Ramadan menu tasting at Osh Dubai

Osh is a classy restaurant with some amazing interiors, located in La Mer; Osh caters to foodies with elegant Uzbek cuisine needs. Recently, I was invited to their Ramadan menu tasting and as I walked into the restaurant; their upstairs is dedicated for smokers while downstairs for non-smokers but since the meet up session was upstairs I climbed up and witnessed a dark ambiance with light only focusing on food.

We were served starters with Baba ganoush, hummus beiruti, fattoush and an egg salad. I loved baba ganoush, it had a lovely smokey flavor to it. I also tried their sambosuk that were accompanied with red tomato dip, loved these little bites. They were my favorite. Also had the lentil soup which was super comforting as the base was chicken stock. I absolutely adored it.

For mains, we tried the mix grills where Lamb kebabs and chicken kebabs were served with fresh salad. I particularly loved the chicken ones, I think the lamb kebabs needed more cooking time but they also were flavorful.

I tried their jellab drink which was presented in a gorgeous way with dates on top and lots of pine nuts inside. Loved it.

For dessert I had the chak chak which is basically crispy fried honey noodles. I wish it came with icecream because then it would have been an instant hit.

Thank you for the amazing service Team Osh.

May 3, 2019 0

The cake that broke my heart…

Magnolia bakery is the prettiest, chic bakery that you will ever come across in Dubai especially if we talk about the bakeries in malls. I’m sure you have had their banana pudding and I have to tell you that I literally dream of their salted caramel banana pudding because its absolutely delicious.

Recently, I was craving for a moist chocolate-y cake and so I headed over to Magnolia as they have beautiful cakes. After much thought I decided to go for the Devil’s food cake because it was made with dutch cocoa that creates a darker sort of chocolate and I am always ready for pure dark chocolate any day. A giant beautiful slice came on my table and I took lots of pictures and poked my fork in. I had a few bites and realized that it was dry 😦 and it needed some kind of moisture in the sponge. The buttercream frosting was perfect but the cake’s sponge itself was a little rough. The price was 28 Aed for one slice and I think its fair but I wish the cake was good.

This just broke my heart because I genuinely love desserts and cakes. So its pretty difficult for the cake monster inside me to be disappointed. I am still going to return and try another dessert from here and then update this blog 🙂

May 1, 2019 0

Jordanian cafe in downtown Dubai

Tche Tche premier is a quite fun place to spend a weekend evening at. They have separate area for smokers (outside) while inside for non-smokers. There’s even a play area for kids inside and so many LED screens to watch game on. The interiors are simple and neat, what stands out most is their superb service that won’t let you down. Our server “Nadine” guided best for their best dishes and cocktails.

We started off with the sea food sampler that priced at 70 aed and is loaded with crunchy calamari, crispy panko shrimps, mozzarella sticks and lots of french fries with dip. I absolutely loved this, especially the panko shrimps that were crisp and delicious. However my favorite part of this was the fact that it came in such big portion size that can be shared among two and the masala that was garnished on the fries :p

Then we had Chicken Escallop Funghi which is basically a chicken steak topped with melted mozzarella cheese paired with mashed potatoes and grilled vegetables. Loved the creamy mushroom sauce that accompanied this, it was spot on! Priced at 60 aed.

For sandwich we ordered the chicken zinger but it felt more like a crispy chicken sandwich as it had turkey slices in there as well. Nonetheless, the taste was amazing. The sandwich turned out pretty awesome. It was priced 45 aed

We also tried their house pizza that was priced at 48 aed and comprised of tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, grilled chicken, cherry tomatoes, parmesan cheese and beef bites. I know what you’re thinking, that these all would make one hell of a pizza but there was something missing for me. I would say may be the spice quotient could have been a bit better. But if you like low food then this will be an instant hit for you.

We were so full with all the scrumptious delicacies that we skipped dessert but wait! their cocktails satisfied our sweet tooth because they were literally yum! I felt they were more like milk shakes, I had the summer cocktail (mango, banana, strawberry, vanilla icecream, avocado and mango) priced 32 aed and TCHE’s (strawberry, banana and vanilla icecream) priced 32 aed as well. Loved the way these cocktails were presented.

