Ashas - Yas Mall

Firstly, I would like to use this platform and apologize to Zomato for canning on the foodie meet-ups every single time, clearly I had no idea what I was missing out on. 

A few weeks back I finally managed to attend a Zomato meet up at Ashas - Yas Mall

Honestly I went there with no high expectations from the food at Asha's, because from the little I could remember, the food at the Khalidiya branch (Which is shut now) was very average.

This fine dine restaurant is located on the first floor and no before you pop the question, let me clear this out, they don't continuously play Asha Bhosle songs, just a song or two per hour. 

On getting seated, we were offered a variety of attractive looking mocktails, however, unfortunately I had a sore throat and had to give that a miss. 

There was a customized menu created specially for the meet-up, which I think was extremely impressive.

What I ate? Dal Shorba, Mushroom Kurkure, Chingli Chapp, Seafood Seekh Kebab, Murgh Malai Kebab, Muscat Gosht, Prawn Masala, Butter Chicken, Goan Cashew Chicken, Dal Makhani, Kesar Biryani and Chocolate Mousse Cake. 

The Dal Shorba was a bliss for me that afternoon, considering how bad my throat was then. 

Mushroom Kurkure - This was basically battered, deep fried mushrooms, stuffed with cheese, bell pepper and crushed black pepper. An absolute delight for a vegetarian, if you're looking for an option besides the usual Paneer. 

Chingli Chaap -  Before I tell you what this is, honestly, I've been dreaming about this dish ever since that day. Chingli Chaap is basically jumbo prawns that are marinated in spicy ginger-garlic yoghurt paste, then breaded and deep fried. This may sound a little silly, but the Chingli Chaap tastes like the spicy chicken crust you would find on a KFC chicken piece, stuffed with well-done prawns. Much much much RECOMMENDED, even if you aren't a seafood fan.

Seafood Seekh Kebab, I was pretty fascinated to try this out, as I had never indulged in a Seafood Seekh previously. The seafood seekh was basically finely chopped prawns and fish seekh kebab with cheese and bishp seeds, mildly spiced with green chillies. Thankfully this didn't have a pungent smell of seafood, and was very well cooked too, but somehow, it did not appeal to my taste buds. I would give this a miss. 

Murgh Malai Kebab - These were boneless chicken cubes, that were marinated in a creamy cheese and cashew nut paste with a touch of cardamom. This was extremely tender and juicy. 

Moving on to the main course, 

Muscat Gosht - The muscat gosht was basically boneless tender lamb cooked with butter in a spicy, rich onion and tomato gravy, and Anupa from the Asha's team did such a brilliant job in pre-selling this dish that she convinced my Vegetarian friend to actually give this a try. Everybody on the table unanimously rated this dish a 5/5 - I would definitely recommend this.

The other two Non Vegetarian main course dishes i.e. Butter Chicken and the Goan Cashew Chicken were average. Although I think the Goan Cashew Chicken would have tasted better had it been served with rice (which was suggested by the server too) however, I was too stuffed for rice. 

Kesar Biryani - You could literally get the sniff off the rich saffron from a distance, absolutely loved the Kesar Biryani. 

Lastly, they had two options in their desert menu, Chocolate Mousse Cake and Pista Kesar Malai Kulfi, here again due to my sore throat, I opted for just the Chocolate Mousse Cake, which was not just physically appealing but was delectable too. 

The service? Thanks to my sore throat (wow I've mentioned this way too many times) I came across as one of those cranky and demanding kids, because every 10 minutes I would request the server for a glass of hot water, but clearly that didn't seem to annoy the server at all, as he brought it with the same enthusiasm and smile every single time. 

Also a special thank you to Anupa who has been working with Ashas for over 10 years now, it was a pleasure meeting her, as she gave us an insight on the food served at Ashas. 

Interiors - Most fine-dine Indian restaurants go over the top with their interiors making it look a little tacky, but the atmosphere at Asha's is classy and calm at the same time. 

