#buffet – Captain Lychee

It is no secret that everyone enjoys deck lunch especially when the temperature drops in Dubai, sipping on some chilled lemonade while relaxing solo or having a romantic date or a celebration with friends. The idea of nibbling food under clear skies gets everyone excited and so with such excitement I walked into GhayaGrand (Al Mawal deck) for lunch where I was greeted with such warm smiles and friendly staff.

I was given tour of the deck lunch stations and then we seated comfortably at a round table. My baby was greeted with love too and the staff brought a nice clean high chair for him.

As I started wandering my way through all the stations, I couldn’t help but go after the Mexican corner where there were nachos, taco shells and several condiments to go with it. So I made myself a giant taco with chicken marinara, slaw, liquid cheese, beef with peppers and guacamole stuffed in it. I quickly munched into it and realize that the taco shells were brittle and did not taste well. Then I looked at the Mexican corner and observed how the taco shells were out in the open (uncovered) which was not right. Taco shells have some fat in them when they are fried, by keeping them out in exposure to oxygen; that fat can go rancid. Rancidity affects smell and taste but it isn’t unhealthy.

Next, I grabbed some aqua lemonade from lemonade corner that was so cheerful and made me really happy. I tried different flavors and liked them all. There was aqua lemonade, mango and strawberry.

Then I made my way to the pasta section where there was so much variety that I was really amused. I took one portion of each kind of pasta and did not like any because of the texture. I think the windy weather made it cold quickly and it was so hard to chew into it, it felt rubbery and not good at all.

Then, I went to the burger station with high hopes where they grilled a piece of chicken on my request in front of me for the burger. The chicken was overcooked and did not taste well in the burger.

There was a shawarma station right beside the burger one so I opted for it and thankfully it was great. I really liked it!

By now, I was a little disappointed and “a lot” hungry so I made my way to the salad corner and there were several boxes lined up with different salads and numerous dressings to go with it. I got a macaroni salad and added yogurt dressing to it. It was average and not that bad.

I also had some salty rice that were really good along with the chicken skewers that I can’t complain about because they were very nice.

I would suggest the management to either use a shed of some sort for food so that it doesn’t get cold (from the time we get it on the plate and walk to our seating areas). Secondly, the temperature of food was originally not very hot so that added to the trouble. I agree that it was a windy day and there was sand storm everywhere but the food was a major let down. There were no flavors/spices in the sauces, meals. The bread station was so deserted that no one was even batting an eye over there.

Desserts:

The dessert section was my favorite as every item over there was an absolute hit. Loved the profiterole and milk cake. I tried one of everything.

I would like to thank GhayaGrand Hotel for their wonderful hospitality and amazing service. Their staff was on the toes to help and offer us support throughout the time I dined in there.

I am so impressed with the food here that I am trying to find a perfect blend of words to compile this blog post. Barbecue Delights is a buffet based on staple Pakistani dishes along with some Indian meals too. Their ambiance is soulful and filled with different colors and wall art that basically represents Pakistani truck art. Their service is extremely amazing and this is one buffet where you don’t care “how many” dishes are there, simply because each and every dish is genuinely packed with bags of flavor and stands out. Also, the food is super quality wise, its always steaming hot no matter which dish you look into.

Starters: (Chaat)

Speaking of Pakistani buffets, one may never start their meal skipping the chaat and I am basically referring to myself here because chaat works like an insight into how good the others meals would be.
So, I got the basic pani puri which was served with sweet and sour chatni. The sweet chutney was intense and lusciously thick while the sour one was diluted to perfection and their blend in the pani puri tasted absolutely amazing.

Salad selection:

There were numerous salads along with the famous Baingan ki burhani that’s actually spiced yoghurt where egg plants are cooked in tamarind chutney floating on top. This area included fresh hummus, beetroot salad with sesame seeds, coleslaw with sweet corn, Tabbouleh and freshly sliced cucumbers/lemon wedges.

Mains:

I will start with the bbq items and then gradually walk you through the rest of main courses available. The bbq items that caught my attention first were the fried fish and fried prawns that looked so beautiful because of their color, they had a lovely golden coating and you won’t believe me when I tell you that they tasted even better than they looked.
The fish was marinated in just the right amount of spices, it was not tossed in extreme flavors which helps give you the usual flavor of fish along with the subtle spices. The prawns were super too.

Fried Prawns

Fried Fish

Then I lifted the mutton and chicken reshmi kebab dish and the smoke that came out of there was aromatic and tempting. I had unlimited kebabs, so much that I didn’t even kept a count. They were tender, juicy and full of flavors.

Then I jumped on the opportunity to gobble up some delicious beef haleem and mutton karhayi. Haleem was so amazing, usually in most buffets they over spice the haleem and it looses its original taste but here it was just perfect. Mutton Karhayi was state of the art. The blend of spices in it were spot on!

Coming from Karachi,Pakistan; one has awfully high standards of chicken biryani. It just breaks my heart when I order biryani and see coriander leaves or curry leaves on top of it. If you wanna know what a Pakistani biryani looks like, look no further but below.

chicken biryani

kabuli pulao

The kabuli pulao was comforting and light. Perfectly seasoned.

A Pakistani buffet without nihari simply does not exist. We eat nihari for breakfast, lunch and dinner all year long. Their nihari was so amusing for the tastebuds and the meat was so tender that one can not resist.

Obviously, you are going to need a tangy drink to settle all these spicy delicacies. I chose the lahori soda and I’m so glad I opted for this one (as recommended by our serving guy) it was exactly like a spicy candy I grew up having called “Churan Chatni”. Despite of its strong flavor, it also aids in digestion.

Desserts:

With respect to the occasion of Diwali, there were fresh mithai with my favorite moti chur laddoo and besan k laddoo.

Also, there were hot jalebi and gulab jamun (please excuse me while I drool a little)

If you’re thinking this is it, then nope! there are more desserts like shahi tukray, fruit custard, egg pudding, badami kheer (this one was my favorite) and jelly for kids.

We ended our meal with a cup of karak chai that blew us away with how lovely it tasted. Thank you so much for having us over Team Barbecue Delights, we loved every bit of our dining experience here and we promise to keep coming back for all of these extraordinary dishes.

To all my readers,
Barbecue Delights cater large events and parties, it is highly recommended to you from me.

Tag: #buffet

Al Mawal Deck Lunch at GhayaGrand Hotel

Desserts:

Barbecue Delights- Fit for a King

Starters: (Chaat)

Salad selection:

Mains:

Desserts: