New Paris Restaurant- AL Nahda

Ok first of all I never thought a restaurant called New Paris restaurant served anything Indian forget south Indian food!
But I was searching for some restaurants in Nahda/Qusais that serve Kerala meals and this restaurants name came up, what a surprise!

We went there on a friday afternoon quite early around 1. They asked us to wait some time before they serve the food. But I could notice a long line of takeaways already packed neatly waiting to be transported. This does give a good opinion about the place.

I ordered the Veg Kerala meals and yes it was awesome! The side dishes tasted too good! Especially the beans and sambar! Wow loved it.. But the only thing that was disappointing is that they advertise in the menu card Kerala meals on banana leaf for 10DHS but when I asked for the banana leaf they said they don't serve on the leaf! How weird is that? Then why do you advertise as such?

My family ordered the chicken biryani wrapped in banana leaf and nadan chicken fry(extra spicy chicken fry done the Kerala style and deep fried). They gave thumps up for both.

Service was good, our waiter was really attentive especially during refills of curries.

I definitely want to be back to taste their other dishes like dosas and appams! Must be yummy!

Lifestyle Family Restaurant

Driving around in our car looking for a new and untried place to eat on a Saturday afternoon and we saw Lifestyle family restaurant. We did not have much of an expectation when entering Lifestyle family restaurant, since it looks like a deserted place without much footfall.

But surprise inside there were around 3-4 families and the interior is spic and span. Lots of natural light flooding in which makes the place look so pretty. They have this huge blown up picture of a lunch organised by the Nizam of Hyderabad. Interesting piece of history :)

Anyway getting down to the food. We ordered veg dumplings for starters, the veg dumplings were the hit of the day. Perfect in taste in shape I loved them!

Then the main dishes were plain naan, palak paneer and kadai chicken. The naan was soft and good, palak paneer well just as you would expect good enough(although I wish it were a tad more spicy) and the chicken kadai(as said by my dad) was good and spicy too.

For drinks we got the watermelon and mint drink(sorry forget the official name, and the menu card in zomato I guess is not updated, it does not show these drinks) The drink was terrible though :( tasted like plastic! How weird is that?!?

Service was excellent. The waiter was really attentive and food took a max of 15 minutes to reach our table.
Will definitely be back for the Kerala meals too ;)

Lemongrass Thai Restaurant

I have always wanted to visit this place forever already! Been seeing it a lot whenever we visit Lamcy plaza and I loveeee Thai food. I wonder why it took so long for me to visit Lemongrass :O

We visited them for dinner on a friday night and it was jam packed. We didn't get any reservations done since I thought it wouldn't be so full. I was so wrong. We had to wait for around 20 minutes to get a table. Te ambiance is nice to a nice date or informal family get-togethers, dimmed lights and candles set the mood.

The customary shrimp crackers with chilli sauce was served first. Straight off we ordered the Poh pia tod- vegetable spring rolls with a sweet plum sauce. The sweet plum sauce was a bit too sweet for me but it goes well with the spring rolls. The spring rolls were cooked to perfection! 

Main course was Pad kee mao- Egg fried rice with Tao Hoo pad khing- Stir fried tofu with ginger and assorted mushrooms. This dish was absolutely delish! I am a big fan of Tofu and the assorted mushrooms mixed in tasted so awesome and chewy. Goes really well with the fried rice. The friend rice is a story in itself, why? Because it tasted so awesome. 
My hubby got some chicken based dish the name which I forgot :( oops but he liked it too.

For drinks we got the lynchee lynchee which is a blue colored drink and really sweet and another drink the name which I forgot again :( but it was spicy due to adding of red chili in it. Quantity is good enough for two actually. 

Service was excellent. The staff are quick and attentive. Food didn't take more than 15 minutes to reach our table. 

Will I visit them again? Yes I would!

GOVINDA'S- Karama- Dubai

I have tried out the natural ice creams at Govindas before and make it a point to pop in if I'm ever around in that vicinity but not yet the food, hence we thought alright lets try out their veggie dishes. The interiors are a bit like something out of a Bollywood movie set with fake trees etc and dim lighting. I guess they wanted to give a Vrindavan(The birth place of Lord Krishna) feel to the place.

I guess the dishes are made without the use of onions of garlic(since they are supposed to stimulate the central nervous system and Food items prepared mixing with Garlic and onion give off profound smell )

Basically ALL the dishes are centered around paneer. Gosh, I never knew paneer could be cooked in SO many different ways!

After the customary pappad with mint chutney and salad, we ordered the Naan and paneer kolhapuri. The Naans were just aweseom, soft and delicious. The Paneer kolhapuri was good as well although I expected it to be more spicy.

