Paratha King, Dubai - Not Quite Fit For A King

Most countries tend to use more rice than flour, or vice versa. India is one of the few countries who seem to be happily obsessed with using both as often as they can, sometimes even on the same plate! When you consider rice dishes like biryani or mandi, and then think about delicious sub-continental breads such as naan or roti, I think there is definitely room at the table for all the different carbohydrates. I am an efficient person, so I try to pack as many types of carbs into a single meal as I possibly can. It just saves time.

And so I found myself at Paratha King, trying to decide between all the various stuffed parathas and rice dishes on their very, very, very, very long menu. I think I've mentioned before that I get intimidated by unnecessarily long menus. I swear some places just write up every single conceivable combination of their ingredient base and give each combo a different name. Why not just take 'The Pizza Hut Approach'? Just list all the available bits and pieces, and let the customer choose what they want to have stuffed into their particular dish. I mean let's face it, a stuffed paratha is the Indian answer to the pizza, since just about anything can be safely shoved into one, dipped in sauce, and devoured by people who often don't care what they are eating at 4am.

But this was 2pm, so I felt like my dining decision should be a little more carefully thought out. Feeling a little overwhelmed, I asked for one of whichever the most popular spicy paratha was on the menu. "Hara Bhara Paratha" was the answer, and so that musical sounding recommendation became my lunch for the day. The Hara Bhara paratha sounded good on the menu board, stuffed with pieces of spinach, green onion, sesame seeds, diced chilli and even some tiny bits of potato. Good to see they hadn't forgotten Ireland's favourite carbohydrate either.

One nice addition was the 'salad bar', although that's not an accurate description of the stuff that was on offer... chic pea 'chana' curry, daal, sour pickle, chillies, yoghurt, raw onions and a number of other little extras were all laid out inside a sterile-looking stainless steel counter. Sounds good so far.

My paratha was delivered on a plastic lunch tray, with little indents for the extra stuff which I happily piled on. Nothing like a brightly coloured meal to make me hungry!

The paratha itself was dry and bland, with no measurable degree of spice. The strongest flavour came from the tiny bits of mashed spinach, which were fresh enough, but apart from that, the whole paratha was just a tasteless lump. It was overdone to the point of slight charring on one side, while the other side felt a little bit like play dough. The side dishes were a mixed bag - The chana was forgettable; a bit spicy, but as salty as the Dead Sea. The daal was passable; a little watery, but definitely a step up from the chana. Chillies were old and soft, onions were crisp and fresh, plain yoghurt was thick and fresh, while the mint yoghurt was warm and watered down. Why the hell does one location have such enormous variation of quality between such simple things as side dishes?!

The insides of the paratha looked good, but were almost tasteless.

OK, relax. What do we do when we start to get mad? We pump ourselves full of sugar, of course. That's what I needed, a dose of good ol' fashioned sweetener. It always makes things better.

I ordered my favourite Indian dessert, Galub Jamun, which are essentially just little balls of vanilla cake batter which are deep fried and then drowned in a bath of sugar syrup where they stay until sold. What could possibly go wrong? It even looked great when it arrived at my table. It was only when I punctured it with my spoon that I discovered the problem - They had almost microwaved them to death. The good people in the kitchen had taken two otherwise perfectly innocent little lumps of galub jamun and stuck them inside a thousand watt microwave oven for a bit too long, which reduced their already-tender insides to a molten, sticky pulp of tongue-searingly sweetness. I would have preferred them to be served the same way 99% of sweet shops sell these things - at room temperature. They were still edible, but only after I blew on them for about the same length of time as a 102 year old man with an iron lung would spend extinguishing the candles on his birthday cake.

AVERAGE

Between the bewildering menu, the saddened paratha and salad bar offerings which ranged from okay to bad, I was not exactly impressed by Paratha King. Maybe the Hara Bara Paratha was not in fact their most impressive dish. I have to say that after I had placed my order, I sat and watched a number of other various dishes emerge from the kitchen, all of which looked better than the lethargic lump that I had to contend with. It's that promise of potential, thanks to the endless menu variety which kind of makes me want to go back again at some stage, just to dig through a few more different things, and see if it gets any better. I'm not always an optimist, but in this case I think it's a safe bet that it could only improve, which is why this place just scrapes into the Average category.