Pricing - Asha's is definitely heavy on the pocket, but a good option for a special family lunch/ dinner. 

Rating - I would rate Ashas a 4/5 

P.S. Post this meal, all I would like to say is, Dear Asha's

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Indigo - Beach Rotana

Over the past 1 week, I've sat down to write this review several times, but everytime I would complete a line or two, I would erase whatever I had written, simply because, I needed to do complete justice to Indigo by writing a review as spectacular as my experience there. 

Indigo is the perfect fine dining experience serving Indian food, located at Beach Rotana (TCA) which in itself is a plus, because most other fine dining Indian restaurants are situated in Yas, which is slightly far from the city.

A colleague and I were invited by the head chef of Indigo, Nitin Raheja for lunch last weekend and we had gladly obliged. But back then, we had zero idea of what was coming our way, because had we known, we would have definitely skipped dinner the previous night and breakfast too. 

Food? Going by what I've written above, I'm sure you've guessed that we were literally bombarded with food at Indigo, but hey, who in their right frame of mind would ever complain about free food? Wait let me rephrase that, who in their right frame of mind would complain about free fabolous food, wow 'F3' (random observation, you may ignore and move on with reading this review)

At Indigo, there was no discrimination between food, right from being served Mumbai Street Food to Punjabi Parathe, Hyderabadi Biryani to Assamese Dumplings (Momos) we were to experiment it all. 

What we tried? Dahi Bhalla, Assamese Dumpling (Momos), Teekhe Tandoori Aalu, Non Veg Platter (Chicken Seekh Kebab, Mutton Seekh Kebab , Fish Tikka, Mutton Tunday Kabab & Jhinga Til Tinka) and the mini Veg Platter (Hara Bhara Kabab and Tandoori Stuffed Mushroom), Alu Parathe, Puri Choley, Keema Pao, Ande Ki Burjhi, Lamb Biryani. *PHEW*

Honestly not trying to over-sell the place, but genuinely I quite liked everything I tried, barring the fish tikka (which wasn't as tender as I expected it to be) and the Lamb Biryani. 

My top 5 favourite dishes from what I tried would be -

1) Chicken Keema Pao -  Chicken keema with Pao has mostly been a street-style dish, so it was a pleasant surprise to see this being served at a Fine Dine restaurant. The Chicken Keema is minced chicken curry prepared with tomatoes and onions and this is served with pao. This was by far the best Chicken Keema Pao I've ever had, it was literally mouth-watering. I was almost convinced to call for a second round, inspite of having so much food on our table already. 

2) Chicken Seekh Kebab - Succelent spiced chicken mince, skewered and cooked over charcoal. The seekh kebabs were spot on, tender, spicy and flavourful. Definitely got my taste buds tingling. (always thought to myself, if the Britannia ad was inspired by the word tingling, you know like, ting ting tiding) 

 

3) Mutton Tunday Kabab - Minced Lamb Tikkis mixed with spices and green chillies. It has a super soft paste like texture from the inside. The kababs are unmissable spicy and have a smokey excellent taste to it. 

The Platter (Jhinga Til Tinka, Chicken Seekh Kebab, Mutton Tunday Kabab)

4) Jhinga Til Tinka - These gigantic prawns literally call you towards it and don't you dare make the mistake of giving it a miss. The Jhinga Til Tinka are basically king prawns, coated with bread crumbs and sesame seeds which is then marinated with aromatic spices. Even though I have had sesame prawn toast several times, this was the first time I had tried Jhinga Til Tinka (I like the sound to this)

5)Teekhe Tandoori Aalu - As the name suggests, this was chili potato, which was not just spicy but also had this tamarind flavor to it, which made a dish as simple as this so scrumptious.

Also a special mention to the Chicken Dumplings (Momos) which were quite good, but yet not the best I've had.