I ordered the Thali, some of the dishes were OK OK such as the Tawa vegetable, but some which were really good was the Corn palak and Aloo achari and Dal panchratna. The Dal especially was absolutely bursting with flavor. The highlight of the Thali was the Mint cooler! Yes you read it right the mint cooler actually had MINT in it(I have had mint based drinks in some restaurants where there is no mint in it at all).

The price of the thali was DHS35, a bit steep yes but the number of dishes are a lot including 3 sweets and mini samosa etc.

Service was good our waiter was really attentive.

Will I be back? YES I will :D

CHINA WOK AL QUSAIS, DUBAI

A hole in wall type of Chinese joint in Qusais which has been around as long as I can remember. Although I have tried their food before that was long before I started out with reviewing hence another visit was necessary. 

I remember the serving time was slow the previous time we visited. This time around the same story. The order took around 20 mins to reach our table. But then yes they were jam packed and I'm guessing a lot of takeaways also.

We ordered the Veg pepper chilly for starters, and normally starters does not contain a huge quantity but this dish was really a lot almost as much as a main dish. It tasted good too, not much of pepper though, I expected more! But nevertheless delicious.

Main dish was Veg fried rice, Chilly chicken and Szechwan Vegetables in gravy. The veg fried rice was standard and the szechwan vegetable were good enough. The only saving grace of the food is the quantity. HUGE quantity for the price paid. Even after having our fill of food we still had enough for takeaway good enough for two days almost!

Service was OK I guess the waiter forgot how to smile :) 

We will be back though since I really did like the food, not bad to Indo-Chinese.

Nellara, Qusais, Dubai- Part 2

After trying out their meals we had to return to try out their other dishes during the evening or mornings.

We were served complimentary Chukku kaapi and plate of salad. Chukku kaapi is made of dried ginger and jaggery, its extremely good for sore throats and colds. Also helps in digestion.

From out seats we could see the chef preparing Appams and my mind was made up! Appams it is!

I got the Appam and the special of the day Egg mulakittathu literally meaning egg in a chilli based gravy. The egg curry was superb! Although it looked really spicy I assume due to the addition of Kashmiri chilli powder to give that fiery RED color to it the dish was not TOO spicy that it would blow your lid off. It was perfect paired with the Appams. The Appams also were done very well. Perfect blend of sourness and sweetness with the crispy exterior.

My partner got the Rice puttu and green peas curry. The best dish of the evening I would say was the green peas curry! Such flavor from a simple curry made of peas and coconut milk. It was thick and delicious even when paired with the appams. Loved the green peas curry. 

For drinks we got the Nellara special tender coconut milkshake and Nannari sarbath soda. The tender coconut milk shake had pieces of tender coconut on top and was OK but I guess it could be a little more sweet, it is a good drink for those watching their diet. The Nannari sarbath drink was too good, reminded me of the lemon soda drinks we used to buy from the street shops in Kerala.

The service was excellent. Our waiter was a chatty fellow, inquiring about our hometown etc. I guess some folks dont really like chatty waiters but I don't mind them, it adds to the warmth of the whole eating out experience. 

Really liked the food at Nellara. 5/5 I say :) 

Claw BBQ Crabshack- Souq Al Bahar, Burj Khalifa Area, Dubai

Visited Claw BBQ after I won some vouchers. The irony is I'm a vegetarian and of course Claw bbq serves mostly non vegetarian. Checking out their online menu I made up my mind to try some of their veggie dishes.

We visited them on a friday evening for dinner and it was jam packed! No space to sit inside hence we were offered seating outside, which I'm not complaining about since the view was excellent just the small complain of everyone around us smoking when we are non smokers who have to inhale their passive smoke.

We ordered the chips and guacamole for starters along with buffalo hot wings. The guacamole was nice and creamy although I do prefer mine a bit more spicy. The hot wings got rave reviews from my companions. I tried the blue cheese sauce which came along with the wings and that was wow, strong and really flavourful, goes well with french fries :)

Since I'm vegetarian I decided to do the sane thing and try the veggie burger. But I have to say I didn't like it much. The mushiness of the avocados doesn't go well with the grilled eggplant. I guess just grilled eggplant would suffice as a filling maybe along with a veg patty?

For drinks we tried the blueberry mojo and sunshine granita, both drinks were nice but I liked the blueberry mojo slightly more. The best part is the tumbler used to serve them, they are a different design and look so quaint.

The place is great for a bunch of friends who wanna catch up and have some fun but I don't think I would recommend it to family and the elderly as its pretty noisy and the whole American scene might not appeal to everyone. But the whole vibe is infectious and once you visit you would want to give it a try again :)