UPDATE: I did in fact make another trip over to the patriarch of the paratha, and ordered something as different as possible, in the interests of giving them a fair go. I went with the hyderabadi biryani, vegetarian obviously. It was a colourful pile of bright green rice and fried shredded onions, covering a smaller, slightly mushy pile of various other vegetables. The rice was fresh and fluffy, and the veggies had about as much flavour as a vegetarian dish could expect to muster without being garnished with a leg of lamb. It was filling, tasty enough, and improved my view of Paratha King on the whole. That said - it was a lot more expensive than other, better biryanis found in Dubai, and the side dish salad bar setup was identical to my last visit, with the same mix of hit-and-miss dishes that amount to very little.
I now happily rate this as a solid 'Average' based on both times I have been to the restaurant.

The bill (for 1):
1 x Hara Bhara Paratha - 14 Dhs
1 x Galub Jamun - 6 Dhs
1 x Chai Tea - 3 Dhs
TOTAL: 23 Dhs (Approx. US$6)

Second visit bill (for 1): 
1 x Hyderabadi Biryani - 18 Dhs
TOTAL: 18 Dhs (Approx US$5)

Restaurant address: Internet City, Building 12, Dubai

for exact locations of all reviewed restaurants, take a look at our map.

Jones the Grocer, Dubai - Worth it for lunch, but don't do your grocery shopping here

The crown for best cafe in Dubai is hotly contested with a number of golden oldies now having to compete with some newcomers who are raising the bar in terms of quality and choice of dishes, customer service and overall atmosphere. Baker & Spice dethroned the Limetree Cafe in 2013 to take the Time Out Restaurant Award for best cafe. But it was the chatter that we were hearing about Jones the Grocer, that had us eager for a friday mid-afternoon cafe outing.

Jones, similar to the style adopted by Limetree, has gone for the "destination" style of cafe. Rather than being located in any of the major shopping malls and attracting the casual passerby, you have to be on a mission to head to Jones (located on Sheikh Zayad Road opposite Time Square Centre - which means if you are coming from the south, it requires a few u-turns to get over SZ Road and back down the slip road that it is located on). However, make the effort, and you will be rewarded.

My first impression walking through the large glass doors at Jones was... Wow! Was I in Dubai? We were greeted promptly by a friendly waiter who showed us straight away to a table and produced a menu for our perusal. The cafe is huge, airy and bright and has a fantastic layout with a coffee bar off to one side, a large cooking/preparation area in the middle of the cafe and a mix of table arrangements from the more casual couches to small and large dining tables. The piece de resistance is the cheese room at the back of the cafe which houses an impressive range of imported cheeses which can be bought to enjoy in the cafe or taken away for later. Not a cheap way to satisfy your cheese craving, but good luck finding some of these cheeses without jumping on a plane to Paris!

After ordering two coffees (not bad, but I think i still rate the coffee at Limetree slightly higher), we settled on the eggs florentine, a chorizo bagel, and the french toast to end on a sweet note. The eggs were cooked perfectly and covered in just the right amount of hollandaise sauce. The bagel, although a little on the small side, was packed full of grilled zucchini, feta, rocket and chicken chorizo which was perfectly complimented by the sesame bagel. Fantastically fresh and flavoursome, we gobbled it up eagerly. However, the winner by a country mile was the french toast that was served dripping with maple syrup and creme anglaise. OUTSTANDING. It was warm, crunchy on the edges but soft and gooey in the middle from it's syrup drenching. A small caveat was that this dish was shared between two people and I am not sure one person should be legally allowed to digest that much sugar in one sitting.

One large serving of diabetes, please.

We left on a sugar high having thoroughly enjoyed our breakfast and vowing to return to tackle more from the menu than just the breakfast items (which are kindly on offer on the weekends until 3pm to allow for that extra sleep in).

The Wagyu Burger.

Heaven.

Only a week later, and we were back this time for dinner. We ordered the famed Jones Wagyu Burger and a ceasar salad to start with. At 72Dhs for the 'starter' burger (which can then be upsized to add all sorts of exotic ingredients) we expected something incredible. What we got was good...but not incredible. The meat was cooked medium-well, which was a little overdone considering the quality of the meat being cooked and there was a lack of salad to counterbalance the huge chunk of meat. On the other hand, we were more than happy to pay the 43Dhs for the ceasar salad which was fresh, crunchy and laced with just the right amount of creamy dressing. It was then time to venture into the Cheese Room.......

