FOOD

Mezban’s buffet is most interesting when it is read as Pakistani first and broadly South Asian second. Pakistani and northern Indian cooking share a great deal of culinary history, especially across Punjab, so the line still contains plenty of familiar buffet language: paneer, lentils, chickpeas, naan, rice and tomato-based gravies. The distinction comes in emphasis. Meat plays a larger role, especially beef, goat and mutton, and the buffet gives more room to kebabs, tandoor cooking, biryani and long-cooked stews.

Biryani is one of the clearest anchors. Mezban regularly works with both chicken and beef versions, layering basmati rice with meat, browned onion and warm spices so the rice carries its own aroma rather than serving merely as a neutral base for curry. It is worth tasting before flooding the plate with sauces. Pakistani biryani can be assertive on its own, and at a buffet it often becomes the bridge between grilled meats and wetter gravies.

The barbecue side pushes the meal further from the standard curry-heavy buffet template. Chicken tikka brings yogurt-marinated pieces roasted until the edges darken, while beef Bihari kebab represents a more specifically Muslim South Asian tradition: thin, intensely seasoned beef, traditionally tenderized and grilled until smoky and soft. Seekh-style kebabs and malai-marinated chicken belong to the same broader family, trading saucy richness for char, spice and texture.

Goat and mutton are another important clue. Goat curry has been a recurring Mezban draw, and dishes such as balti gosht or karahi-style meats put the emphasis on the meat itself rather than a cream-forward sauce. Karahi takes its name from the deep, wok-like pan in which meat is cooked over high heat with tomatoes, ginger, green chile and spices. It is one of those dishes that instantly makes a Pakistani buffet feel different from a generic Americanized Indian spread.

Then come the slow-cooked dishes. Haleem is a thick, almost porridge-like mixture of meat, wheat and lentils cooked until the grains and meat become one texture; it is hearty, savory and far more substantial than a spoonful of ordinary daal. Mezban’s broader kitchen also works with nihari, a deeply spiced beef stew associated with long, slow cooking and traditionally eaten with naan. These are useful “education by spoonful” dishes because they reveal how much Pakistani comfort food is built on patience rather than cream.

The familiar vegetarian side matters because it gives all that meat and spice somewhere to land. Palak paneer pairs mild cheese with a spinach gravy; daal brings earthy lentils; chickpeas can arrive as curry or as a brighter salad or chaat with tamarind and herbs. Raita cools the plate, and naan is essential for sweeping through whatever gravy remains. Samosas and pakoras, when present, supply the crisp opening bites many Indian-buffet regulars will recognize immediately.

Dessert is usually a smaller coda rather than the main event. Kheer, the gently spiced rice pudding, is the most natural finish to a plate this savory, while kulfi and syrup-soaked sweets sit within Mezban’s broader repertoire. The buffet rotates, so no single visit should be treated as a permanent inventory. That variability is part of the appeal: the constants are the Pakistani structure—rice, grilled meat, slow-cooked gravies, naan and spice—while the particular dishes give each trip a slightly different lesson.