Fresh flavors from Meals corner

Meals corner located in Sharjah is serving a wide range of meals that mostly revolve around Indian or Indo-Chinese flavors. The restaurant is fairly neat with limited seating space. But their menu is surely amazing.

I started off with a plate of Dahi batata puri chaat which was quite appealing to look at but some flavors were lacking such as spicy hints from green chillies that are essentially a part of chaat in the form of a chutney.

Then I tried their chicken hot and sour soup that was served with complimentary spiral crackers. The soup was too sour for my liking but the broth that was the basis of this soup was very comforting and intense.

I then tried the chicken boneless tikka which was absolutely lip smacking good. The flavors were great, the green chutney that it comes with is super tasty. Don’t be shy when you dip tikka in chutney, be generous 🙂

Then came the chicken schezuan rice with red sauce, I found it particularly tasty, the chicken in rice was not heavily coated and tasted quite lovely. But my favorite was prawn dry chili which were super. The flavors here were so good especially the prawn itself was soft and subtle, not over cooked.

Thank You team Meals Corner for a great lunch.

December 10, 2019 0

Sway with Pakistani spices at Des Pardes

Now I know that Pakistani restaurants generally share this reputation of un-hygienic and overly spiced food but I as a foodie confirm that the food you eat at a hawker stand is far better than the one you get at fine dining 5 star luxury restaurants. Des Pardes is a small cafeteria kind of place in Oud Mehta and they serve Karachiite cuisine that means coal smoked karhayi with layers of oil on top and crisp naan straight from tandoor.

The staff was so friendly, I had to pinch myself to realize that I am not in Pakistan just yet. We ordered Chicken peshawri karhayi that’s a north frontier delicacy in Pakistan. It is specially delicious because the amount of spices in here are quite low, the meat gives its original flavor in combination with tomatoes.

We also had the galawati kebab curry which was outstanding. The chefs nailed this one as it was packed with bags of flavors and a variety of spices. The kebabs itself were tender.

The chicken biryani wasn’t as good as I was expecting. Perhaps it needed more moisture, the masala was a tad bit dry but even then it tastes pretty decent.

The showstopper for me was the lassi. I have been extremely disappointed of the lassi standards here in Middle East because yogurt blended with sugar is considered as lassi at most of the restaurants. But I grew up having the perfectly proportioned milk and yogurt lassi and I am so glad that I found it at Des Pardes.

The best bit is that these guys are open 24 hours. I highly recommend you enjoy movie night on weekends and hit it to Des Pardes for mouth watering karhayi and grilled kebabs.

October 20, 2019 0

Meals that make you happy at India Palace

India Palace is widely known in Dubai for its authentic quality meals with an evident royal touch in terms of flavors and presentations. I recently visited Indian Palace in Garhoud for ala carte lunch and I must say that I was impressed with wholesome meals with refreshing addition to my palate as a foodie.

We started off with malai shorba that’s actually pretty amazing with the warmth of chicken stock and gently spiced creame that blends to give a lovely flavor especially for those that have dry throat or runny nose. This is the soup for ya’ll.

For salad, I opted for Murgh tikka salad that was presented beautifully in a papadum bowl, the trick is to break that bowl and mix everything together to get that delicious flavor. The chicken was absolutely lip smacking and I recommend this chicken salad to anyone who does not usually pick salads because of bland taste.

I was then served shahi seekh kebab, these were basically mutton kebabs that tasted pretty good. Although I felt the amount of whole spices could have been toned down a bit to enhance the original flavor of mutton.

My choice of curry for the day was Murgh Makhanwala because I was informed by the kind server that this is butter chicken. The curry was luscious and tangy, the chicken was grilled perfectly and I paired this with laccha paratha for an awesome experience.

Then I tried chicken dum biryani that was fabulous in terms of the quality of rice and aromatic spices in there and the chicken was cooked well. Overall the biryani was pretty great.

I kept sipping on mango lassi throughout the lunch since it was so refreshing.

For dessert, I had ras malai that is soft cheese dumplings that are soaked in saffron infused sugar syrup for that melting sugary taste.

Thank you Team India Palace for a wonderful lunch. Your service was impeccable and the quality of meals was great. I shall come back for more soon.

September 22, 2019 0

Feel the vibe with A Cappella

A restaurant’s atmosphere sets the stage. It’s about more than just a dining room away from home. Food takes the spotlight as guests become its audience. Factors such as music, lighting, artwork and spacing combine to create comfort, intimacy and even romance.

A cappella is just the right restaurant to visit with your special one. Located in Pointe the Palm; the restaurant offers a variety of mocktails and fine dining options. The staff is extremely courteous, they look after you with undivided attention and make the entire dining experience worthwhile.

I started off the culinary journey with pani puri that comes in a theatrical presentation with smoke blowing from everywhere around and you can witness laboratory inspired funnels carrying chutneys and tiny pani puris lined on the sides. It definitely looked awesome. I believe the stuffing inside paani puri could have been improved.

This place is a goldmine for people who enjoy alcoholic cocktails but since I stay away from all kinds of intoxicants, the staff made sure I don’t miss out on the experience so they served me a non-alcoholic lychee mocktail that was super tasty and pretty.

Then I had amazing beef sliders, the beef patty was juicy and not overly spiced but the caramelized onion at the bottom of patty were the real deal. The entire slider was outstanding. I also tried the cheese slider that was actually made with a cheese patty and it was brilliant! I am definitely ordering beef and cheese sliders separately the next time.

Then came the show stopper lamb chops, they were glazed with slightly sweet yet charred spices. The lamb was soft and convenient to eat with a knife and fork in such fancy setting. Right after this I witnessed bhuna murgh approaching my table and my eyes were wide open with excitement because usually you expect finger food in such settings but this was beyond my expectations. The chicken looked amazingly charred from the corners and was cooked perfectly.

After all of these delicious meals, I was served mac and cheese and this one is honestly the best I have had so far. There was fried garlic chopped into crumbs and garnished on top which provided extra flavor to the dish and the cheese inside wasn’t just liquefied cheese that usually tastes weird. It was pure cheese that melted with the macaroni.

Finally, it was time for desserts (my favorite part of the dining experience). We were served Tiramisu and a chocolate pecan globe. Even though the chocolate pecan was sinfully indulgent, my winner was tiramisu. It was gentle and the mascrapone cheese was added in just the right amounts for a smooth texture.

Thank you for such an amazing night Team A cappella! I would recommend my readers to visit this restaurant on a Friday as they have bollywood nights and I am sure they will be super!

September 2, 2019 0

Biryani that was worth a war

Legend whispers of a mythical kingdom called Behrouz, 2000 years ago, which rose to popularity around the world for its recipe of layered rice and secret spices. A recipe that lured Kings and masses alike; A dish that we now know as Biryani.

The recipe was lost forever when King Cyrus laid siege to Behrouz until it was discovered amongst the ruins. With this Biryani, the restaurant have brought back to life this lost recipe of Behrouz. It is unlike the usual Indian/Pakistani version of Biryani, its aromatic, the spices are subtle and generous amounts of raisins and cashew nuts bring the royal touch.

I was given the opportunity to try this biryani and honestly I wasn’t expecting such rich presentation. The box that enclosed Lazeez Bhuna Murgh Biryani was creative and stylish. There was a pop up castle inside that comes as a surprise. The biryani itself is not for someone looking for heat and a concoction of onions and tomatoes, it is rather royal in terms of quality and quantity as well. Its a wonderful getaway from the usual flavors of biryani available elsewhere. I would recommend the chef to use chicken with bones for more flavor. Loved the texture and flavors packed in the rice. There was tangy raita and sliced onions in seperate boxes. There was a tiny box with gulab jamun dipped in sheera (sugar syrup). Loved this bit of the entire meal.

The delivery was efficient as I placed order beforehand and shared my location with the delivery person via whatsapp. Really happy with the efficiency of Team Behrouz Biryani.

August 25, 2019 0

Just one of those days when dressing up feels like a chore and I end up eating in my car. Blessed to be in Dubai especially on such days because there are numerous dine-in-your-car places where people just park their cars and eat at the ease of their comfort. Headed over to Rabbash cafeteria in mamzar where finding a parking spot is always an issue but because it was a weekday, I found parking easily.

I ordered chicken funtasia and zinger chicken waffle burger, both came with curly fries and ketchup mayo. But the food took long time to arrive. I waited more than 30 minutes in the car and that left me a bit disappointed.

I liked funtasia, it was generously filled with black olives, cheese, chicken and onion bits. The bread wasn’t oily at all, I have had funtasia from numerous restaurants previously and most of them were dripping with oil but this one was nice and dry.

The zinger chicken waffle burger can be improved as the waffle was too doughy and not crispy at all. Believe me, I had it instantly so the fact that it wasn’t hot the moment they delivered it only gets challenging once the delivered food is consumed late. I am yet to try the shakes and desserts from here. Fingers crossed for my next visit/order.

August 20, 2019 0

Hyderabadi Heaven- Nizamat Restaurant

Nizamat is a family restaurant located in the busiest areas of Dubai- meena bazar. They have good seating space inside as well as outside. They even have arrangement of pedestal fans for people who wish to sit outside in summers. The first thing you will notice as you walk inside, it will be the smiles on their staff’s faces. The staff was courteous and efficient in terms of suggesting what to order and how many people will the portion size cater to.