If only this review was Scratch-N-Sniff

There are pre-set cheese board options that you can go with, or you can just wander in and choose a bunch yourself like we did and they will bring them to your table nicely served on a cheese board with some bread and crackers. We also ordered some basil pesto dip and olive tapenade to complete our degustation. While some cheeses were way to "stinky" for my liking - the fault here lay with our erroneous selection rather than the cheeses themselves which despite almost making my eyes water, were of very good quality. The pesto was clearly home made, but a little runny and probably better suited for pasta then as a spread.

My new favourite carrot cake.

We had bitten off more than we could chew, so the staff helpfully boxed up our left overs to take home with us. After the salty overload, I needed to finish on a sweet note and eyed off the amazing looking cakes and tarts on offer in the counter. I opted for a slice of carrot cake to put Jones to the ultimate test - could it stand up to the Limetree carrot cake, reputedly one of the best in the world! I was doubtful, but thought it deserved the chance. WOW! Hats off to Jones, they make one hell of a carrot cake - it was moist, had more complex spices and richness in flavour and was topped with baked walnuts that took my taste buds to a whole new level of bliss. Go and try it for yourself, but in my book I have found a new winner.

RECOMMENDED

I think it is pretty obvious that this place is a recommended in my book - but why not highly recommended? The atmosphere and service is spot on. The food hit the mark on most occasions, but our wallets felt a little bruised by what really is just fairly simple cafe food. I will be back, but I won't be making this a regular stopover for the sake of my bank balance.


The bill (for 2 for 2 meals):
1 x french toast - 31 Dhs
1 x eggs florentine - 49 Dhs
1 x chorizo bagel - 32 Dhs
1 x long black - 18 Dhs
1 x flat white - 18 Dhs
MEAL 1 TOTAL: 148 Dhs (Approx. US$40)

1 x caesar salad - 43 Dhs
1 x wagyu burger - 72 Dhs
1 x olive tapenade dip (small serving) - 7.50 Dhs
1 x basil pesto dip (small serving) - 12 Dhs
6 x small slices of cheese - 80.85 Dhs
1 x Homemade Lemonade - 17 Dhs
1 x slice carrot cake - 25 Dhs
MEAL 2 TOTAL: 257.35 Dhs (Approx. US$70)

Restaurant address: Sheikh Zayad Road (opposite Time Square Centre), Dubai

for exact locations of all reviewed restaurants, take a look at our map.

Yalla Momos, Dubai - Yalla! Yalla!

The fried cottage cheese momos

Karama is a foodie's playground. It is difficult to walk a block without seeing something that excites your taste buds, and the competition for your stomache space is tough. We were therefore intrigued by the increasing chatter we were hearing about a relative newcomer to Karama - Yalla Momos.

Momos are Nepal's answer to the Chinese dumpling. The casing is a light and simple dough and the fillings can be made up of just about any meat or vegetarian option that the imagination can conjur. Our love affair with the humble momo began on the streets of Kathmandu many years ago where we devoured them (vegie and "meat" varieties) as a great treat away from the otherwise endless meals of rice and lentils. In Kathmandu the sauce was equally as exciting as the momo - a rich, firey orange curry sauce that you mopped up with the momo and left you wanting to lick the plate clean. You could say we are fans of the old momo and we were quite excited to see what Dubai could offer us to quench our momo thirst after so many years.

Yalla Momos occupies the small corner cafe just across the road from the much larger Bikenerwala restaurant. Don't go with too big a crowd as this place only has 4 small tables and a dozen or so chairs. I can see these guys very quickly outgrowing this small space as word of their success spreads. We were lucky to grab a table and boldly ordered one of everything off their momo menu (all 8 varieties which at 6 momos per plate meant we were in for a LOT of momos). I love places like Yalla Momos. They know they do  good momos so they don't bother overcrowding their menu with 40 other peripheral items. Keep it simple and do it well!

The fantastic cheese and mushroom momos

There is a great mix of vegetarian and meat options to keep everyone happy. We started with the chicken momos which had quite a simple flavour but they went fantastically with the mint, coriander, lime, garlic and vinegar sauce that you are given in large squeezy sauce containers. The second plate, and hands down my absolute favourites, were the cheese and mushroom momos. Juicy sweet mushrooms with rich creamy cheddar cheese that just melted in your mouth.

