Little Bangkok, Oud Mehta, Dubai

So Friday night searching for a place to eat and we sighted Little Bangkok. Parking was a tough task hence we had to park far off and walked quite a bit. All the while I hoped the food makes up for this walk! Interiors are good and subtle lighting

We were ushered to our seats and first came the orders for drinks, Cha manao(Ice tea) and another drink The Bangkok sangria with red hibiscus . The ice tea was refreshing.

Then the starters the Veg spring rolls which come with a side dip of plum sauce, tasted good but nothing that we have not tried already in other Thai restaurants(Lemon grass restaurant nearby).

Followed by soup (we were informed by our waiter that all soups could be converted into veg if needed.) Tom Kha Gai, which was customised into vegetarian for us. And this was the best bit of the evening. Subtly flavoured and mildly spiced coconut milk soup with lots of veggies. The soup was delicious! We polished it off till the last drop shamelessly.

 We polished it off till the last drop shamelessly. Next came the Pad ped(veggie option) with plain white rice and Khao Pad(chicken fried rice). The pad ped was spicy since it was made of red curry sauce but the veg option contained baby eggplant with Tofu which took away the whole flavour. The tofu bit was good but my opinion would be that adding some other veggies like baby corn or mushroom would be better than the eggplant. 

Over all a good meal but some tweaks would make it fabulous. Service was good and quick. 

Usthad Restaurant, Al Nahda, Dubai

Having heard a lot about Ustad hotel in Karama and their supposedly awesome food I was curious to try out their Al Nahda branch which is newly opened. 

We went on a satuday afternoon and there was no space to sit hence we had to stand out for a while.

We ordered the ustad special meals and one ordinary meals. The ustad special meals starts off with a slice of white bread(that was something different) rice and a variety of curries along with a host of other fish, chicken and beef delicacies. There was the standard sambar, rasam, moru curry(yoghurt curry) along with fish vatichadhu, mussels fry, crab curry, beef fry etc served on a banana leaf. The ordinary meals is just served on a plate :) and more cost effective. Ordinary meals at DHS 9 and the special meals at DHS 30. Don't go in for the special meals if your not into non veg. 

Food was average at the best but the service was really disappointing. When serving fish curry they make sure not to serve any fish and only the gravy, how cost effective! And for second helpings we really had to catch their attention where as the waiters should be more attentive. Space is a bit congested and not to mention the flies swarming around :-/

Parking is available in front but weekends might be a bit tough to find an empty space on weekends. 

AB's Absolute Barbecues, Dubai, UAE

We were invited here for lunch by Zomato, thank you Zomato :) this place is an absolute delight! Honestly I was not expecting much from a BBQ place since I'm vegetarian and BBQ is almost always predominantly non veg. But boy, was I wrong! 

First of all the service is commendable since our waiter came to our table and explained the concept of ABS BBQ in full detail and took us around to show us the live cooking station. The whole concept is so unique and different. I expected a normal buffet and in table grill thats it. But they also serve 6 different veg and non veg starters along with the live grill. Good luck getting to the buffet after all the starters! :D

Also another unique feature is the wish grill that is a small live grilling section where we can select the veggies or non veg items and customise it with the sauce we require or different toppings and it is grilled and brought to our table. I had the mixed veggies with the ABS dancing sauce which tasted good. In the starters the mayo potatoes were just yummy! And the grilled pineapple too(how quaint) also the corn salad. 

The live grill on our table is loaded with skewers of shrimps, chicken corn and mushroom on which we can spray different flavoured oils and flavourings to increase the spice level. The spice level is not too high and is acceptable for every taste bud I'm sure. Once we are done with the grilled items the mini grill its taken off the table. 

In the buffet the soup, almond broccoli was so delish, the addition of almond gives a nice creamy texture to the soup. And pasta and spinach ricotta were excellent along with the ABS special dal, the dal was so creamy and perfect with rice. The salad selection was really an eye full as well, incorporating all Arabic items like hummus, moutabel, olives etc. 

Dessert was the best part of the meal for me we had small angoori gulab jamuns(heavenly) along with ghewar rabddi which was excellent too and wish cold stone ice cream which is basically ice cream mixed on a cold stone with all toppings we require like marshmallows, oreos, white chocolate etc. There were MANY more sweet dishes but I was just too stuffed to try all of them. 

Drinks I opted for the masala margarita which was a desi pani puri style margarita.Something different but interesting.

I definitely love the place and will return again not only for the excellent food but for the lovely service and good ambience too :) Good food and good service, worth the slightly high price I feel :) 

Parking is available in plenty and the basement and the place is not hard to find, its directly opposite to Al Zahra hospital in Shk Zayed road.

El Manza, Al Majaz waterfront, Sharjah

A small group of foodies were invited to El Manza for a Zomato meet up, thank you Zomato :) Although there were supposed to be around 10 folks I guess only 7 of us turned up including my dad and Zomato staff :D 

If restaurants are to be wholly rated on their location El Manza would get 10/10 for their awesome location. AL MAjaz water front is quiet and so family friendly. The water show every half and hour adds to the charm of the place. To be mentioned is the fact that the restaurant has seating on the ground floor and 1st floor with a lift also! How considerate especially for the old folks.