Thank you for having us Team Tche Tche premier. Your service was absolutely wonderful, special thanks to Chef Sayed from Jordan who served us amazing dishes. Thank you.

April 30, 2019 0

Lunch with Philip Chang (co-founder of PF changs Middle East)

Super excited to be at the same lunch table with Mr. Philip chang who is the co-founder of PF changs ME. I’m sure you all must have been to Pf Changs atleast once, their menu and flavors are so genuine that one may find it simply irresistible to not go back. There was so much variety in the dishes I tried that day especially the few items from their newly launched menu were instant hits.

Started off with the famous dynamite shrimps. Even though there are atleast 30 restaurants in Dubai who have this dish on their menu but no one does it like PF changs because they introduced the world to it and they’re still nailing it. The main reason would be the simplicity, thier dynamite sauce is creamy and has a subtle zing unlike the duplicate ones.

The new menu had korean corn pie which was loaded with cheese and tasted quite nice. Although I wish the consistency of the pie should have been a little thicker, the flavors were great.

Also had Singaporean noodles, stir fried chicken, ceaser’s salad, chicken dumplings and so much more. Out of all these dishes the ones that stood out for me were the dumplings, they were so soft and the filling was comfortingly delicious.

They are introducing a kid’s meal called the “Bento Box” which comprises of one portion of rice, fresh fruits, vegetables on a stick, fish or chicken sticks, spring roll and a tangy sauce. My 2 year old got all excited when he saw the box coming on the table and he actually loved it.

Desserts were the best, especially the great wall of chocolate. It was the most delicious cake I have tried in a long time. Felt so satisfying, zero regrets 🙂

I would like to thank Team PF changs the QODE team for organizing such a wonderful lunch. The service was top notch and the team efforts were quite evident. This shall always be a beautiful day in my life as a food blogger.

April 24, 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

Turn up the heat at Turkish steak restaurant

I am absolutely in love with the food served here, be it their juicy adna kebabs or the flamed ribs; they have pioneered each dish in a beautiful way. Turkish steak restaurant is located near Mercato mall and its actually a villa with lots of space to accommodate big group of people.

Started off with their grilled chicken salad where the chicken was spiced perfectly and grilled, loved the neat presentation of this and the flavors in this salad were spot on.

Next, I had the Oven cheese mushrooms that you can find under hot starters in their menu. These were gorgeous baked mushrooms oozing with the right amount of cheese. My advice: have them hot and let them sway you 🙂

Had their butcher’s cheese kofta, these were the showstoppers of my entire dining experience at Turkish steak restaurant. They were not over cooked and the juices in the meat were preserved well, also the cheese in koftas was not overpowering and formed a lovely lacey texture when cut open.

Also had the sultan (2 plate) which comprises of adna kebab, kuzu, shish kebab, chicken shish, lamb chops and tomato kebab. I’m a hardcore carnivore so I conveniently ate everything on this platter except for the tomato. Loved this so much. So difficult to decide my favorite element from this platter but I would go for the shish kebabs. They were amazing!

The drink I ordered was called Honey roasted pear and I swear I have never tried a drink that is this refreshing before. The combination of honey, vanilla, cinnamon and apple was just mind blowing.

They have amazing variety of steaks and burgers and platters to share. I highly recommend you visit this restaurant with your friends who love meaty delicacies especially authentic Turkish flavors.

For the dessert, I had authentic turkish baklava with vanilla icecream, the baklava was melt in mouth good and added an extra zing to my wonderful dining experience.

Thank you Team Turkish Steak restaurant for hosting me. Your service is superb.

March 22, 2019 0

Turkish food fix done right at PideKeyfi

Can’t afford a visit to Turkey? but miss their adna kebabs and cheesy pide real bad? Then you gotta head over to pide keyfi in JVC where some of the amazing turkish food is being served with 100% authentic flavors.

Their interiors are simple and orange is quite evident, love the candle stand on every table that adds to the ambiance. Also the pretty embossed turkish tea holders are quite wonderful to look at and take pictures with.

For welcome, they bring you a complimentary naan with nigella and sesame seeds on top, this bread is super huge and tastes so good. I tried the mix pide which comes with , minced meat, beef and meat thats topped with gorgeous kashkaval cheese. Loved the flavors there, the cheese was fresh and the bread was soft.

