We were told that we must do two things during our visit to Karachi.
First, we had to taste as much food as humanly possible here as Karachi is known as a food lovers paradise, particularly for street food lovers.
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Apparently, it’s here that you can taste some of the best ever foods from Pakistan! Second, we must also join the best food tour in Karachi so we didn’t miss any of the good stuff.
So, we resisted eating too much during the day in order to save room for all the tasty Pakistani food we’d consume this evening. We were so ready for it. Bring on the best food tour in Karachi!
We departed our hotel, the Avari Tower in an Uber taxi a little earlier than necessary to battle the hectic traffic to make it on time.
Our food guide, Jehanzeb met us with a big smile at their office and briefly explained our eating program for the evening. I felt full just listening to how much food we were intending to taste tonight, but we were prepared and eager to begin.
As I mentioned earlier, we’d eaten very light during the day to save room for all the Pakistani treats to come.
Starting our food crawl on the iconic Burns Road
Burns Road is known as THE PLACE to eat in Karachi. We kicked off our tour with one of the most popular street food snacks in the city, the bun kabab. It’s a simple concept, yet after biting into my first bun kabab, I understood ‘the hype’.
This street snack was prepared with a lentil/veg pattie that is first dipped in beaten egg whites and shallow fried.
It’s then placed into a grilled soft bun with tomatoes, red onion, and spicy chutney. This was so good that I wanted to eat another one immediately after finishing my first!
Leaving this street food stand, Jehanzeb beckons us across the road to try the best jalebi in Karachi. The ultimate sweet snack is well-known around South and West Asia. Crispy on the outside and soft and gooey on the inside….yum.
It takes skill to get these sweet treats to taste this good and FRESCO is the king of the best jalebi in Karachi.
Travelling just a short distance down Burns Road, we stopped to try a much-loved snack of the country. It was time for some dahi baray. I’d describe it as a bowl of yoghurt with spices, freshly cooked chickpeas and the addition of dough balls made from either lentils or chickpeas.
I enjoyed this dish, however, for me, it was a little too heavy. Luckily Marty and I requested to share a bowl as I could see they were dishing out generous portions.
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Ok, time for a Pakistani main meal on our food tour in Karachi
This was my favourite evening stop, perhaps because I’d been looking forward to tasting ‘nihari’ since I’d arrived in Karachi.
Our guide ordered us three popular meat dishes, and all of them were super tasty. Yum, I love all these delicious foods from Pakistan. This was shaping up to be the best food tour of Karachi for sure. It was jam-packed with fantastic food to try!
Chicken boti kebab – marinated boneless pieces of chicken that are skewered & cooked until just tender & juicy.
Nalli nihari – bone marrow mutton stew. This dish tastes precisely how it sounds, and I love it. A tender piece of mutton sits in the centre of a dish filled with the richest stew, bursting with flavour, pieces of bone marrow and topped with ghee.
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Wait..this dish gets better
We were told that this dish tastes even better if we season it with finely chopped fresh ginger, chillies, and a squeeze of lime provided on the side. Correct again! I enjoyed every mouthful of this stew, eaten with the freshest naan bread I’ve tasted. Wow, the best food tour in Karachi was certainly living up to its reputation.
Meat Kebab – Held together by string, this spiced meat kebab was cooked perfectly and melted in my mouth.
Soft grilled meat wrapped in naan bread, thinly shredded onion and drenched in the tastiest salsa/herbed sauce ever, this was good.
Ok, I have to admit it – we didn’t get through the entire plate of nihari, but we gave it a good nudge! We must save room for the foods still coming our way on this delicious food tour in Karachi.
Before we departed this food stop, of course, we had to try lassi, the yoghurt drink we had tried in several Asian countries around the world. This was different, though, we were served lassi in short shot glasses!
We were served some small rum baba sweets (yeast cake saturated in syrup) to eat with the lassi shots.
Food tours are the best introduction to discovering a new country
As we strolled away from this great eating spot, I turned back to snap a photo of it. I wanted to remember this place to eat (for the next time I’m in town) and to recommend other visitors to make sure they eat here, too. It was that good!
If I return, I’ll be booking myself a spot on this same food tour in Karachi. I’m loving every minute.
After all these years of travelling the world, my favourite thing about joining food tours in different countries is that you get all the tips and tricks from the locals to return to later on in your trip.
Our guide asks how we’re doing…we tell him that we’re pretty full – but we still have a little room left for a couple more of Karachi must-eat foods. This food tour in Karachi was so much fun, I didn’t want it to end!
RELATED POST 7 Tips – How to Find the Best Food when Travelling
Fresh fish – Pakistani style
Whizzing down the busy highway in our rickshaw, dodging colourful decked-out buses and taking in all the sights and smells of this city (and I do mean ALL the smells…good and bad), we arrived at a popular fish restaurant.
Starting off with fresh crispy pappadums and dipping sauce, we discuss the varied Pakistani cuisine with Jehanzeb.
I noticed again that it was close to 10.00 pm, and the place was packed full of families eating dinner. It isn’t considered late at all to eat at this time in Pakistan; it’s the norm.
A huge plate of fresh white fish cutlets that had been seasoned, crumbed and fried for us. We hit it with some fresh lime and tucked in. It was terrific, I wish I had a bigger stomach to finish the whole plate.
Do we have room for one more stop?
At this point, I was beginning to slip into a food coma. So much good food over the past few hours and a lack of sleep over the past week has finally caught up with us. Jehanzeb tells us there is one last place he wants to stop before we can call it a night on this food safari of Karachi.
We pulled up at a simple little place on the roadside to try Pakistan’s much-loved national drink – pakola. I’d best describe this as a creamy soda drink with a green colour, which the locals love. A great way to complete a fantastic food tour of Karachi, I thought.
Are you interested in joining this food tour in Karachi? CLICK HERE to check availability and price.
TIP: Come hungry!
Things to Do in Karachi
Travel Tips for Pakistan
You can travel to Pakistan independently, as we did, or choose one of the small group adventure tours available online.
Many people are interested in visiting Pakistan but don’t want to go it alone. No problem; there are many options to join a small group tour with like-minded people.
In fact, we’d recommend this as a better option for solo travellers to Pakistan, particularly women. I say this because Pakistan is a challenging destination to do on your own.
To find the best trip, search online for the best itinerary that meets your needs, budget or comfort tours are available. Then, you can enjoy all the foods from Pakistan you’ve seen above.
You may be interested in reading our expert travel tips after 20+ years of travel, or maybe you’re searching for our Top 6 Travel Hacks.
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3 Comments. Leave new
Most of pakistani food are famous all of the world
Brilliant blog that tells us about the diffeent things in Pakistan, keep going.
Karachi, Pakistan is a large city with a rich history and many attractions. It’s located on the Arabian Sea and is home to Pakistan’s two largest seaports and busiest airport. Karachi is also known for its hospitality and food. I’m glad you’ve written an amzing guide on Karachi food.