The menu was printed and presented to us by Ms. Pallavi and their were vegetarian options as well. Me being a vegetarian my review is solely on the veggie items :) 

Soup was a lamb based affair which I could have :( but everyone enjoyed it I believe. They were kind enough to serve us bread and a variety of mezze, from beetroot, grilled eggplant, olive oil, tahini paste, olives in harissa. Harissa which is moroccan chilli paste was delicious served with the bread. 

Also another serving of salad, including mushroom salad, fresh green salad, beetroot salad and bell pepper grilled paste. And also a huge serving of garden salad. OMG the options for vegetarians are huge.

For starters there was pastilla dajaj which is pastry stuffed with chicken and since I don't eat meat they made a veggie one for me stuffed with cabbage. How considerate :)

Main course for me was Couscous bel khoda which is couscous cooked with lots of veggies and spices. The dish I must say is a different experience for me since I'm used to having rice or breads as main dishes. But the flavour of couscous was amazing especially since it cooks with veggies it gives off a nice well-cooked taste.

Other main course were Djaj Mhammer (chicken cooked with saffron and turmeric) and tagine lahm bel barkouk(lamb served with prunes , almonds and roasted sesame). 

Dessert was fresh cut fruits and also a platter of Halawat(variety of Moroccan pastries like coconut, dates peanuts, raisins), which was really nice too. I expected it to taste like arabic sweets but the Moroccan halawat has a different taste of its own, not to be confused with arabic sweets at all.

Service was great! Maybe because we were there as a part of Zomato :) but still it was appreciable. 

Give the place a try especially if you’re like me who has never tried Moroccan food you should start your food journey at El Manza.

Naivedya, AL Karama, Dubai, UAE

Searching around in Karama during Friday lunchtime fora new place to try out and we chanced upon Naivedya, which is supposed to be pure veg. The name of the restaurant itself makes me like it a lot since it means in Sanskrit 'offering to God'. When you name your restaurant with such love I guess it shows in the food.

We had no doubts to try the Naivedya thali. It is priced at DHS22 and it’s limited. We were bit confused if a limited thali would be enough since we are such ravenous people!

We were served jal jeera at the start. The thali arrived at our tables and oh boy! It was huge, more than enough quantity for one person. 4 chapatti’s, rice, 5 curries, 1 sweet, salad, raita, pappad.

The chapathis are soft and tasty, channa masala and the mixed veg curry was good. But the dish I loved the most was the Gujurathi Kadhi, it was just the right amount of sweet and tasted awesome!

Service is OK. Thali took around 20mins to reach our table although it’s a thali right everything is supposed to be ready. Seating space, good enough. Parking though might be tough during weekends but worth a shot. 

Pappa Roti, Mirdif, Dubai UAE

A visit to papparoti was really overdue. Every time we pass by we get this whiff of an Indian curry made with yogurt. I know that weird but that's the smell I always get when I pass by them! And the place is always packed with people which made me curious. 

So we did visit them and I ordered the Cookie crème combo which is basically a cookie milkshake with a bun. And my hubby went in for the Chicken Tikka wrap. 

First of all, the menu does not specify the different type of Bun we can order or the fillings we get. When I asked the waiter he told me you can ask for any filling but their original is just plain butter. Since I wanted to get the real taste without any fancy fillings for a first time experience I went in for the butter bun. 

The bun, which is their most famous item, is basically nice, really soft and fluffy. It looks big but it’s like those packets of chips which are filled with nitrogen inside and less quantity of chips. The butter just oozes out of the bun onto the paper below (I’m not complaining). The milkshake though was really nice but the addition of whipped cream on top was a bit too much.

Hubby was satisfied with the chicken tikka wrap, which comes with chips and 2 varieties of dips. 

Price wise I feel it’s not worth the hype. I mean it’s just a bun no matter how soft! Service was pretty good.

India Palace, Al Garhoud, Dubai, UAE

One of the well-established and famous Indian restaurant in Dubai not to mention in a very good location also. India Palace does do some good food, but what experience I had was in À la carte. They have a bangle maker churning out bangles as per our order. We booked a buffet dinner for around 10 adults and 7 kids.

We called and booked well in advance. We reached the place and I expected good service from when we enter but alas nothing as such. No one to show us to our tables we had to just sit at a free table and push the tables and chairs around ourselves to accommodate our huge group. Service was definitely lacklustre. Space was not enough for a whole group to sit around as a group and we were split into two. Lighting is really dim and the music too loud! Yes they have live music, fancy but it really doesn’t help when you’re trying to talk to someone.

I had assumed the food would make up for the dismal service but then again let down. The food was just OK. Nothing special, hardly any vegetarian gravy’s. Just one paneer curry and the other Dum gobi was just too sweet! The salads were quite good though, fusion inspired and innovative. Desserts were OK too. The carrot halwa had too much of ghee.

The buffet is arranged around haphazardly. There is definitely a lack of space and India Palace is trying to work around this point but the kitchen entrance is near the buffet table which makes it confusing and a total mess. Naan and drinks like mint-lemon and variety of lassi's kept flowing around freely. But then again I felt none of the staff were really attentive as one would expect in a fancy restaurant which is not quite cheap either.

Over all I would say stick to the À la carte, the dishes taste much better I feel in that set up.