Also had the mix grill kebab platter that comprises of urfa kebab, tikka, chicken shish, chicken wings, kofte, mini lahmachun and kashkaval pide. I can try my best to explain how every element on this platter was but you have to taste it yourself to believe me. I simply loved the koftas, they were so juicy and flavored with subtle spices. The tikka was beautiful, charred from top with amazing spices and I actually replaced urfa kebab with adna because I’m adna kebab fan, those were super tasty too.

And obviously, one can just not leave without having kunafe at a Turkish joint. So we ordered their cheese kunafe and oh boy! was I blown away… It was the most tastiest kunafe I have had in ages and its all because the cheese used wasn’t mozzarella but special kunafe cheese that doesn’t form lacy texture but melts in mouth. It took them a while to prepare this because it was prepared fresh.

Thank you for amazing turkish food fix Team Pide Keyfi. Your staff and service is outstanding. Love how you served us in time despite of several delivery orders. Your staff is well trained in terms of remembering all the items on menu and guiding customers well while we order.

March 11, 2019 0

Parker’s truly a hidden gem

Honestly, I had been planning to go here for ages but then my friend visited me in Dubai and I couldn’t think of an innovative place with delicious food that’s not overly fancy at the same time except for Parker’s. We dressed up casually and headed towards the La Mer branch (Jumeirah 1)

Their staff is so friendly, they flaunt warm smiles all the way. We were seated according to our preferred area despite of the place being full with people. We ordered pretzel chicken strips from appetizers. These were delicious! the portion size was amazing and the chicken was not heavily crusted.

We ordered crispy potato chicken slider, chicken shawarma slider and Parker’s fried chicken burger. Along with truffle fries that were super gorgeous. The sliders were great, buns were velvety soft but I think the flavors can be improved a bit in terms of the chicken patty that was not much spiced and felt a tad bit bland. But overall the sliders were pretty good.

Truffle fries were the winners! they were covered in cheesy mushroom (beschamel kinda) sauce and the flavor of garlic in there was pretty evident and that’s why I loved these!

I bet most of you are just reading this for desserts 🙂 I hear ya! Yes, the dessert was outrageously good. I ordered the “Pull me” Bubble brownie that rocked my world. It was a sinful combination of dark chocolate brownie underneath thick vanilla icecream underneath chocolate bubbles slathered in hot chocolate sauce. If this doesn’t make you drool, I’m concerned about you dude 😉

February 27, 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

Brand new Filli select in La Mer (Dubai)

Filli has been enormously famous around the world especially among people who enjoy a strong cup of tea. Their tea is outrageously famous and many are not even aware that they serve some sandwiches, wraps and other snacks too.
Recently, Filli launched a full fledged restaurant catering to global flavors with inventive menu that promises a wonderful dining experience. The interiors are elegant and classy with super comfortable sofa seats to sit and chat all day. I was invited to an exclusive blogger’s event here last week and I was ecstatic to see the place and so many of my blogger friends.

Service could use some improvement, Now i completely understand that an event takes a lot of hard work and the kitchen is full and busy so that results in delayed orders. I got my food after 2 hours of placing the order but I didn’t feel that time because I was chatting with my friends. My only concern is that I had to place the order 4 times to separate staff members for some reason.

Tea Bites:

As I entered the restaurant at 4:00 pm, I was given a menu that had so many options to choose from. For the first section (Tea bites) I opted for keema paratha and ordered a drink simultaneously called “paan mojito” The drink was pretty amazing with subtle hints of paan. I liked it!

The Keema paratha was a wrap that looked pretty with grilled marks on top. As I took my first bite, a long trail of oil seeped out of it and I wondered how much oil there is in this roll. The flavors were really mild that one couldn’t feel them at all. I wish there were enough spices in this one.

Salads:

I chose quinoa salad and it was presented beautifully. The intricate details were amazing. It was fresh but bland with no punch. Just because its a salad, it doesn’t mean you can’t add flavors to it. Usually quinoa salads are served with tangy dressings to compensate the flavors but this one came with no dressing whatsoever.

Burgers & Sandwiches:

In this section, I chose tri colored chicken sliders that came in red, black and green colored buns. The chicken in the sliders was creamy with no spices, there was no heat, no feel of taste at all. I would have liked it even if it had salt and pepper only.

