While there are many great new Indian street food and South Indian specialty restaurants opening up, it's great to see a Ginza stalwart still slaying. Like it says on the tin, Khan Kebab Biryani is a shop specializing in kebabs and biryani. It's popular with Middle Eastern and Indonesian tourists as well as local Ginza office workers who know the real deal. The room is deceptively spacious and light, and offers a panoramic view of Shinbashi and Ginza (so long as the blinds are up).

The specialties of the house are taken from South India, Goa and Bengal, as well as Mughal Empire classics. Best of all, many of the really unusual dishes show up on the extensive lunch menu.

The classic Dumbuk Zafrani Biryani is cooked Hyderabad-style and comes in three varieties: chicken, lamb and vegetable. The huge mound of saffron rice covers large portions of tender meat on the bone, garnished with chutney, coriander and onions. Add some raita and the sour masala soup if you like it wet.

Another favorite is the Goan Fish Curry. A whole sea bream is deep-fried and then added to a rich tomato-based soup curry, garnished with fresh ginger and coriander. It's an exotic beach holiday on a plate and brings back buried memories of midnight raves with drunken Mancunians who mistook Goa for Ibiza.

Royal Mughal cuisine is represented by two rich dishes that are slow-cooked for hours. The Nihari stew features a large chunk of lamb on the bone slow-cooked with herbs and spices. Originally a dish cooked for the Mughal Nawabs of Lucknow, you can taste the princely luxury in the depth of its creamy flavors.

The Haleem curry is another royal favorite. This is a lamb stew with lentils simmered for hours to the consistency of a thick gravy, garnished with fresh ginger and onions. Reputedly brought to Hyderabad from the Middle East by Arab soldiers, Haleem is now popular all over South and Central Asia.

Lunchtime set menus come with a nice salad with tofu, a delicious sour spicy soup, and choice of lassi or masala chai. Lunch prices range from 1,000 yen for a three-curry set to 1,900 yen for the Sahifa Set with three curries and an extensive tandoori platter. Other set menus include Afghani Lamb Chop with two curries, and Tandoori Chicken set with two curries. Allow about 3,000 yen for dinner with drinks.