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

Loosen up a little

AER specializes in Italian, Japanese and Mediterranean cuisine. Located in DIFC; this place is for people who want to have fun and some food as well. The restaurant is beautiful with dreamy chandeliers and comfortable velvet couches with indoor and outdoor seating available. The restaurant has a full bar available as well.

Salad:

I started off with the AER wellness salad that instantly became my favorite because of the fresh beetroot and tangy orange along with chickpeas, sunflower seeds and salted maple butter dressing to bind it all together. This salad is a must have from my end because of its sheer simplicity.

Cold appetizer:

I ordered Bruschetta- Tunna and green apple, Tomato caponata, cheese and exotic mushroom. Loved all three of them. My favorite was the mushroom and cheese one, so creamy and light.

Then I tried their Sicilian Arancini and my lord! these were packed with creamy cheese. Loved every bit of these. Totally recommend you try them.

Mains:

For Mains, I tried the wagyu steak which is usually amazing by itself without much effort due to the buttery flavor of wagyu meat but I feel I should have asked the chef to keep my steak medium rare as well done was over cooked for me.

Pasta:

First world problems- To order pasta or risotto? I ended up having Pasta Al Funghi that’s loaded with wild mushrooms and looked absolutely smashing but unfortunately lacked basic flavor and some hint of spices like black pepper or nutmeg.

Desserts:

I couldn’t decide between chocolate molten cake and turtle cheesecake so I ordered both. The chocolate molten cake was pretty good, but I wish it didn’t had crumbs in it that tasted a bit odd.

But the turtle cheesecake was perfection! so soft that my spoon glided in there and the flavor was super indulging! I highly recommend you try this one.

Thank you Team AER for having me over. Your service and ambiance is top notch.

November 6, 2019 0

Fall in love with grills again.

The city’s finest Grills restaurant has so much to offer such as Salmon, Lamb chops, Grilled pepper chicken and their Chinese Bhel that’s offered complimentary before your meal arrives is simply amazing.

What I loved most about Back to Grills was the fact that it is great in all three areas: Food, Look and feel of the restaurant and service. It is a fairly small place with outdoor seating available as well serving Grilled, Asian, Continental and BBQ cuisines. Their food hygiene has been rated Excellent, which is a plus point.

One cannot help but notice the colorful decor inside the restaurant including the creative wood art where the restaurant name plate is placed. The menu is vast with everything from salads to grills, shareable platters, Asian bowls, sizzlers, burgers, mocktails and milkshakes and so much more.

We started off with the chinese bhel that was refreshing unlike the heavy buns and cheese sticks you get as a complimentary starter in most of the restaurants. Our first item on the table was B2G fiery prawns that were a treat for the eyes and soul. Beautifully drenched in a coconut oil based marinade, the prawns were an absolute hit. I would like to mention here that the presentation was extra ordinary.

We then had shareable non-veg platter that comprised of shish tawok, smoked chicken leg, chicken tikka, turkish lamb kebabs and lamb boti. Everything on this platter was pretty good. I specifically loved the lamb kebabs, they were so tender and the combination of spices here was amazing.

On the side, I was sipping Pattaya Breeze that’s made from Guava, galangal (you can think of this as ginger’s sister) and tobasco. Yep! you heard that right! And it tastes beautiful! I would totally recommend you order this one.

I loved their asian bowl- Kung Pao chicken, the sauce was so tangy and intense and the noodles on the side were subtle with bits of fried garlic that paired so well together. I feel this should be a must have dish here.

For Dessert, I had to go with Tangerine baked yogurt as I was curious to what is this, Yes! I have never had baked yogurt which is why I wanted to try it here and I am so glad that I did. It was wonderful! The flavor was like having warm ricotta cheese with tangerine on a cold night. *gosh*

Thank you so much Team Back to grills for having us over. So impressed with the quality of food that I have already planned my next visit.

November 6, 2019 0

Outrageously brilliant burgers

Roaming around in Dubai on a sandy evening, I happen to stumble upon Pickl in JLT area and it looked pretty awesome with neon colors in the dining area and a team that is all smiles as they serve the customers.

I asked their manager for recommendation and he asked if I like to have spicy chicken or not. I told him that I am all hearts for spicy burgers so he suggested that we understand the heat levels given on the menu which were: Plain fry, feel the heat and nashville hot chicken. I was dooling at the sound of nashville hot chicken but somehow opted for feel the heat. Absolutely loved the crispy fried chicken patty sprinkled with some amazing spices. I am definitely going for nashville the next time. Their secret to these amazing burgers is the special sauce they add inside and also serve alongside the burgers.

Also tried the chicken tenders that were literally tender and juicy. Loved the portion size and the pickles that come along. I highly recommend you visit Pickl and don’t just order home because these burgers are best enjoyed at the restaurant.

August 14, 2019 0

Food Earth and Love- all together.

Located in Trade center, Dubai; FEL is bound to impress you with their neat white vibes and simple decor. Their interior and food both are based on the popular belief “Less is more”. Now I don’t meant that their meal portion sizes are small because they were enormous. I meant the use of flavors and plating techniques and the menu itself that isn’t composed of ten pages of this and that. Its fairly easier to decide what to eat since the menu describes each dish clearly. FEL uses the freshest and organic ingredients only for their meals. Before I begin dissecting my experience for you, please understand that FEL stands for Food, Love and Earth. I find it beautiful 🙂

We were served Ice water upon arrival and I specifically loved their glasses.

I started off with a classic cup of coffee that was quite a giant cup but was really strong. I then had their summer salad which comprises of heirloom tomatoes, lettuce, balamic vinegar and Parmesan cheese. You may even add chicken to this if you’d like to. Priced at 38 Aed, I feel it was really filling and delicious.

