Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Iftar at Jodhpur Royal Dining

Believe me when I say this, I received almost 50 - 60 messages on my Snapchat while covering my food journey at Jodhpur & each time I replied telling them in my most excited chat-tone to head there right away.

I've been to Jodhpur before & also reviewed them infact but last weekend I was there for their Iftar tasting & I can easily declare them to have had one of the best Iftars in town, priced at only AED 125

The tasting started off with a pre-starter, the jeera khari with herb yoghurt, which was basically a puff pastry dredged with caraway seeds & served with herb yoghurt & this took me straight into the dining table of my house in Mumbai where we would team this up with tea during our evening chai sessions.



This was then followed by the amuse-bouche which was in the form of a Macaron Chaat (No, I'm not making this up) I genuinely have no clue how Chef Pradeep even came up with a concept as innovative as this, trust me, you can google “macaron chaat” you'll find it nothing. Now this was basically macaron stuffed with a tangy filling and served as chaat. One bite into this and you'll have a cocktail of flavours in your mouth, ranging from sweet, sour, crunchy and chewy.


Moving on to the starters, there was something for 1 and all. For vegetarians there was the laban & ricotta kababa with rose ash, this was pretty interesting as its served cold from the center and I don't think I've ever had a cold Indian kebab before but absolutely loved the cold yoghurt and ricotta feel to the kebab. It's also topped with some gorgeous roasted rose petals. I would definitely recommend this not just for vegetarians but for non-vegetarians too.



For the non-vegetarians however there were 3 starters, the chicken & chestnut kulcha, tandoori raan (bbq seasoned, sesame lavash) and beef short ribs with chilly tamarind glaze.

I did not try the beef option but absolutely loved the chicken & chestnut kulcha which 
was basically a Desi version of a chicken tortilla wrap stuffed with chicken tikka, water chestnuts & green chillies. Also the tandoori raan was a 24 hour braised goat leg which was stewed with Bhoot Jolakia & finished in a tandoor marinated with Chipotle Cream. It was by far one of the most tender lamb dishes I had ever tried & literally melted in the mouth.



I was honestly quite stuffed with the starters but made a brave face and nodded a go-ahead for the main course.

But wait, before that, Jodhpur had a palate cleanser that was presented in the cutest manner possible, remember those tiny Hawkins pressure cookers you would play with during your kitchen-set days?  That’s exactly what it was. Of course served in it was a mango, cranberry & lime sorbet  



It was finally time for the main-course

The main course included lamb shank nihari with seasame bakharkhani, miniature pao bhaji, peema pygmy pao with masala butter and chicken tikka biryani.

Like I said I was already stuffed with all the starters that was bestowed upon us that I could barely eat the main course, but I did manage to try all the 4 dishes and my favourites were the miniature pao bhaji and keema pygmy pao with masala butter, because I think both the dishes are something I used to thoroughly enjoy eating in Mumbai but unfortunately there aren’t too many restaurants in Dubai that do it right, specially the keema-pao. Oh & also, how cute are the mini-paos?





Lastly my favourite part about any meal is the dessert that follows and at Jodhpur I got to try the rasmalai with milk foam rabdi, kesar malai kulfi with toasted almond silvers and saffron jalebi with mascarpone rabdi and gold dust.



No points for guessing my favourite dessert was the saffron jalebi with mascarpone rabdi and gold dust, as my friend rightly called it the Lakme Fashion Week Showstopper, in this case Jodhpur’s showstopper. Not just does it look gorgeous but also tastes fantastic. Don’t give this a miss. Thank me later.



The ambiance as the name suggests is royal in every aspect, absolutely love the huge pillars and golden mirrors at Jodhpur. You have an indoor and outdoor option.
The service is great & Chef Pradeep will make sure he pampers you at Jodhpur; he is by far one of the nicest people I’ve met through my blog.

I would recommend Jodhpur for a nice team lunch/dinner, family outing. Personally I can’t wait to bring my parents here because most Indian fine- dine restaurants today get a little over-board with the whole fusion food which sometimes could be a miss for the older lot.

I would rate it a 6/5 if that was possible but for now I will settle with a 5.  Teehee J

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