We asked the server to bring us their best seller dishes from the menu and that’s why we started off with their non-vegetarian kebab platter that’s recommended for 2 people. This platter comprises of Mutton seekh kebab, reshmi kebab, pahadi kebab and fresh green chutney. There are two of each kind of kebabs. My favorite was the pahadi kebab as it was spiced well and char grilled to perfection. Each of the kebab on this platter was beautiful in its own way and none of them were over loaded with spices or salt which is usually common in barbecue kebabs else where.

To pair up with the kebabs, our server brought us fresh orange juice with pulp which was such a treat. We were then served chicken chilli dry that looked amazing, the chef made extra effort and decorated sliced cucumbers as hearts. I found it cute 🙂 But the dish itself lacked that kick of spice and burnt garlic flavor.

Next came our favorite dish, chicken hyderabadi dum biryani. Offcourse, we were there to indulge in some serious biryani game and honestly we were not disappointed. Loved the flavors in biryani especially the tender chicken that was marinated 24 hours before cooking with the biryani rice. The raaita (yogurt dip) served with biryani had grated cucumber in it that enhanced the flavor of biryani in combination.

Lastly, we were served double ka meetha for dessert. It is an authentic hyderabadi dessert that’s made with fried bread dipped in sugar syrup and then eventually cooked in saffron milk, that’s where it gets it orange color from 🙂

We had to end this fantastic meal with a warm cup of saffron tea. It was so soothing and relaxing.

I wiped off all the dessert in one go. It was so soft and creamy! absolutely recommended. Thank you Team Nizamat for such a wonderful dining experience. I am definitely coming back with my big fat family.

Plus points: Nizamat caters to your events or any location you’d like them to cater to. Their minimum order requirement depends on the area you want delivery but its usually 50 Aed plus. How cool is that?

August 6, 2019 0

The finest Lebanese food in Abudhabi

I decided to cruise around ADH in my car looking for suitable places to eat with nothing specific in mind when I found Mosaic and I instantly browsed it on zomato and google only to find out that this restaurant has received several awards from the food and beverage industry in the recent years. So without a doubt, I parked my car and went inside.

The interiors are beautiful and its not a huge place but they have made most of the space they have and decorated it nicely especially the gorgeous chandeliers. The restaurant manager was very courteous as he helped pick a table for us where we can easily park our baby’s stroller and eat in peace. They have open kitchen with all the live action going on. The whole place smelled like lamb kebabs and saffron rice. We were given e-menu to choose from which was extremely efficient as they have pictures with each dish to understand what to have.

We ordered manakeesh, grilled chicken and kebab platter. While they were working on our meal, we were served complimentary salad and olives. Loved their presentations especially for the bread that came in abundance in an L shaped vessel. Not only the presentations were good, the bread was soft and doughy.

The manakeesh we ordered was half zaatar and half cheese, loved it! the grilled chicken was super fine, all the flavors were shining through.

The kebabs were outstanding. Loved all the flavors! cooked perfectly with their juices preserved within the meat. Chicken kebabs were good too which was a surprise because its extremely hard to cook perfect chicken kebabs because chicken has no flavor of its own. But we loved those as well.

The only thing that was a let down, was their dessert menu that had chocolate parfait, pineapple tiramisu and rice puddings. I wish there were more to choose from. So I ended up leaving without a dessert.

July 16, 2019 0

My experience at Peppermill

One of the toughest decisions to make while shopping in the mall is “where to eat?” (First world problems) I know. So, I had my eyes on this restaurant since a long time and I finally had dinner here. The ambiance is lively and there’s room for a lot of people. They also have separators for specific dining requirements.

I ordered their Chicken sev puri from the starters that turned out quite wonderful except for the fact that the chicken wasn’t quite adding up with the chaat. There were juicy chutneys in there and the creamy yogurt was simply amazing.

Ordered the katiafi prawns from appetizers, these were amazing. The best thing about this dish was their mango salsa that wowed me. It was placed in small quantity on the plate but was packed with intense flavors.

peppermill food

Next, I had the soya chaap curry which was the winner for me. The curry was composed of some serious spices, no nonsense. I love a luscious curry with pure spices and this is exactly the one I had been looking for. Also the soya chaap were velvety soft and flavoured well too. I request you to order this even if you are a hardcore non-veg 🙂

For dessert, I opted for ras malai milkcake, it came with lots of crushed laddoo topping. I felt there was too much zafran in there for my liking but overall it was delicious.

April 4, 2019 0

Rich flavors and great presentations only at Dillicious

Do you wish to experiment with beautiful looking dishes and don’t want to compromise on the flavor at the same time? You better head out for Dillicious in Karama as they are experts in delicious meals and the presentation of dishes is simply amazing. Along with all this, the prices are super affordable too.

