is a scope to open a restaurant they will be rocking I'm sure

It was my time in this outlet..i came there for having biryani as it is famous for biryanis.I had ordered chicken biryani as well as veg biryani.Chicken biryani was kind of average taste but veg biryani was a big disappointment.No taste no salt. Won't go there again.

This is a compact place in the city for take away food. The decor is minimal. The biriyanis are good and the owner/manager is friendly. Will go again.

Very good place to eat and a friendly owner as well. Biriyani prepared fresh which makes it Delicious while taking home. Anyone in city looking for an eat-out it's the perfect place.

excellent vegetables Briyani 😊😊😊😊👌👌👌👌. very fast delivery. I will try other dish from you in future . I love the sauce . I will recommend all my friends to try first .

It is soo easy to judge a book by it's cover and an eatery by it's exterior - if you were to judge Akbar Durbar by it's exterior and looks, you would be missing out on the wonderful food this place provides.<br/><br/>On entering we were welcomed with a very inviting and friendly owner who ensured us that we would not be disappointed with their famous biryani - and we weren't.<br/><br/>We ordered a butter chicken, lamb biryani and butter chicken. The food was amazing and for the price the servings were very generous.<br/><br/>We will definitely be back again.

People always ask me, “Danny, where can I get the best biryani in town?” Actually, people never ask me that. But I get the invariable “Danny, where can I get the best curry in town?” Well if you loosely associate Indian food with curries, you are missing out on some of the best cuisine the world’s largest democracy (yes) has to offer.<br/><br/>The origin of biryani is uncertain. Some say it was introduced to India under the reign of the Mughals. Others trace its heritage to a traditional rice dish made in Bengal, where rice was cooked in a similar fashion with fish. And I know it’s considered a staple in many Middle Eastern households. Regardless of origin, however, I am sure most people would agree that Hyderabadi Dum Biryani is quintessential and exquisite. This is a blend of meat, spices and rice, slow cooked in a dough-sealed vessel.<br/><br/>And it is delicious. While it may not be the best I have ever had, there aren’t many places in India that could do a better biryani. You can choose from many variants of their biryani – chicken, lamb, egg, vegetable, prawn and fish. I usually go for the chicken or lamb. The biryani is served with sides of yoghurt and mirchi ka salan (a chilli and peanut sauce). These are meant to be mixed into the biryani. Simple – add the chilli sauce to make it more spicy, add the yoghurt if it gets too hot. I like to mix them both in to shock those taste buds!<br/><br/>Don’t expect too much from the service and ambience. Tucked away in a car park off Hobson Street (behind Denny’s), it’s more of a takeaway spot. Akbar Durbar also serves more typical curries. I have never tried them, being unable to resist the temptation of biryani whenever I’m here.<br/><br/>Also, if throwing a party, I would highly recommend grabbing a couple of their biryani family packs. They also deliver these. Catering – check!

Anyone who is new to this city and is looking for Indian /Arabic/ Pakistani flavour can visit this restra. They prepare very fine Biryani , haleem and korma. The location central  in the city and its good to have a takeaway during peak times. Price is quite reasonable and the best thing is that they dint use frozen meat unlike other Indian/Arabic eateries .<br/><br/>Overall i would say that once in while one can visit this place.

Right Place to get Authentic Hyderabadi Biryani in Auckland CBD... Dine-in available  but takeaway is preferred... Worth tasting and value for money.....

One of the most authentic Hyderabadi Biryanis I have eaten (period!)<br/>The food tastes great and is not unnecessarily spicy like some other Indian restaurants in town. I wish they had some snacks on the menu. Price is reasonably low compared to other places for almost the same quantity of food.

The only place that i have found to be serving authentic food which gives an Indian taste as compared to the "fake" indian restaurants that i have eaten before who serve nothing but dishes with food colour and no taste. Recommended are to try their gulab jamuns as dessert...

The best Indian place to eat biryani (an Indian version of raw rice and meat cooked together in various spices) right now in Auckland CBD....this place is for the people who love rice and are ready to experiment with themselves.... Don't worry it tastes really good and you will get yourselves a new dish in your already possessing arsenal of rice eateries.... A must try for all the non Indians and a must visit for all the Indians craving the delicious biryani...