Pratap's Dhaba

Hey Everyone,

Hope you all are doing great! Finally am over my Abu dhabi vacation and the food there, and now am back to reviewing places in Mumbai.

So this wasn't my first visit to Pratap's Dhaba, had been there a few times in the past but way before I started my blog and yesterday I visited the place after quite a long gap. Previously this place was quite a hit for me and my family and every time my parents were down, a trip to the Dhaba was much needed but this time I was quite bummed out with my experience

The place is huge so seldom does one have to wait long to get a place there. In spite of being a Sunday we got a place without any delay. You have an option of indoor and outdoor seating. We opted for the outdoor seating.

Talking about the ambiance, it has the typical punjabi dhaba look to it, with charpais, lanterns and statues doing bhangra right at their entrance. And though their wooden benches are really old and almost damaged by the looks of it, it has its own charm and is quite a change from your normal fine dining experiences.

The service was quite good surprisingly, the waiters are usually confused and take forever to bring in the food, but this time it was quick and they were efficient. They bought their cute hand fan shaped menu cards as soon as we settled.

Coming to the food & beverages. We started off by calling for Lassi and Masala Soda to drink and Fish Amritsari, Mutton Seekh Kabab and Masala Papad in the starters. First came in their trademark complimentary Mukka Pyaaz that is smashed onion with lot of masala which was quite good.

                                                               Mukka Pyaaz



Then came in the Lassi and Masala Soda. The lassi was amazing and better than most other places that serve lassi in Mumbai. The masala soda was tangy and tasty, just as it should be.

The Masala Soda and Lassi

After the beverages we were served the starters. The Fish Amritsari was very average, it used to be a lot more better previously, it was tender but some how the chatpata taste it had earlier was missing and the mutton seekh kabab on the other hand was soft and flavorful though it could have been a tad bit spicier. The portions were good, there were around 10 pieces of each suitable for 3 people. And as for the Masala Papad it was a little messy and not as crunchy as it could have been.

Fish Amritsari 

                                                         Mutton Seekh Kabab

                                                            Masala Papad


Put up the photos from my plate itself, since the waiter had already served the food.


Not having a huge appetite that day, we ordered for only 1 main course i.e butter chicken which was by far one of the best dishes Pratap's dhaba used to offer earlier, but the standards had deteriorated, the butter chicken was lousy, I repeat LOUSY! We were shocked, because it was something the Dhaba was rather known for.

Butter Chicken 

Yes the photo looks as bad as it tasted.

Disappointed as we were, we decided not to opt for dessert and called for the Bill. He brought  it and accompanying that was their special pan shot which thankfully was as good it was previously and is the perfect way to end a meal.

                                                                  Pan Shot 



The bill came up to 1400 for three people which was decent but you have a lot more other options that offer punjabi food in the same price range.

Overall wasn't too pleased with my experience here, would rate it a mere 2/5.

I would recommend Urban Tadka if you are looking for good punjabi food, its sasta and delicious.

Prataps Dhaba is located at Link Plaza, Next to Punjab and Maharashtra Bank, Oshiwara.
Contact number -  022 26322323, 022 26362323, 022 26342323, +91 9029072323

Abu Dhabi

Hey Everyone :D

Firstly Thankyou so much for your lovely response to my first blog post and secondly am VERY SORRY for the long gap between my previous post and this, I had gone to Abu Dhabi for vacation so was not able to post then and after that was caught up with my admissions etc, how ever I experienced some brilliant food and some not so brilliant food there in Abu Dhabi, about which I will be sharing with you all through this post. 

The best part about Abu Dhabi apart from shopping has to be the FOOD, there is almost no cuisine that one can not find here.

Here is a list of 8 things that I reviewed in Abu Dhabi.

1) Shawarmas - Automatic

To start off with, once you are in Abu dhabi there is absolutely no way you can miss out on the shawarmas. You will invariably come across these delicious street-side items and will be surprised by the variety of them that you will find and almost every 50 steps you take you will spot a shawarma tower which were earlier displayed outside the restaurant but now due to hygenic reasons, the government has enforced these restaurants to have the shawarma tower indoors.  

Shawarmas are basically small pita breads stuffed with tomatoes, garlic sauce, pickles, tabouli, and french fries and chicken/lamb.Most shawarmas you get are either chicken or lamb and you also have the option of mexican chicken shawarma, which is spicier compared to the normal shawarma.

The best place to have shawarma would be Automatic.Because the shawarmas here are not just toothsome but also sized perfectly. Its priced for Dhs. 5 (Rs. 75) which is totally worth these mouth watering shawarmas.

This is a photo of the scrumptious shawarma I had at Automatic.


P.S Shawarma is only served in the Evening.


I would rate it a 5/5 and maybe a 6/5 if that was possible. :D


Automatic is located at Grand Al Mariah Mall ( Hamdan Street)




2) Cheese Burger Pizza - Pizza Hut 

No this is not a fantasy food am talking about here, Pizza Hut (Middle East) actually has come up with a cheese burger pizza. But before anything else you have to see what this pizza looks like in the commercial.

CRAZY right? Well this was one thing I was super thrilled to get my hands on, so on the 2nd day of my trip I went to Pizza Hut to try this out. But to my surprise the pizza was nothing great. For starters, it looked nothing as it did in the commercial and there were more vegetables on the pizza than cheese and beef itself. The pizza was thin crust with Russian dressing. The Beef and the cheese on this Pizza was sweet. 

                                                     That's what it actually looked like


Overall, quite a disappointment. And the famous saying fits in here perfectly, looks can be deceptive. In this case, the looks of the pizza in the advertisement was. 


I would rate it a 1/5. 

I was at the Khalifa Street Pizza hut, however you would find a pizza hut in almost every shopping mall and street.


