MIRCHI- Arabian centre- Mirdif

This particular outlet of Mirchi is in Arabian centre, Mirdif. Inside the mall its a bit tucked in and if you blink you miss it.

I have never tried food from any of their outlets hence the curiosity factor was high.

The tag line for Mirchi is fine Indian cuisine and the Interiors certainly do justice to that, but does the food live upto the mark?

The mandatory pappad with mint chutney and veggie salad comes first, the mint chutney was quite good.

We ordered crispy paneer roll for starters. This was definitely a hit. The crust was crispy and the filling soft. It comes with a smattering of french fries and some veggies.

Since their specialty is supposed to be Tandoor dishes we decided to order 2 more that is the Paneer shashlik and the Fish tikka. Both of them had an excess of turmeric in it and were a bit too soft. Although the paneer tasted well but I felt its a bit too soft and could have been crispier.

Next came the Naan and Baingan Bharta. Both were good. Naan was soft and the Baingan bharta was spicy with the nice flavor of charred eggplants coming through.

For drinks we had a plain old coffee and Lemon mint. The lemon mint was a disaster, although really GREEN in color there was no taste of the mint, which was kinda weird.

There is outdoor seating facility as well which we didn't opt for since it was so cold outside but there were few Arabs outside enjoying the weather :)

Service was alright although the waiter seemed like he had a long day and didn't want to smile. Dishes didnt take more than 20 mins to reach our table.

NKD PIZZA- Uptown Mirdif

Although NKD pizza has been around for some time I could never manage a trip mostly because I don't want to eat pizzas on a weekly basis (all that cheese and salt etc). But reading the reviews of NKD pizza made me crave it a LOT! We ordered for takeaway after my gym (oh the irony). This NKD pizza is located inside uptown Mirdif's food court. 

We got the superbiotic and mediterranean in medium size both classic(thick base). I like thick base pizzas :)

The lady at the desk was sweet and helped us by showing cardboard circles cut out in the size of small, medium and large pizza to help us make our decision. They said 10mins and well yes they gave us the pizza in 10mins! How nice :D

Although we had the pizza's at home thus it was not pipping hot but I loved them both. Although I have to say I liked the mediterranean pizza a tad more since the sun dried tomatoes and feta cheese really combines well to give that wow factor. 

We did not order any side dishes like potato wedges etc. And I thought the 2 medium pizzas would be less for a family of 4 but I was wrong! We had our fill and still there were leftovers. Quite filling I have to say.

Will definitely go back again but next time would have the pizzas on the spot and when its hot :D

Radhe O Radhe- Jafza

My manager got the information that Radhe O Radhe accepts delivery even if we call their drivers directly. Hence we decided to try out the food here. I have tried the food in their Karama branch and was satisfied with it. So of course I hoped that their Jafza branch did justice to their name.

We got the veg thali which was packed so perfectly! I guess the containers are manufactured specially for their thalli :D and sealed to retain the freshness. 

The meal consisted of 2 chapathis( I personally could eat 4 because they are small). Paneer curry, Black eyed beans curry, a pulao sort of fried rice, 1 sabji, Kesari(for dessert), pickle and some slices of cucumber and carrots.

The chapathis were soft and as I said I can eat like 4-5 of them :D the paneer curry was rich and creamy perfect match for the chapathis. Black eyed beans curry tasted good as well since I guess they added a small amount of ghee in it.

The Kesari was the right amount of sweet and not too oily. Usually some restaurants go over board with the sugar and ghee in Kesari.

But the rice :( was just normal. The rice looks phenomenal with the vegetables etc but no flavor there. 

For 14DHS Its a great deal but next time I'll make sure to visit the place and have the thalli from there so I can have unlimited quantities :D even my Filipino colleagues liked the thali :D 

Do visit my blog :) http://dubaianvegfoodie.blogspot.com/

BANGALORE EMPIRE RESTAURANT- Qusais

Bangalore empire in my humble opinion is really over rated! Although I have been to Bangalore empire earlier before I thought of writing reviews and my opinion about them was dismal even then! 

I live smack opposite to Bangalore empire in Al Qusais and we decided to visit there because my relatives wanted some non-vegetarian food.. 

Initially the plates reached our table and they were just kept stacked up instead of distributing the plate in front of each one of us. We had to do it our self.

We ordered the Gobi Manchurian Dry. The dish reaches us in 10 mins which is standard time but there was no accompaniments with it. No ketchup, soya sauce nothing. When I asked for the ketchup all I got was the squeezy bottle straight out of the fridge plonked onto our table. Very weird indeed. Also no forks and spoons. Am are supposed to ask for everything? Should i point out the service was pathetic?

Next came the main course, I ordered very basic palak paneer and plain naan. The Naan was passable but the palak paneer tasted like those ready made meals which you heat in microwaves :-/

The chicken dosa also received average reviews from my companions

For drinks we got the Mexican soda and blue lemonade, thankfully the drinks especially the Mexican soda tasted yummy! With the right mix of chilli adding that punch to the drink.

Another matter that really niggles my brain is that the waiter who took our order never bothered returning to check on us again. We had to place subsequent orders with the cleaning staff. How rude is that??? Or is it that they don't care much about vegetarian orders???

Suffice to say I wont be returning again to Bglore empire! sorry folks..

De Thali- Qusais

Sorry gals/guys if your expecting a bad review for De thali, my review is surprisingly the opposite! Yes yesss I know my previous review of De Thali was not a flattering one but I guess why I formed such an opinion was that because I ordered take away and although their packaging is really cool and all that the quantity for a "thali' was not enough.

We thought to give De Thali a chance once again after a Saturday morning shopping session in LULU hypermarket, Qusais. (we were too tired to go outside the hypermarket in search of food). And oh boy! I don't regret it one bit.

The interiors are quirky and fun. The art work helps in distracting ones mind from hunger pangs :D the tit bits of information about various fruits, veggies and Indian dishes on the helps too. Very clean interiors and well light.

The waiter who served us was a Filipino and he was really nice. All smiles and warmth.

Of course we would order the Thali! (What did you expect?) I LOVE thalis and make it a point to try thalis in different restaurants. The Thalis are served in these massive silver plate which  is SO heavy! but the spread looks so visually appealing!

For me the vegetarian thali which came with a lovely creamy dal makhani, grilled paneer(2 pieces), paneer butter masala, rice, choice of naan or roti, 2 sabji's, a sweet dish, pickles, pappad, yogurt, salad. Folks I tell you the Dal Makhani was so damn superb, I could have married it! Even after I finished the meal I had to ask for some more Dal Makhani because it tasted so awesome! Although the veg thali comes with plain old steamed rice I asked the waiter if he could get me Nei choru (ghee rice) instead of that, which he kindly obliged :) how sweet! He also got me 1 more sweet(gulab jamun)... such lovely service.

My mum got the fish thali which comes with sambar and a curry made of coconut with potatoes (not too sure about the name) but both of them tasted yummy. Along with prawns fried and Meen mulakkitathu(fish curry Kerala style).

My dad went in for the Hyderabadi chicken biryani and he gave it the thumbs up too :)

The only thing that spoiled the whole experience in drinking water(ARWA) was charged as 7DHS! :( Gosh that was a shocker really.

But I really do like the food here and will definitely go back after buying drinking water from Lulu downstairs ;)