"Pakistani BBQ: Tikka, Seekh Kabab and Where to Eat"

Pakistani BBQ means meat grilled over charcoal on skewers: chicken tikka, seekh kabab, malai boti and reshmi kabab almost everywhere, behari boti in Karachi, and salt-only namkeen tikka in Peshawar. It is evening food, eaten with naan, raw onion, green chutney and raita. For a first night, go to Gawalmandi or Fort Road in Lahore, Boat Basin or Burns Road in Karachi, and Melody or a Shinwari restaurant in Islamabad.

This guide explains the cuts and kababs you will see on the menu, where each city does BBQ best, and how to judge what a BBQ meal will cost before you sit down.

What is on a Pakistani BBQ menu?

Menus are long, but they are built from a short list of items.

• Chicken tikka. In Pakistan, "tikka" on a BBQ menu usually means a chicken quarter, leg or breast, on the bone, marinated in yoghurt, chilli and spices and grilled until charred at the edges. It is the default order.
• Chicken boti. Boneless cubes on a skewer, in the same marinade.
• Malai boti. Boneless chicken in a creamy, mild marinade. A good choice for children and anyone who dislikes heat.
• Reshmi kabab. Soft minced chicken kabab, also mild.
• Seekh kabab. Spiced minced beef, mutton or chicken pressed around a long skewer and grilled. Ginger, garlic, green chilli and garam masala are the usual flavours.
• Behari boti and behari kabab. Thin strips of beef in a smoky, spicy marinade, a Karachi speciality.
• Gola kabab. Very soft, round minced-beef kababs, another Karachi favourite.
• Lamb chops. Usually the priciest thing on the menu.
• Namkeen tikka or boti. Peshawar's style: lamb seasoned with little more than salt, threaded with cubes of fat and cooked slowly over wood.

Two famous items are not grilled on a skewer at all. Chapli kabab is a flat minced-meat patty fried on a griddle, the pride of Peshawar; see our chapli kabab guide. Sajji is a whole lamb or chicken, salted and roasted upright beside a fire, from Balochistan; our sajji guide explains where to find it.

Where to eat BBQ in Lahore

Lahore eats BBQ late, loudly and in the old city.

Gawalmandi Food Street, on Chamberlain Road, is the classic: tikka, seekh kabab and karahi from open grills, with fish, cholay and falooda nearby. Lakshmi Chowk is the other old food junction, known for karahi and BBQ, with Butt Karahi its most famous name. Fort Road Food Street, beside the Badshahi Mosque, is the choice for a family dinner with a view of the mosque lit up at night; Andaaz is one of the established restaurants there.

For a newer, more comfortable setting, Gulberg and DHA have plenty of large BBQ restaurants with indoor seating. Our guide to the best BBQ in Lahore goes area by area.

Where to eat BBQ in Karachi

Karachi probably has more BBQ than anywhere else in the country, and it stays open the latest.

Boat Basin in Clifton is the city's best-known evening food strip. Tandoori Hut has served tikka and behari kebab there for years, alongside rolls, halwa puri and ice cream. Bar.B.Q Tonight, at Boating Basin in Clifton Block 5, is the big name in sit-down Karachi BBQ, open from noon to midnight, with branches abroad in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Do Darya in DHA Phase 8 is where families go for BBQ by the sea: Kolachi and Kababjees both have large terraces facing the water. For the old-city version, Burns Road in Saddar is the place for seekh and gola kababs, and Shaikh Abdul Ghaffar Kabab House in PECHS is known for gola kabab and malai boti at modest prices.

Our Karachi BBQ guide covers each area in more detail.

Where to eat BBQ in Islamabad and Rawalpindi

Islamabad's BBQ is calmer and more spread out. Melody Food Park in G-6 is the old favourite for cheap tikka and kababs; see our Melody Food Park guide.

The other Islamabad habit is Shinwari food: lamb, cooked with little more than salt and its own fat. Khyber Shinwari and Sufi Shinwari, with a branch in F-8 Markaz, are among the established names, and most sectors have one. Order namkeen boti and a lamb karahi and you have the Islamabad version of a BBQ night.

Peshawar: the namkeen style

Peshawar is where Pakistani BBQ is at its simplest. In Namak Mandi, Nisar Charsi Tikka grills salted lamb with fat on wood fires, and the karahi is cooked in heaps of lamb fat with a little tomato and green chilli. Our Charsi Tikka guide explains how to order.

Before planning a trip for it, check the current situation. The UK government advises against all travel to Peshawar (advice updated September 2026), and there were several deadly attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2026. Pakistani visitors still go, but read local news and police advice first. Foreign-passport holders should know their insurance may not cover them there, and that Shinwari restaurants in Islamabad serve a very similar namkeen style.

What does a BBQ meal cost?

Prices change too fast for a fixed figure to hold, and they vary more by setting than by city. What you can predict is the order of costs.

The meat sets the price. In January 2025 the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics recorded average mutton at about PKR 2,200 per kg in Lahore and Karachi, against roughly PKR 1,000 to 1,250 for beef with bone and well under PKR 500 for live broiler chicken. That gap carries straight onto the menu: a plate of mutton chops or namkeen boti costs several times a chicken tikka.

The setting comes next. A seekh kabab and naan at a busy street grill is everyday food. The same meal at a sea-view terrace in Do Darya or a large Gulberg restaurant, with air conditioning and service, costs a good deal more, plus tax if you pay by card.

A few rules keep the bill sensible:

1. Read the posted menu first. Every established place has one.
2. Check whether a price is per piece, per plate or per kilo. Namkeen boti and karahi are often sold by weight.
3. Order in rounds. Start with a mixed plate and add more; BBQ comes fast.
4. Bread is extra. Naan is cheap, but count it for a group.
5. Carry cash at street grills; card machines are common only in sit-down restaurants.

Is it worth planning a BBQ night?

Yes, in any of the three big cities. It is one of the few meals that every member of a family group will enjoy, since malai boti and reshmi kabab suit children and the spice-shy while the rest order tikka and seekh. Go after 8 pm, when the grills are busiest and the food turns over fastest.

Two cautions. BBQ is heavy, and a second night of it in a row is usually one too many. And in summer, choose places that grill to order rather than reheat skewers cooked earlier, especially with chicken. Our experiences page has more food-led ideas for a city break.

Frequently asked questions