The spinach and cottage cheese momos

The spinach and cottage cheese had a nice fresh flavour but needed the sauce to give them a little moisture and the Shrimp momos were a little too "fishy" for my liking. We ordered all of our momos as steamed, except for the cottage cheese momos which the owner helpfully suggested were better fried. We took this advice and were rewarded with sizzling hot, crunchy, cheese oozing parcels of naughtiness. Nice, but the excess oil consumption was a little too much of a shift from the otherwise healthy feeling of the steamed dumplings. Plate number 6 consisted of Buffalo momos, known on the menu as 'Buff Momos' - juicy, slightly greasy beef-flavoured parcels which had a great flavour and were the closest to what I remembered having in Nepal. It was then that we really missed the rich curry sauce that we rememered having in Kathmandu. The vegetable momos which seemed to be the ones receiving the rave reviews were a little dull after the buffalo. By plate 8 were were struggling, but we decided to re-order the cheese and mushroom momos, this time fried rather than steamed to see how our favourites stood up. The friend versions were certainly nice, but tasted better steamed in our opinion.

The chicken momos

In case were weren't full enough, we were persuaded to try the Wai Wai, a noodle dish that we otherwise knew nothing about. A tad dissappointing after the high standard of the momos, the wai wai was a fried plate of 2 minutes noodles with some vegetables and a large dose of fresh chilli. Fine as far as 2 minute noodles go, but not what we came looking for.

The apple and cinnamon momos

After all the salt we decided to end the night on a sweet note and were sucked in by the Apple and Cinnamon momos which we were told were an old family recipe of the owners. Imagine a dumpling version of a McDonald's Apple pie... but better! We only ordered 2 of these momos because we were insanely full, but they were amazing. The apple was all mushy and creamy and the fried pastry was crunchy and it was served with a light sugar syrup. Delicious.

RECOMMENDED

After what is probably the most comprehensive survey of any menu we have done in Dubai, we can definitely recommend Yalla Momos as a place to satisfy your momo craving. Some were a bigger hit than others, but each plate was fresh and you could really taste the personal touch of home made dumplings. While they may not quite live up to momos we had in Kathmandu (mostly down to the curry sauce in my opinion) Yalla Momos is here to stay and Dubai is better off for it. Get to Karama and try them for yourself or if you want to avoid the parking hassles, give them a call and order delivery!


The bill (for 2 but was enough for 4):
1 x plate of vegetable momos - 10 Dhs
1 x plate of spinach and cottage cheese momos- 10 Dhs
1 x plate of cheese and mushroom momos - 10 Dhs
1 x plate of fried cottage cheese momos - 11 Dhs
1 x plate of chicken momos - 11 Dhs
1 x plate of shrimp momos - 14 Dhs
1 x plate of buffalo momos - 11 Dhs
1 x plate of fried cheese and mushroom momos - 11 Dhs
1 x wai wai - 7 Dhs
2 x apple and cinnamon momos - 4 Dhs
1 x Oreo milkshake - 7 Dhs
  
TOTAL: 106 Dhs (Approx. US$29)

Restaurant address: Street 4B, Karama, Dubai (two streets back from Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Road).

for exact locations of all reviewed restaurants, take a look at our map.

Náis Italian Kitchen, Dubai - Watch That Space

If you've read many of the ramblings that are posted here, you might have guessed that I love noodles. Rice noodles, egg noodles, wheat noodles.. they are all good, and even better when they are freshly handmade, moments before they are boiled up and given to me in a bowl, along with some kind of meat. Simple, staple stuff. Food that makes you want to take a nap about half an hour after you finish eating. The reason must be it's so good that your brain is overwhelmed with joy and needs to take a break.

With infallible logic and an empty stomach on my side, a few friends and I visited the Náis Italian Kitchen in the Jumeirah Lakes Towers area of Dubai. All their pasta is hand made, so that was all the encouragement I needed.

The first thing we noticed was that this was not another clichéd Italian place. The good size and airy layout made it feel more like a hip cafe, with modern artwork hanging from the walls, soft white lighting, without a single checkered red & white tablecloth in sight. The kitchen was viewable from the floor of the restaurant, but not totally open thanks to a thick piece of glass between the food and our germs. I could see assorted sizes of very clean looking stainless steel pots and pans hanging from all the right places, making the kitchen look like it was ready to cook up a storm at a moment's notice.