I took one friend and stepped into Dillicious on a fine Saturday afternoon, the staff greeted us well and we couldn’t help but notice the quirky interiors with an actual truck parked inside making the restaurant literally instagram worthy.

We placed our orders and within minutes, our dishes arrived. This makes me so happy when the restaurant does justice to a foodie’s time and brings their order quickly without compromising on the quality. We were served a complimentary starter that had chickpea and yogurt with nice cone shaped papadum.

Then came the showstopper murgh lasooni kebab, they arrived with smoke diffusing out of the container and the whole place smelled like barbecue kebabs. These were absolutely smashing in terms of flavor and tenderness. I highly recommend you order these upon your visit.

I also ordered a samosa chaat that came in a pretty hanging plate and the portion size was amazing, shareable between two people with good appetites. The chaat was loaded with sweet and chilli chutneys, aalu samosa and lots of creamy yogurt.

I then had the handi meat, the color of its curry was so gorgeous that it was salivating my tastebuds as soon as I laid my eyes on it. The meat was tender and the curry was so delicious, not extreme spicy, perfect balance of flavors. If you prefer having naan then order that with this 🙂

Along with all these goodies, I ordered a fresh orange juice and Delhi’s special spiced Shikanji that was star of all the drinks that I have devoured lately. It was a beautiful blend of spiced lemonade that paired well with all the meaty dishes.

For dessert, I had their sizzling brownie that sizzled all the way to our table. It tasted really nice with the vanilla icecream on top. However, I would recommend they don’t heat up the sizzler too much to prevent the brownie from burning from below. The chocolate sauce that came with it was super fun to drizzle and enjoy!

I request you to not leave without their masala tea that’s bang on! it comes in a colorful glass and tastes strong enough to kick start your tired brain.

Thank you for your hospitality Team Dillicious. It was a wonderful dining experience with you 🙂

February 17, 2019 0

Kebabs of your dreams at Mashakeek

Its always a tough decision of “where to eat” when you have been shopping for a long time in the mall. I was starving when I roamed around mall of emirates “Food court” and found this gem. Team Mashakeek are kebab experts, they gave me a tester called “yogurt kebab” and that’s when I made my mind that I would like to have this.

I ordered a mix grill shareable platter with lots of different kebabs, you can tell the servers to customize kebabs according to your liking that is if you want to opt for chicken only or beef only or both. The platter comes with rotis and rice and salad and raita (herb spiced yogurt)

The platter was delicious, all the kebabs in there were tender, cooked perfectly and flavored with well balanced spices. I didn’t like the chicken malai kebab though. It was a tad bit bland.

Also tried the mint lemonade that is part of the deal. It was really nice and fresh. I would recommend you try this place yourself and share with me your experience 🙂

February 10, 2019 0

At Grubshack- It’s always hot!

Grubshack is famous for their take on sea food dishes such as prawns, fish and crabs. Every dish on their menu stands out in terms of flavor and quality. I personally love their spice quotient that matches my palate in a beautiful kind of way.

Their ambiance is relatively dark and cozy with some gorgeous music playing live as you dig into your meal. I love how they have decorated the place so effortlessly, it looks neat and pretty especially if you visit in day light. The candles and wooden furniture give you some real positive vibes.

Gemma’s double dragon king prawns

Beef croquettes

Started off with Gemma’s double dragon King prawns that came with smoke falling out from eveywhere and it tasted amazing, The prawns were marinated beautifully in the spicy red sauce and I just couldn’t get enough of these.

Also tried the beef croquettes that were velvety soft and so tender, the beef was mashed perfectly and rolled into cylinders that were then deep fried or baked.

Chicken lollipops were yet another item that was spot on! it was super crispy on the outside and the spices were inside the chicken too. Loved these.

I was so happy to see my favorite dish come in that I always order when I visit these guys. Its none other than the Tawwa tandoori chicken. Its chicken with bone in that has been marinated with tangy lemon and spicy chillies, its served with sliced lemons and tastes absolutely beautiful. I would recommend you this dish as a must have.

I did not find Gemma’s mango fish curry that appealing, probably because I am not fond of fish in a curry. I felt that this curry needed more zesty element to it. Do give this one a try and let me know how you liked yours?

The chicken burnt garlic and chili fried rice were so delicious, the flavor of burnt garlic literally stands out.

Munna bhai’s mutton rohanjosh is amazing simply because the mutton is cooked to perfection, so tender than you touch it with a fork and it falls apart.

There’s a kulfi cart parked inside in collaboration with Kulfilicious. I had their mango kulfi and royal kulfi falooda. Both were splendid!

February 9, 2019 0