Our story
A father, a karahi, and a neighbourhood that wouldn't let him close.
Tasty Bites started the way most Karachi food stories do. Nadeem Sheikh spent the 90s running a small chargha spot in Saddar — one tandoor, two helpers, and a queue on the pavement that sometimes reached the signal.
By 2002 he had saved enough for a proper dhaba opposite the Habib Bank signal. It had six tables, one cooler, and a karahi that he wouldn't let anyone else touch. In 2011 he took the leap — a full family-seating restaurant on Shahrah-e-Faisal, near Baloch Colony. That's the room we still cook in today.
The Chinese side of the menu came a few years later. Nadeem's daughter Maryam had just returned from training at a Hong Kong hotel kitchen and insisted the city needed a better hot & sour. She was right. Today, karahi and chowmein share the same table here — unapologetically so. It's a very Karachi thing to do.
In 2019 we opened a second branch in DHA Phase 5 to shorten the drive for Clifton and Phase 8 families. And over the same years our son Bilal quietly built the thing that now handles more than half our orders: a WhatsApp number and a small team answering it day and night. No app. No third-party gouging. Just a message, a kitchen, and the ride.
Fifteen years in, we still cook like we're hoping to get a regular. If you've been ordering from us since college — thank you. If you haven't yet — assalam-o-alaikum, welcome to the table.
The family
Who's cooking
Nadeem Sheikh
Founder
Karachi-born, Saddar-raised. Ran street-food carts through the 90s, opened the first proper dhaba in 2002, and the full restaurant in 2011. Still tastes the daal every morning.
Maryam Sheikh
Head Chef, Chinese Section
Trained at a Hong Kong hotel kitchen after her undergrad in Karachi. Brought back the hot & sour recipe that is, quietly, probably the most-ordered soup in PECHS.
Bilal Sheikh
Operations & Growth
Joined the business full-time in 2019. Built the WhatsApp ordering channel long before anyone else in the city did. Handles both branches day-to-day.
Kamran Iqbal
Kitchen Principal, Pakistani Section
With Nadeem since the 2002 dhaba days. The hands behind the karahi and biryani. Won't tell you his masala ratios if you ask.
What we care about
Kitchen philosophy
Fresh, not stored
Karahis are cooked to order. Nothing sits in a warmer. If it takes 25 minutes, it takes 25 minutes — you'll feel it in the first bite.
Local supply
Chicken from a family farm in Hub. Mutton from a verified halal butcher we've worked with since 2013. Vegetables from Empress Market and Sabzi Mandi.
No corners
We don't cut biryani chicken smaller to stretch the plate. We don't water down the hot & sour. If you've eaten here, you already know.