3) Charleys Grilled Sub - Chicken Teriyaki 

If you thought subway was wondrous then you have to try Charleys Sub, it shall blow your mind. The concept that Charley's Grilled Subs offers is a high quality quick-service experience with food that shall tingle your taste buds. Charley's has a very comfortable environment with really chirpy employees. Charley's also has the "watch-it-cooking" ambiance i.e each meal is prepared to the exact specifications of the customer who watches in anticipation as their order is chopped, diced and grilled right before their eyes.

I tried the Chicken Teriyaki Sub Meal which was absolutely delicious and it came along with Pepsi and Fries to which I could add on cheese. Not just the sub but even those cheese fries were incredible. The chicken Teriyaki sub was filled with chicken, grilled onions, teriyaki sauce and cheese. And the cheese fries had cheese sauce all over it, am not very sure about the cheese they used but it was out of this world. Only thing that disappointed me slightly was they had very few options on their menu card, I think there is a lot more they could experiment with. 

Overall Charleys was a big hit for me, not just did it amaze me with its taste but also because it was so heavy and did not give me an excuse for the next few hours to eat anything else. 

I would rate it a 4/5

Charleys is located at Al Wahda Mall.



4) Molten Chocolate Cake - Chillis

Chillis is not exactly a fine dining place with top class chefs but a place with a nice chilled out atmosphere and serves good mexican food from what we had experienced in the past, so me and a friend went there for dinner, but did a huge blunder by calling for the non veg platter (consisting of chicken Bbq wings/ Nachos and Southwestern Eggrolls) because not only was the quantity awful but the chicken bbq wings were absolutely horrible. The eggrolls were lousy and the nachos however were average. We were highly disappointed with our decision but then did the best thing ever by calling for the Molten Chocolate Cake.

It was absolutely delicious. The quality of the molten cake  is delightful. The cake is flavorful and pairs wonderfully with a scoop of cold ice cream.I just couldn't put down my spoon! In fact I'm drooling
right now as I recall it. It took me and a friend less than 5 minutes to gobble up the entire cake.

Overall the chillis trip was decent. But the molten chocolate cake was mind blowing.

I would rate it a 5/5 only for the MCC.

Chillis is located at Grand Al Mariah Mall and Al Khalidiyah Mall

P.S There is a chillis at Powai too and apparently they have molten chocolate cake there as well, not sure if it tastes as good though. Incase any of you
have tried it please let me know how it is. :)


5) Manakeesh - Sultan Bakery

Just like the shawarmas, you can't leave Abu Dhabi without trying the manakeesh. A manakeesh  is more like the lebanese answer to pizza. It is dough topped with cheese and you have a whole lot of variety to choose what you want inside the dough, right from cheese, chicken, lamb and the most famous among them all is the Zataar. Cooked fresh while you wait, its only for Dhs. 5. I tried out the Chicken and Cheese combination and the  Cheese Olive manakeesh as well. The chicken used was soft and tender, and from what I was told there are two types of cheese used in a  manakeesh, akawi and kashqwan.

Being a cheese fanatic, a total thumbs up to the manakeesh I had at Sultan Bakery. 

And again I would rate this as a 5/5 as well, and wow if I was a teacher, my students would do really good. I seem to be giving a 5/5 to most things. 

Sultan Bakery is located right opposite the Madinat Shopping Complex.


6) Ara'yes - Automatic

Yes one more dish am reviewing from the automatic menu card, called ara'yes. It looks just like a quesdilla. Ara'yes are basically mince meat filled oven baked fresh bread sandwiches. This falls under the Lebanese/Jordanian cuisine. This was the first time I was actually trying out ara'yes in spite of staying for so many years in Abu dhabi, I wasn't disappointed, it was pretty good. Quite a treat for the meat cravers! 1 plate had 4 slices of Ara'yes, not really filling, but good if your not so hungry or as an appetizer. I accompanied it with hummus/ garlic sauce. 

I would rate it a 3.5/5

Automatic is located at Grand Al Mariah Mall ( Hamdan Street)


7) Chicken Satay - Shanghai Surprise


Fistly Shanghai Surprise is one of the best chinese restaurants in Abu Dhabi that I have been to. Not just because of its cozy ambiance but also for its high quality food priced reasonably. I visited this restaurant towards the end of my trip for dinner and had ordered for chicken satay for starters and kung pao chicken with chicken fried rice in the main course. First came in the satay which I was awaiting the most.

It is presented in a mini barbecue in which remains just one white hot, smouldering ember. Above it lie five enticing spears of chicken, so the presentation was rather fancy. The taste  however was astounding. There were around 5 pieces suitable for 2 people to eat. The peanut sauce complimented the chicken satayreally well, it tasted heavenly. Even the main course I had after the satay was quite good but without a doubt, the chicken satay stole the thunder.

I would rate it a 4/5

Shanghai Surprise is located  at Capital Hotel (Mina Road)


8) Chicken Quesadillas - Fuddruckers

Fuddruckers, a place I always visited for their extraordinary hamburgers, but this one day I thought of giving the quesdillas here a try. Which were disappointingly bland. There was barely any sauce inside and way too many tomato's inside. The chicken was decent. The quesadillas were accompanied by the white sauce which was average.

 But overall it was quite a disaster. They were priced at Dhs30 (Rs. 450) which was totally 
not worth it. But yes lesson learnt was to stick to the hamburgers and milkshakes at Fuddruckers.

I would rate it a 1/5

Fuddruckers is located at Marina Mall.

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With that I think I'm done reviewing some of the things i had this summer at Abu Dhabi.

Looking forward to visiting the place again and trying out some more exciting stuff.

Hope you all liked the review, please comment and let me know about what you thought about the post and I promise to be more frequent with my post's here after :) 


P.S How did you all like the blog logo?