ISLAMABAD: Waiters weave through the busy restaurant floor, hurriedly taking orders from famished customers and making room for plenty of others who amble into the busy Xander’s gourmet café in Islamabad. It has been a little over three months since the restaurant opened for business in Pakistan’s capital. The steady stream of customers suggests it’s here to stay.

This is the story of several restaurants from Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi, who have opened their outlets in Islamabad in recent years and found success in the capital. Karachi is not only Pakistan’s vital port city that serves as the country’s economic engine but is also its largest metropolis with a population of over 20 million people.

These people bring much-needed diversity to the city’s culinary landscape. The southern port city is home to the Memon, Bohra, Punjabi, Pashtun, Baloch, Bengali, Malbari, Sindhi and a large community of MuHajjirs--people who migrated from India at the time of partition. Each group has contributed distinct flavors to Karachi’s ever-evolving palate with their own signature dishes.

But while Karachi has always been famous for its mouthwatering biryani, slow-cooked beef stew popularly known as nihari and the haleem, a thick, savory porridge of meat, lentils, and wheat, Islamabad’s residents did not find the same delight in the capital city’s version of these dishes.

Hence it comes as no surprise that Karachi’s prominent eateries that tried their hand in Islamabad have gotten impressive results so far. Take for instance Red Apple, a Karachi-based restaurant food chain popular for its paratha rolls and barbecue items, that started in Karachi in 1996 and now has 25 branches in total in the city.  

“Three years ago, we launched in Islamabad and Lahore and within that period, have opened seven branches across Islamabad and Rawalpindi,” Hamza Channa, the general manager of Red Apple’s F-6 branch in Islamabad, told Arab News.

“There was no good roll paratha here. So Red Apple brought a good roll paratha and barbeque,” he said, adding the restaurant chain has the potential to open 20 outlets in the capital city.

Xander’s, another Karachi-based eatery, describes itself as a modern gourmet café that serves simple and flavorful meals to customers. The cafe has been operating in Karachi for the past 14 years and found success with three outlets there before it expanded into Islamabad three months earlier.

Khasham Zaman, a businessman who has savored meals at both Xander’s outlets in Karachi and Islamabad, said the arrival of Karachi-based restaurants in the city is narrowing the gap in fine-dining experience in the capital.

“There is still room for improvement in the quality of the food, but I think they are doing exceptionally well,” Zaman told Arab News.

“I have tried Xander’s both in Karachi and after that in Islamabad. It’s a new addition and it’s fantastic.”

Another Karachi-based eatery that has gained popularity in Islamabad is Caffe Praha. After operating in the southern city since 2019, Praha, which offers its customers the experience of relishing coffee and cakes at its outlets that it says are styled after Prague’s street cafés, opened for business in Islamabad on June 26.

For popular food vlogger “Guy Knows Food,” the popularity of new food chains opening in Islamabad has less to do with taste and more with “aesthetic appeal.”

“It is really easy for Karachi’s restaurants to enter Islamabad’s food market because consumers here have really low expectations when it comes to restaurants,” the vlogger told Arab News.

“They usually just focus on the aesthetic and/or location of the restaurant and are not concerned about actual fundamentals, like food or service or choice of ingredients, or its sourcing even.”

He described Karachi’s range of food options as “absolutely amazing,” saying that restaurants based in the city are proof of that.

“Even Karachi’s restaurants don’t maintain the same quality of food and service here as they know that Islamabadi consumers won’t be too concerned,” he said.

“They can get away with it.”

Mahira Khan, however, absolutely relishes both the taste and experience that Praha offers. 

“As they are advertising from Prague to Islamabad, I was expecting the same kind of touch, [that is] European food,” she said, sipping her Peach Mojito.

“And yes, the food was exactly what I was expecting.”

ISLAMABAD: The defense ministers of Pakistan and Iran this week discussed regional security and ways to enhance bilateral cooperation between the two countries, Pakistan’s defense ministry said amid Iranian President Dr. Masoud Pezeshkian’s two-day state visit to the South Asian country. 

Pakistan and Iran have remained at odds over instability along their shared, porous border that led to a missile exchange between them last year. Both countries, however, were quick to move to ease tensions.

Iran was among several countries that attempted to de-escalate tensions between India and Pakistan during their May armed conflict, while Islamabad categorically condemned Israel for carrying out strikes against Iran that triggered a 12-day conflict between the two countries in June. 

Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif met Brig. Gen. Aziz Nasirzadeh, his Iranian counterpart, on Saturday. Nasirzadeh is part of a high-level delegation led by Pezeshkian, who arrived on a two-day state visit to Pakistan on Saturday to increase bilateral trade to $10 billion and strengthen relations between the two countries.

“During the meeting, both sides discussed matters of mutual interest, including regional security, counter-terrorism efforts, and avenues to enhance defense cooperation between the two neighboring countries,” the Pakistani defense ministry said in a statement on Saturday. 

“The ministers reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen bilateral ties and promote peace and stability in the region,” it added. 

Asif expressed appreciation for Iran’s continued engagement and emphasized the importance of “defense diplomacy” in addressing shared security challenges, the ministry said. 

In response, Nasirzadeh thanked Pakistan for extending the Iranian delegation a warm welcome and reiterated Iran’s desire to build stronger defense ties based on mutual respect, shared values and trust, the Pakistani defense ministry added. 

“The meeting concluded on a positive note, with both leaders expressing optimism about the future of Pakistan-Iran defense relations and pledging to continue working together for the prosperity and security of the region,” the statement added. 

This is Pezeshkian’s first official visit to Pakistan as the Iranian president, according to the Pakistani foreign office. His high-level delegation includes Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi, senior ministers and other high-ranking officials.

Prior to arriving in Islamabad, the Iranian president made a brief stay in Lahore on Saturday, Pakistan’s cultural capital, where he also visited the mausoleum of Dr. Muhammad Iqbal, Pakistan’s national poet, who wrote in both Urdu and Persian and is widely revered in Iran and Persian-speaking communities across the world.

He then arrived in Islamabad and was received by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. During his stay, Pezeshkian will meet President Asif Ali Zardari and hold delegation-level talks with Sharif, the Pakistani foreign office said in an earlier statement. 

Last year, Iran’s late president, Ebrahim Raisi, traveled to Pakistan on a three-day visit during which both sides signed memoranda of understanding in the fields of trade, technology, agriculture, health, culture and judicial matters.

This year, ties between the two countries warmed up after Islamabad voiced its support for Tehran during the Iran-Israel war in June, which began after Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.

Pakistan remained engaged in talks with regional partners like Saudi Arabia, Iran, China and Qatar to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East after Iran conducted retaliatory strikes on Israel and a US base in Qatar, raising fears the conflict could draw in other regional states.