Honestly post this meal I was sure that I would have to drop the 'Anorexic' from my blog name, because I had eaten so much that I was actually contemplating unbuttoning my jeans (but trust me, I didn't, I survived) 

Also after being served lavishly with all this food, we were also convinced by the Chef to try out their special ginger icecream and their 'sau meel ki chai' which I kept hearing as Saumil and was wondering to myself, who exactly is Saumil? But well, in my defence I was slightly sleep deprived.

This was the 1st time I was trying out either, the ginger icecream as well the sau meel ki chai. All it took was one bite of the icecream and 1 sip of the chai, for me to fall in love with both. Also for all those who don't know the reason behind it being called the 'Sau Meel Ki Chai' it is because travellers in the North side would have this during their long drives (100 miles and more, thus the name)

This chai was served in an extremely fascinating tea pot which infact was also used as a decorative piece at Indigo and it sure did enhance the place.

Ambiance? The interiors are quite fancy and classy, and the restaurant has a good mix of Indian and Firang crowd. 

Cost? We didn't really have to pay for our meal but yes it is heavy on the pocket and is not suitable for a casual dinner, but is a great option for any sort of celebration (birthday, anniversary, appraisal at work) If its the third option, kindly drop me a comment with your HR's email ID ;)

Service? The staff was well trained and friendly and so is their head chef, Nitin Raheja who made it a point to visit every single table at the restaurant, and it came as no surprise, to over-hear all those praises for him. 

Absolutely loved my experience at Indigo, looking forward to going back soon. I  would rate it a 4.5/5

  

P.S. Did I mention they also serve alcohol? Go NOW!    

Lazeez

You automatically know a restaurant is brilliant when all the top Zomato reviewers have the best things to say about it. Hence Lazeez was on my To-Do list for a very long time and I finally decided to take my parents out for dinner here.

I had spent almost an hour on the Lazeez Zomato page, going through its menu and reviews before I could actually head there.

On arriving, we were quite pleased with the fact that the restaurant offers Valet service, since parking could be an issue.

Now unfortunately my first impression about this place wasn't that great, reason being, I disliked the interiors, the sad part is that it was noticeable how they had spent money on the interiors but yet failed to create something neat. The colours used were a mismatch and the accessories used looked slightly cheap, especially the place-mat.  

But we went upstairs, got ourselves seated and went through its extensive menu (which I had already read) and decided to call for Gosht Seekh Kebab, Machli Tikka Lasooni, Murgh Kastoori Kebab, Murgh Bharwan Seekh for appetizers and Murgh Lahori and Roomali Roti for main course. 

You know how they say first impression is the last impression, Lazeez proves that wrong and how, even though I was slightly negative about the place initially, the food changed it for me. Lazeez is truly a foodie’s paradise and I undoubtedly thought it was the best Indian food I had ever tried in Abu Dhabi. It literally blew our minds.

The Gosht Seekh Kebab was wonderfully spicy and juicy; the mutton mince was blended smoothly with the coriander and mint. The Machli lasooni tikka was succulent, yummy and absolutely tender. The Murgh Kasturi Kebab was boneless chicken marinated in some spices and curd, it was grilled in such a way that it melted in our mouth just like the lasooni tikka. But what truly stole the show was the Murgh Bharwan Seekh, this was chicken seekh stuffed with creamy filling of mint, cheese and coriander. This was an out of this world dish that you simply can't miss out on.

Mutton Seekh Kebab, Murgh Kastoori, Lasooni Tikka Machi

Murgh Bharwan Seekh

Moving on to the main course, the Murgh Lahori was boneless chicken pieces cooked with spicy masala and garlic/ tomatoes and red chily. The gravy was thick and luckily not too oily (as served in most other places) the chicken was tender and this dish would taste good with any sort of Indian bread.

Murgh Lahori

Lastly since I had heard a lot about the firni here, I decided to give this a try and absolutely loved it.

Firni

 

There was absolutely nothing I could complain about with regard to the food. It was a perfect 10/10.

