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.