We were still reading through our menus, trying to pronounce the Italian for each dish, when we were personally greeted by a woman who wanted to make sure everything was in order. A nice gesture, and given that we hadn't had so much as a glass of water, we didn't have much feedback for her just then. The lady was doing the rounds of all the tables, and seemed to be in charge of what was going on. I think it's nice when managers or owners take a bit of interest in their customers, since it shows that they are not only concerned with their own personal impression of their restaurant and food. Speaking of the food...

We ordered a small margherita pizza to share for entree, since I'm fairly sure it is illegal to visit an Italian place without getting at least one pizza. It appeared on our table with glistening bubbles of cheese still rumbling around on it's surface. Unfortunately the base made up about 90% of the thing, so the delicate layer of herbaceous tomato sauce went almost unnoticed. Good space filler, but not a wise entree if you expect to eat much afterwards. The mains turned out to be a lot more interesting.

I felt a bit like Tom Thumb upon delivery of the hand made beef ravioli, with sage, leek and butter sauce, since each ravioli was enormous. The dish looked like a pile of big greasy christmas presents waiting to be unwrapped, served on a wide brimmed white dish that looked like an upturned porcelain sombrero (in a good way). Considering the girth of the dish, it was actually a smallish portion, with only half a dozen ravioli in total. Luckily the flavour was more satisfying, with lashings of butter dominating, and sadly no real sign of the leek, but plenty of sage to back it up. Possibly too much butter for some, and maybe a bit too much for the other ingredients to handle.

mushroom and pasta cooked in oil. I want to swim in this.

The handmade egg taglioni pasta with porcini mushrooms was our other main, and in a word it was seductive. The pasta was fresh, dense, oily and supported the soft pieces of mushroom scattered amongst the mess, which was sprinkled with fresh parsley for colour and freshness. the pasta and mushrooms were almost the same consistency, and gave a real moreish vibe to the dish. Did I already mention that all the pasta in Nais is handmade? Well, it makes a difference worth experiencing.

With our belt buckles begging for mercy, we sheepishly ordered a dessert to share. Home made Tiramisu, which was essentially all the elements of tiramisu all piled together to order. Slushy, sweet and strong thanks to the coffee flavour. No Tia Maria since we are in the Middle East, but it still satisfied the sweet craving encountered after a salty main meal.

Despite the helpful hello from the manager before our meal, the service was enthusiastic, but confused. It seemed to me that everyone on the floor was a trainee, since they all appeared to need direction before anything useful would be done. All the food was delivered correctly, and in a timely manner, so the kitchen must be under control, but the floor staff could do with a bit more training. Considering this place only opened in August last year, it's possible that they could still be working the kinks out of their business.

RECOMMENDED

The menu leaned a bit too far towards the greasy and heavy side, so maybe the menu is another thing that is still being worked on. I would still recommend a visit to Nais, but if you aren't impressed on your first trip, give them a couple of months, then go back and see if anything has changed. It isn't a bad place by any means, and it feels to me like they have nowhere to go but up.

The bill (for 2):
1 x Margherita Pizza - 25 Dhs
1 x Handmade egg taglioni pasta with porcini mushrooms - 85 Dhs
1 x Handmade beef ravioli, with sage leek and butter sauce - 70 Dhs
1 x Lemon & Mint juice - 18 Dhs
1 x Tiramisu - 35 Dhs
TOTAL: 233 Dhs (Approx. US$63)

Restaurant address:

for exact locations of all reviewed restaurants, take a look at our map.

Yildiz Saray, Dubai - Turkish cuisine with a twist

A friend recently read a review highly recommending Yildiz Saray, a Turkish restaurant that is tucked away in the Concord Hotel in Deira. No more encouragement required - we got the gang together and made the trek to Deira.

There is nothing awe inspring about the Concord Hotel. It is one of a thousand very similar, very average looking  hotels that can be found on most streets in Deira. I can't comment on the quality of the rooms, but walking through the hotel lobby I was not filled with great confidence that an amazing meal awaited me just around the corner. Thankfully, I was wrong.

We were greeted with enthusiasm at the entrance to the restaurant and led into a large, beautifully decorated dining room that had tables in the centre of the room with cosy booths off to the side. This was a gastronomical oasis in an otherwise very desolate setting. We quickly took up residence in one of the booths and started salivating over the picture-packed menu. Ordinarily this is a major turn off for me. Menus that are covered in pictures I associate with fast food that is too mediocre to justify a written description of its content. However, hats off to Yildiz Saray and their photographer because the pictures not only fuelled our apetite but they were quite helpful in avoiding the otherwise 100 questions we would have asked the waiter "what is Manti" and "what is Hunkar Begendi?"