Next up, were the cali chicken wraps. These looked absolutely colorful and a treat for the eyes. The chicken were sliced into thin strips for these and everything tasted brilliant. The chicken was spiced to perfection and even one lettuce wrap was really filling.

Then came something that literally blew my mind. It was a burger that looked pretty simple in a time when burgers come with oozing cheese and ketchup and what not. When I took the first bite, I was so happy and surprised. I looked at the burger patty and asked the server which protein was used to make this? And he tells me that its a vegan burger. I swear my eyes popped out a little. The burger patty was made up of potatoes, beetroot and peas. I mean it was unbelievably good! Try it for yourself, ask for the impossible vegan burger.

I also had the spiced chicken bowl that was made of cajun spiced chicken, cabbage slaw, coconut rice, seared vegetable and avocado cubes. I felt the coconut rice were slightly sweet and needed a more spicy chicken to pair with but the chicken was less spiced so the overall flavor did not quite appeal to me but the seared vegetables were great!

Thank you Team FEL for the wonderful dining experience. I highly recommend my readers to visit.

August 4, 2019 0

Play with fire at the Wok’s Den

Wok’s Den is a nice restaurant located in Jumeirah 1 near La Mer with free parking and some really cool dragon graffiti on the walls inside. The kitchen has giant glass windows so you can watch the chefs in action while your food is being prepared.

The service is top notch! Our server made sure we were comfortable and helped us decide different dishes from the menu. Since we were fasting, the staff made sure that all our food was ready a minute before sunset so that we won’t have to wait and that made me feel super happy.

So we ordered Dragon shrimps and stir fried momos with schezuwan sauce for appetizers. The dragon shrimps were absolutely lip smacking, super creamy and soft to chew. The momos were an instant hit because the filling was so flavorsome and generous and the final toss in schezuwan sauce was ethereal.

For drinks, I ordered a pistachio shake and their specialty drink called Dragon’s Fuel which is suoer fun cocktail that has an intense kick of spice to it. Its literally like the sweet tangy and spicy gummy bears. I would recommend you go for it but have it in small sips instead of gulping it all in one go. Whereas the pistachio shake was great too!

For the wok, I chose soba noodles, mushrooms, snow peas, bok choy, sweet corn, black pepper sauce with chicken stripes. Loved the flavors in there and it wasn’t loaded with salt and chilli. The combination of flavors was just perfect. Wanna see how the wok was made? go check my Instagram page 😉

Then we had the triple schezuwan fried rice which were subtle and flavorful. They also have a black bean chilli sauce on the table that you can add to your food as you like. It was actually amazing and not too hot.

For Dessert, their coconut fried icecream was so delicious. I know it sounds so simple but please try it. Thank you Team Wok’s Den for the wonderful iftaar. Can’t wait to drop by soon 🙂

June 1, 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

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

Stay for the fun at Chowking

If you’re having one of those days when you just don’t feel like having the ordinary usual meals, you gotta visit chowking for the innovative chinese dishes and so much variety on the menu in such affordable price and amazing service. Their team makes sure that you’re having a wonderful dining experience.

I happen to visit this restaurant several times for their fried chicken, I am in love with how they do it. It remains crispy, juicy and salty (in a good way) but this time I tried a lot of other dishes on the menu. Started off with an intensely strong iced tea that was really nice and also tried their milk ice tea that had tea jelly on top. (brownie points for creativity) Loved it!

Appetizers:

I had the dimsum platter which was composed of 4 pcs. vegetable spring rolls, 4pcs. dimsums including beef and chicken ones and 4pcs. fried chicken balls. My favorite were the crispy spring rolls that came with a sweet chilli sauce to dip in. Surprisingly, I loved the dimsums as well, its rare that I like dimsums anywhere but these guys nailed them!

Then I had their vegetarian sweet and sour soup which was quite strong and didn’t work with my palate so I didn’t liked it that much but the veg. sweet corn soup was delicious. It even had steamed broccoli in it.

Main courses:

Started off with veg. hakka noodles that looked beautiful in the skillet topped with some crushed fried onions. Where my fellow bloggers thought it was bland and needed spices, I found it pretty nice and comforting.

Followed by this, was my favorite main course served here that was the prawn thai curry. It was a perfect blend of spicy curry and prawns cooked with bell peppers, I suggest you have it with the fried rice to enjoy fully.

I highly recommend you their cauliflower manchurian as it was amazing, cauliflower was roasted to perfection and the manchurian sauce paired so well with it.

Then, I moved on to the sweet and sour fish which I loved, the fish was soft and tender while the sauce was a little too sweet for me.

Thank you for such an amazing evening Team Chowking. Loved having your hearty meals. Can’t wait to drop by again soon.

January 24, 2019 0

Aromatic cuisine at Al Arz bakery

It is a very popular restaurant and bakery in sharjah and Ajman where they serve outstanding barbecue, shawarmas and a whole lot of other items. They have a huge bakery inside where you can buy freshly baked breads, cookies, marinated meat on skewers, kofta and so much more. The good thing is that every item has an expiry date mentioned on it to make sure that you are consuming fresh foods only.

They have an enormous space with aromatic grilled meat surrounding you once you sit inside. What I admire the most is their pocket friendly prices on the menu. Everything is just super affordable and tasty. Their service is amazing and everything is made inside in the kitchen from breads to meat. Everything!

I tried their chicken and cheese manakeesh which was spot on! Both in terms of flavor and quality. The filling was fantastic and it was served straight from the oven.

I also had their mixed grill platter which is composed of grilled meat, grilled kofta, kebab halabi and chicken kebab along with french fries. It is a pure treat for carnivores as the meat is cooked to perfection, juicy on the inside and charred from the outside.

I highly recommend you visit this place.

January 21, 2019 0