The service was good; the server taking our order was friendly and helpful.

Overall the place was quite a huge hit, I decided to ignore the fact that I disliked the interiors and thoroughly enjoyed the food and shall definitely come back and recommend you all to try it out.

I would rate Lazeez a 4.5/5

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It's the time for Shawarma

My colleague and I had just got done with our meeting on Najda and were discussing where to grab a quick bite from and that's when my colleague suggested Shawarma Time, a place he had heard about recently.

When I heard the name 'Shawarma Time' I thought it would be a normal Arabic restaurant and Shawarma would just be one of their many dishes,  but little did I know that the restaurant only was a Shawarma specialist and were limited to just Shawarmas. 

Their menu isn't too cluttered but at the same time they have quite a few variants of shawarmas listed, such as Shawarma Wok, Mexican Bites, Shawarma Pizza, Shawarma Saj etc. Unfortunately most items that were listed were not available.

I tried out their original ‘Chicken Shawarma’ and the ‘Mexican Bite’.

The original Chicken Shawarma was quite good, the pita bread was fresh and the chicken stuffing was done generously.  Unfortunately I don’t have a photo of the shawarma but I do have a photo of the  way it was packaged which was quite cute.

The Chicken Shawarma

But what stole the show was the Mexican Bite, which was Mexican cheese bun that was stuffed with chicken shawarma, this was a unique concept and the bun was fresh and the chicken was juicy, an absolute treat to my tummy.

Mexican Bite 

The ambiance and interiors of Shawarma Time is bright, they have an open kitchen concept and they have also managed to have a small kids section. The colour scheme of the interiors is very similar to Zaatar W Zeit.

Open Kitchen 

Kids area

Both these dishes were priced at 15 AED each which is quite expensive for a Shawarma honestly, since you could instead get a tastier Shawarma from Lebanese flower for about 6 AED. But yes I would definitely recommend you to try out the Mexican Bite.

I would rate this place a 3.5/5

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Hot Plate

Are you craving for some Indianized Chinese food? Hot Plate is where you should be then.

I've been hearing about their food from quite some time now and finally decided to give this small desi Chinese like restaurant located in Mina Mall (Abu Dhabi)

Honestly I was quite excited about my experience here because it reminded me of all those days I spent in small Chinese restaurants like Discovery, Fire Bowl etc. back in Mumbai.

Coming to the food, I had called for the Chili Potato, Prawn Crackers, Thread Chicken, Sweet Corn Chicken Soup, Schezwan Egg Fried Rice and Singapore Chicken from their extensive menu which also includes Indian food.

I thoroughly enjoyed the sweet corn chicken soup which really helped my sore throat feel relief. 

Sweet Corn Chicken Soup

Coming to the starters, the thread chicken was way too threaded for me, because I honestly found it hard to even find the chicken amidst the fried noodles. Thankfully the fried noodles tasted decent. But it was the chilly potato that I absolutely loved, this was perfectly prepared and though I initially laughed at my friend who called for this dish and argued with her to call for another non-veg starter instead,  it was definitely a treat to my taste-buds and much recommended.

Chili Potato 

Thread Chicken

Moving on to the main course, the schezwan egg fried rice was average; however there was no flaw in it as such that I can prominently point out. The Singapore chicken on the other hand was really good as the chicken was well spiced and tender.

Schezwan Egg Fried Rice 

Singapore Chicken

Also for me, prawn crackers almost invariably taste brilliant if it’s accompanied with the right sauce and thankfully Hot Plate serves great chilli sauce.

Prawn Crackers 

Location wise, this place is slightly odd as it’s located in Mina Mall and I believe not too many people visit the mall any more.

As far as the ambiance is concerned, it’s simple and not very clean. Which is definitely the major downfall of this place, they really need to make the

restaurant slightly more hygienic and clean.

Lastly the staff was friendly and was good with their service.

I would rate this restaurant a 3/5

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