Dera Grill is a decent looking Pakistani restaurant that sits on the SouthWest corner of Walnut hill and Story. As you walk-in, you get an impression of a pick-up pizza place but there is a seating area on the right with buffet tables waiting for you as you enter. There is also other area on the left, probably used for private parties. The place is definitely old, you can see it on the roof and tables but somehow is functioning.
The weekend lunch buffet felt little expensive at 12.99 especially I was just going to eat the Veggie items; so I opted for Palak paneer, substituting naan with rice. They do have about five items under Veggie lovers, so Vegetarians won't feel left out. It took a while than I expected; later found out that they were out of Paneer and just got the fresh one from somewhere. This somehow resulted into a complimentary veggie fritters; it was a nice gesture and ultimately didn't feel like I waited long.
The complimentary salad which consisted of lettuce and cucumber was very basic that came with dressing, most likely a concoction of mint chutney and some sort of cream, that could be used as a dip for the bhajiyas too. The fritters were lukewarm, spicy and tasted good but was heavily coated with besan(gram flour) batter.
The palak paneer came with huge serving, enough for two people. The paneer was nicely fried and were really tasty, arguably one of the best I've had in the area. The spinach felt a little undercooked and little more creamy than my liking. It went good with rice which was coated with butter and felt little hard.
Overall, it was a OK meal, nothing bad but not excellent either as such if I go there, I would definitely not order the same item.
However, you should go here for the various offerings of Kababs, it seems to be their forte. Their biryanis do sound enticing and is very reasonably priced: goat-8.99, chicken -6.99 and they claim it to be 'dum'; so it should be good.
The weekdays buffet is inexpensive at 8.99. If you are in the area, you should definitely give it a try. And lastly, kudos to the guy who was serving all alone; he was courteous and very attentive. read more