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.