Mains:

I ordered the char-grilled chicken and it was pretty good. The presentation was gorgeous. that made it look super amazing and the chicken was cooked to perfection. I would recommend you order this upon your visit.

Desserts:

I ordered sticky toffee cake and chocolate brownie, both were tasty! Loved the fudgy brownie and soft moist toffee cake. I recommend you order the sticky toffee cake.

When you come to Filli, you can’t leave without having their tea and it came with a biscuit to relish the comforting cup of tea. It was absolutely wonderful.

Thank you for having me over on your blogger’s event Team Filli Select.

February 6, 2019 0

Food with integrity at Bombay Dreams

It is almost so rare that I visit a restaurant for review and everything on the menu speaks to the foodie in me on another level. I happen to visit Bombay dreams in Oud Mehta for a blogger’s meet and was awestruck by the dishes served. The food made me so happy, there were genuine flavors packed inside each dish and I would highly recommend you take your loved ones here even if they don’t usually enjoy a pure vegetarian meal.

Bombay dreams served 100% vegetarian dishes with a blend of aromatic flavors and spices to tempt your taste buds. Their interiors and simple and neat, colorful walls with hand paintings. The menu is quite vast so take your time before you order.

Indian Starters:

The first starter that I tried was Beetroot tikki, that’s basically mashed beetroot with coriander and cheese rolled into a ball and dunked in bread crumbs and eventually deep fried or baked. It tasted amazing! I feel i’m short for words to describe this here. It was the right kind of spicy and sweet. The cheese was just lovely on the inside!

Next, I had the Batata Hibiscus where baby potatoes were covered in strawberry chutney. The flavors here were pretty awesome.

Halloumi cigar was another appetizer that tasted delicious. It was simple cigar stuffed with halloumi cheese topped with fried onion.

Then came the Sambal Tofu where fried tofu was tossed in chilli sauce and spring onions. The best bit of this dish was Sambal, it had a kick to its chili quotient. I’m not much of a fan when it comes to tofu but this one was pretty nice.

The other item that stood out was Bird eye chili paneer, the crispy potato along with creamy capsicum and chili paneer was fantastic.

Mains:

All the main course dishes were amazing, my favorites were Thai khichri, tomatillo risotto and snow white pasta. Thai khichri is a must have, its super creamy and has a zesty tomato punch that makes the khichri overall beautiful.

The portion sizes were quite generous. I suggest you share between two people.

Desserts:

As you know the trend of theatre food has gone viral and everyone seems to enjoy it. One dessert “Ghewar with cucmber gelato” was presented dramatically with smoke coming out from the sides and eveything. I personally loved the flavors in this, the cucumber gelato was creamy and the taste of cucumber was quite evident.

I request you to visis Bombay Dreams with big apetite and high hopes as this restaurant’s food is not going to disappoint you! Also, its really pocket friendly.

February 3, 2019 0

Crave the taste- Projeto Acai

There’s a new trend at the breakfast table and everyone seems to be enjoying it. It’s the Acai bowl that’s in fashion. Generally, Acai is a berry that contains antioxidants, fiber and heart healthy fats as well as a lot of other nutrients. It has a versatile flavor that perfectly compliments other ingredients and is usually served with strawberries and other fruits and nuts.

Projeto Acai is a small place in Marina, Dubai where the colorful interiors represent thier menu. Such wide variety of poke bowls. acai bowls, salads, wraps and mocktails to choose from.

I ordered the Walnut and feta salad, it was prepared with such elegance that every bite of this salad was crunchy, zesty and full of flavors. It had dried raisins, caramelized walnuts and red cabbage with subtle hints of balsamic vinegar and feta cheese.

For the acai, I chose “Samba” which is their best seller. It has strawberries, mangoes, banana, granola and walnuts. It was a beautiful bowl of goodness that tasted perfect. I think I can give up on ice cream forever If I get this in exchange.

While choosing poke bowl, I opted for the “six pack salmon” because the description made a really pretty picture in my head and to my surprise, it was even more colorful. The base of this bowl was buckwheat noodles, wild salmon, edamame beans cucumber, mango, avocado and garnished with sesame seeds, spring onions and coriander sauce. The portion size was so generous, even though I chose the small sized bowl.

February 3, 2019 0