Julia G.
Yelp
I reviewed this restaurant years ago before when it was called Tahoora Grill and the name it had before that. So I have to post a new review now.
One of my favorite things to do is come to their Sunday buffet. As far as I was told, this restaurant came about when a sister and sister-in-law went into partnership to open another favorite of mine, Khyber Halal nearby. In the first 8 months, they clashed and severed their partnership, and one of them opened Tahoora Grill (had a different name I can't remember, so many name changes this place had). The menus were almost identical even to every picture.
Tahoora Grill became Hilal because I was told by management, that some restaurant in Chicago, so far away, had the same Tahoora Grill name and they were complaining that Tahoora Grill in Phoenix took their name. So Tahoora was changed to Hilal, and with a (wrong or at least unconventional spelling) of Halal, that no other business would wanna spell Halal as Hilal. So I guess Hilal is gonna stick.
When it was Tahoora Grill, I hosted several Wild Dining MeetUps for groups of 20 people to eat the Sunday buffet. Owners were so nice to give us reservations when they are so crowded on that day. You know the place serves truly authentic cooking of the ethnicity it represents, when the only white people eating there were the people in the MeetUp who signed up for my Sunday Buffet event. When standing in line to pay in advance, I asked Pakistanis and Indians and Afghanis if this cooking was what I would expect their mom to prepare at their home, in their country or origin. They all said yes. And one of them said "We drove all the way from Tucson, just to eat here!" Another overheard, and exclaimed "This is the best restaurant in ALL of Arizona!"
My favorite dish is Goat Paya, a stew cooked with goat feet and lots of dark gelatanous gravy I like to put on my rice. I love "feet" of pig, chicken, goat, and beef, cos of the gluten, gelatin, and the knuckles, good source of collagen. Anyhow they have Goat Paya all you can eat at the Sunday buffet. Goat is expensive and their buffet is a great price for all those traditional dishes including fountain drink.
I also love their grilled fish, so much grill flavor ! But the portion wasn't much, cos we (in the picture below) shared that dish off the menu between three people.
I brought Kashmiri Indian friends who sold handicrafts from their country at Tucson Gem show and Scottsdale Arabian Horse show, to eat at Hilal. Now we eat here together every time they come from NYC to sell their country's (Kashmir. India) handicrafts every February. They say food is very good and authentic, and come to eat here several times a week during the shows, and buying their groceries next door.