No sooner had we sat down than the sweet scent of warm Turkish bread wafted across our table. It was diffcult to resist the soft, sesame topped, complimentary bread baskets that came accompanied with feta cheese and the delectable spicy Ezme paste; a tomato and red pepper chopped vegetable dip that danced across your tongue and left your mouth softly tingling from the spice.

Being in a group, it was the perfect opportunity to order one of the large mezzeh options to share for entree. We knew the mains were going to be meaterific so we opted for the assorted cold mezzeh that came with hommus (solid, nothing incredible), Baba Ghanouj (the smokiest, possibly the best we have had in Dubai), creamy and zesty Labna drizzled with oil and herbs, vine leaves that would leave most others for dead, an oily bean dish that was probably the weakest of the lot and....drumroll....the stuffed baby egg plants (amazing, herbaceous parcels, stuffed with tomato and strangely, but perfectly, topped with cheese).

I could have stopped right there and it would have been a great meal. But alas, when I travel 50 minutes for dinner, I do feel a need to go beyond the entree page and tackle some of the mains that have already earnt this newcomer restaurant such a great reputation.We ordered big in an effort to cover as many of the main dishes on the menu that we couldn't pronounce. It is always a surefire way to an interesting, if not fantastic meal. We started with the Sebze Guvec, a mixed vegie dish that was reasonable, but a little too oily to be the healthy option that we had hoped for. The Hunkar Begendi consisted of chunks of seasoned beef served on egg plant puree that resembled mashy peas and was topped with fried onion. It had a great balance of spices but was slightly let down by the beef being overcooked.

We also ordered the Manti, meat filled ravioli parcels served in a fantastically spicy tomato sauce that was then topped with yoghurt. It was spicy, it was creamy and excellent in small doses; but more than a couple of mouthfulls would have been an overload. The Beyti Kebap, the turkish answer to a sausage roll, was chewy, overcooked kebab meat wrapped in very greasy pastry, and left me feeling robbed of precious stomache space.

The big ticket item, the Iskender Kebap, was the show stopper in most of our opinions. The tender kebab meat that was laced with a rich tomato gravy, and simply melted in your mouth. The meat sat on top of crispy pide bread cubes that were so heavily infused with butter that I was transported from Turkey to Paris in a culinary confusion. Topped with a thick, refined yoghurt this dish somehow worked. But buyer beware - this dish is not for the faint hearted. Although delicious, it is heavy and reminded me far more of french cooking than what I had expected from Turkish cuisine.

RECOMMENDED

I would recommend Yildiz Saray to those looking for something a little left of centre. The entrees were simply fantastic - standard fare done really really well. Some of the mains are really unusual and on that basis alone they are definitely worth a try. My one word of caution would be to go in a group so that you can order a variety of dishes to share. If I had been challenged to eat any one of the mains in its entirety I think I would have died trying. Each dish was so intense and rich that a few bites was enough and a few more would have been almost sickly. It was an unexpected dining experience that goes to show what this blog is trying to tell you - get out of your comfort zone and try something different.


The bill (for 5):
2 x bread baskets - complimentary
1 x mixed cold mezzeh - 90 Dhs
1 x Fattouch salad - 25 Dhs
1 x Hummus - 20 Dhs
1 x Sebze Guvec - 70 Dhs
1 x Beyti Kebab - 70 Dhs
1 x Manti - 60 Dhs
1 x Hunkar Begendi - 60 Dhs
1 x Iskender Kebap - 55 Dhs
3 x Big Water Bottles  - 24 Dhs
3 x Diet Cokes - 24 Dhs

TOTAL: 498 Dhs (Approx. US$135)

Restaurant address: Emirates Concord Hotel, Al Maktoom Street, Deira, Dubai.


for exact locations of all reviewed restaurants, take a look at our map.

Al Madina Flower, Dubai - One Dish Wonder

Clockwise from left: Raita, Papadam and Sour Pickle, Parathas, Chicken Korma and finally the Mutton Biryani.

