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 :) 

Kamat- Al Qusais- Dubai

Again back to one of my FAV veggie restaurant in Dubai. I love Kamat not only because they serve vegetarian food but also because undoubtedly they serve awesome food!

This time we went in during a thursday evening and of course its jam packed. We waited for around 15 mins for the waiter to give us a call.

We started of with a Paneer Hariyali Tikka, which was good and its served with an extra servin of mint chutney so you can dunk your paneer tikka again if you need to.

I ordered the mushroom hakka noodles with tofu in hot garlic sauce. I LOVE tofu and this dish was well done. The noodles were a bit bland but it was fine when paired with the Tofu in garlic sauce.

My companions got the Aloo gobi methi, Butter naan, Mushroom tikka masala and mushroom biryani.

The mushroom tikka masala was just awesome! Melt in you mouth mushrooms cooked to perfection in a creamy sauce with those pipping hot Naans. Aloo gobi was delicious as well. We almost scraped the bottom of the pan to finish the whole curry.

The Mushroom Biryani I feel had a bit too much masala in it, but then I guess some people like it that way.

Total bill came upto DHS 142.50 for four people who ate till their seams were about to burst. Service was OK but then of course cant expect more during rush hours yea?