The city of lights, Karachi is the city that never sleeps and has found its long lost love in food. The highly-saturated metropolis caters to people from all backgrounds, and the city does not discriminate, though, its people might. If you see a marketplace, be assured that there will be a wide variety of staple food ready for consumption. While indulging in its fast-paced life, you will find so many new restaurants spread across the city, but have you read about the food places which can safely be named as historical sites because of their popularity over the decades?
Here’s a list of Karachi’s five oldest places that serve finger-licking good bun kebabs:
1)Â Burger Point at Pakistan Chowk
Courtesy: Ayesha Ghaffar
What makes this the most unique bun kebab in Karachi is the fact that it is not served like any conventional bun kebab. They serve the bun kebab without assembling it — a bun, chutney, thinly sliced onions and a kebab — and that is how you should preferably eat it to enjoy that experience. Serving bun kebabs, barbecue and much more for 30 years, the food joint is also the only bun kebab place on this list where you could find aalo bun kebab and it’s truly delicious.
Price: PKR 30 for aalo bun kebab and PKR 60 for their popular shaami anda bun kebab
2) Super Nursery Burger at Nursery
Courtesy: Ayesha Ghaffar
Shaami anda, chicken and aalo are all your standard bun kebabs but here you will find the most unique bun kebab of the city i.e. beef chapli bun kebab. Super Nursery Burger has been serving this bun kebab delicacy since 1973, with the most delicious chutney that has the right amount of spice and tanginess. The beef chapli kebab is also topped with beetroot.
Price:Â PKR 70 for the chapli bun kebab
3) Bapu Burger at Gol Market, North Nazimabad
Courtesy: Ayesha Ghaffar
This bun kebab vendor has to be the most popular in the city, serving one of a kind bun kebabs for over 50 years. Specialising in the famous hunter beef bun kebab, Bapu bhai’s (owner) bun kebab patty is cooked in a mould designed especially for it. Served in a hot dog bun with ketchup and chutney, this bun kebab packs a punch of different flavours that you need to try yourself. Their special bun kebab, relished in flavourful marination, is as tasty as it looks in the picture.
Price: PKR 170 for its famous hunter beef mix burger
4) Rehman Bun Kebab at Tariq Road
Courtesy: Abdul Haseeb Shehzad, SWOT Facebook group
The only minus point about this place is that it opens in the evening at 6pm, so unless you live nearby, plan your day accordingly if you intend to go and eat here. The shop is located in a narrow alley which barely has any space to sit so keep that in mind as well. They have been serving these flavourful bun kebabs for almost 40 years, hands down. Their chicken bun kebab has a unique blend of spices without going overboard in taste. Their staple bun kebab is so popular that they run out of it by 8pm.
Price:Â PKR 100 for the yummy chicken bun kebab
5) Babu Bhai Bun Kebab at Burns Road
Courtesy Food FeedÂ
The popular food street of Karachi — Burns Road — is home to some of the most authentic and oldest food places in the city. While there are many many famous bun kebab joints in the vicinity Babu Bhai’s bun kebab stands out for its mass appeal. They start serving after dusk under the open sky which makes the experience all the more exciting. Babu bhai is running his family’s legacy; his father started the business in 1948, later Babu bhai joined it in 1967 and since then he has been serving on the same cart.
Price:Â PKR 50 for anday wala burger
If you want to have savour a true bun kebab experience then you should definitely pay a visit to one of these places and later vouch for the bun kebabs yourself. And don’t forget to take the chutney that adds extra flavour!
