By Ranajit Dam

Of all the incongruous restaurant names in Shenzhen, this one ranks somewhere near the top.

The name "Dewan-e-Khass" (or"Hall of Special Audience") evokes the image of a palatial building in 16th-century Muslim-ruled India, where the emperor would receive envoys and other honored guests. The Dewan-e-Khass Pakistani restaurant in Futian District is far less grand in comparison, located as it is in one of Shenzhen's oldest- and most decrepit-areas.

So as you take in the surroundings, enter the restaurant and observe the fairly average decor, you might be tempted to ask yourself: "So what exactly is so khass (special) about this place?"

The answer is revealed after your order arrives. It would be too easy to call Dewan-e-Khass the best Pakistani restaurant in Shenzhen- being the only one of its kind in the city makes it both the best and the worst by default- but I'm going to make a rather bold assertion here: Dewan-e-Khass is one of the best Indian restaurants in the city.

Surprised? You shouldn't be. Given that India and Pakistan were once part of the same country, it¡¯s not surprising their cultures and cuisines are similar. And during my time in Shenzhen, I have come across at least half-a-dozen Indian restaurants, most distinguishable only by degrees of mediocrity, and none of which I have been able to recommend wholeheartedly.

Dewan-e-Khass, however, is different; since my visit there last week, I have been urging people to go, not unlike what I'm doing now.

Owned and run by a Hong Kong-based Pakistani named Nadeem Iqbal, Dewan-e-Khass serves the kind of food that you are most likely to find in any Punjabi/northern Indian restaurant, with a bit of exclusively Pakistani fare thrown in.

And the best part is, it's all dirt cheap, too. Just to compare: A naan (flatbread made of white flour) at most Indian restaurants is priced at anywhere between 15 yuan (US$2.14) and 20 yuan, diabolically expensive if you ask me, given how cheap it is to make and how many are consumed by diners during a meal. At Dewan-e-Khass, a naan costs just 4 yuan, and a chapati 3 yuan. If you were seeking properly priced South Asian food, here¡¯s where you¡¯ll find it.

However, if there's anything that beats the great prices, it's the seriously tasty food served up by Dewan-e-Khass. We tried the keema naan (12 yuan), which, instead of containing mincemeat as the name suggests, has small chunks of lamb. Not that we were complaining though; the lamb chunks provided a truly meaty taste to what is normally boring bread, enough for it to be consumed as a dish on its own.

Also meriting praise was the seekh kabab (15 yuan), made of minced meat with spices and grilled on skewers in a tandoor. Given that there was just the two of us, we were restricted in our choice of main courses and eventually ordered the chicken achar masala (28 yuan), a crossover dish cooked in mustard oil and spices used to make typical north Indian pickle.

Accompanying all these was cucumber raita (10 yuan), a South Asian condiment based on yogurt and seasoned with cilantro, cumin, mint and other herbs. Of all this, perhaps the only item that I was a bit critical of was the chicken, which was just a touch overcooked. Everything else was pretty much perfect.

The restaurant is very vegetarian-friendly too, providing such popular favorites as palak paneer (cottage cheese in spinach sauce, 25 yuan) and baingan bharta (20 yuan), a spicy Indian eggplant curry dish. Beer is also served here, a welcome change from other Muslim restaurants in the city.

For those who like Indian, er, South Asian food, Dewan-e-Khass is not to be missed, providing as it does some of the best subcontinental food in Shenzhen; enough, hopefully to make the more established Indian restaurants take notice. And yes, that is what is so"khass"about Dewan-e-Khass.