There are a lot of underpaid, overworked expats in Dubai, from places like India, Pakistan and Nepal. The amount they earn doesn't leave them with much to put towards eating out, and because of that there are a huge number of excellent value eateries where skint workers can enjoy a good meal without breaking the bank.
So maybe I've found the humanitarian silver lining in this sweatshop of a city; They don't earn much, but they have access to damn fine food for cheap. I like to find where the taxi drivers and laborers eat, and follow them inside for some inevitably amazing food which usually costs less than the tip at a 'regular' restaurant.

So, after all that, where did I end up? In Satwa, a predominantly Filipino neighborhood near the Dubai Creek, where I stumbled upon the Al Madina Flower cafeteria.

Cosy. In a good way.

This place is tiny. It can comfortably seat 15 people inside and another 4 outside on the mini verandah, which is livened up by a small array of green pot plants and flowers. Al Madina Flower, right?
Inside there is the usual cafeteria layout, only more compact - a cash counter near the door, to pay on your way out, a handwashing basin, a warmer full of samosas and fried chicken or fish, a fridge with randomly assorted soft drinks and laban (a watered down yoghurt drink with salt), and a few tables surrounded by plastic stools. Oh, and behind all that is the micro-sized kitchen and juice counter. Who looked at this place before it became a cafeteria and thought that it could ever fit this much stuff inside? They must have been damn good at Tetris, that much is for sure.

After a warm greeting we placed our order; one mutton biryani, a bunch of greasy parathas and a serving of whatever chicken curry was going at the time, which turned out to be a mild korma curry.
It all arrived after no more than two minutes, along with raita (yoghurt with chilli and onions), spicy and sour pickle, papadams and a very oily little jug full of chilli flakes and coriander with other spices mixed in. You gotta love side dishes.

Mystery Sauce. Very zingy and oily. Contained a lot of vinegar, which worked well with the rice.

The biryani was and is the best I have had. Ever. The spice blend was generous and rich, with whole cardamom and cloves, long slivers of green chilli and specks of mustard seeds and fresh coriander. The rice was fluffy and perfectly cooked, with multi coloured grains of red, orange, yellow and white giving a bright vibrance to the whole package. The meat was gorgeous, fall-away-from-the-bone mutton, cooked for hours and hours. Never dry, never tough, and not oilier than it needed to be. Not too much sinew, bone or cartilage to make it seem cheap, but enough to make it rustic and hearty. I didn't find any tiny shards of shattered bone, just a few large pieces of cinnamon bark which had to be carefully set aside. All those intense flavours worked in harmony and complimented by the smooth spice of the raita and the pungent lingering sting of the pickle.

The chicken korma curry was simple and respectable. It was tasty, but not worthy of sharing a space at the same table as the biryani. Hell, I felt unworthy as well. The chicken was soft, and the sauce gave a nice creamy flavour to the slightly mushy parathas which we used to mop up as much as we could before...
Refills.
Yep, this place refills every part of every dish for free, other than the meat and bread. So just as we were starting to feel satisfied and proud to have made it to the bottom of the biryani, a gigantic bowl full of fresh spiced rice is plonked onto the plate. Same went for the curry sauce, which was instantly replenished whenever the level fell too low. We didn't even have to ask for any of this. Now that's what I call service. Two big thumbs up for attentiveness.
We had a couple of chai teas after admitting defeat at the hands of the never-ending rice mountain on our table. The tea was not as creamy as we would have expected, but it is possible that our taste buds were just overwhelmed by that stage.

RECOMMENDED

It's hard to highly recommend a place like Al Madina Flower. There is no denying that their biryani is world class; It's better than the ones I've had in India. But everything else was just adequate. The chicken curry was quite plain, and the parathas seemed a bit soggy. The staffs' attention to the needs of customers was second to none, and considering the budget that the place runs on, it is an achievement for everything to be so well kept. It is a quality establishment, with a solid commitment to good food, but it just doesn't tick every box.

I still recommend this as the perfect place to stop by for lunch if you have time. Five bucks for a bottomless meal for two people is hard to pass up. It won't take you long to be served, but it could take you forever to empty your plate.

The bill (for 2):
1 x Mutton Biryani (with unlimited extra biryani rice)
1 x Chicken Korma (with unlimited extra curry sauce)
4 x Paratha
2 x Papadams
2 x Chai tea
TOTAL: 20 Dhs (Approx. US$5)

Restaurant address: Satwa, on Al Hudaiba Road, across from the West Zone Supermarket. 100 meters from the Iranian Hospital.

for exact locations of all reviewed restaurants, take a look at our map.