Saj & Co.

Saj is one of the two famous traditional Arabic breads and these guys specialize in that. They don't have too many other dishes so that they can focus on what they do best. 

I, along with a few bloggers was invited to this place for tasting. It was a bit difficult to find, and it is a small place too; but since their primary focus is on deliveries and take-away, hence these factors don't matter much.

We started with some salads, appetizers, and juices. I ordered a pomegranate juice to quench my thirst. It was good, but it took such a long time to be
 served that I had to order some water before that. 

For the appetizers, we had crispy Halloumi sticks and crispy chicken sticks. The crispy Halloumi sticks is an unique item, but not something all that great. The crispy chicken sticks were good though, and tasted better with the sauces served with it. I especially liked the honey mustard sauce. 

They have fries too; and then also fries with paprika. This looked like something different and so we ordered it. They are similar to the peri-peri fries that you must have had at a famous international fast food chain, but not as spicy. The fries are good, but nothing different.

As for the salads, there was tabbouleh and the rocca. I'm a fan of the tabbouleh salad in general and this one tasted really good. It tasted fresh and that was the best part. The quantity was good too. The rocca salad on the other hand was okay. It wasn't something I liked. 

Then there was a falafel platter and a hummus. A falafel can't really get too bad, but this was something I didn't like at all. It tasted too dry and the taste too wasn't to my liking. The sauces made it taste a little better, but still not that good. The hummus tasted really good, but it was a bit dry. 

Now came the various Saj wraps. First ones being the ones with cheese. There was a mix cheese saj and an akawi cheese one. The mix cheese Saj was heavenly. If you like cheese and bread, you must definitely try this one. It was cheesy, but not over cheesy. It had the right amount of cheese to it, and it was served hot, which was also one factor why I loved it so much. The akawi cheese one was great too, but not as much as the mix cheese one. 

Then came the pesto chicken which is listed among their specialities. I had high hopes from this, but sadly it was just about okay. I couldn't taste the pesto much. 

Then there was the falafel saj, which again tasted like the falafel. It was a bit dry and not quite to my liking.

The crispy chicken Saj - one of their top selling they said. One bite and it tasted delicious. The sauces were right, the chicken was right, and everything seemed perfect. Another bite, and the sauces felt a bit less; they weren't well spread out I guess, but overall this was certainly one of the best wraps. 

One of the things which most people in UAE love is the chicken shawarma. I thought why not order one of these and see how well they can make it. Firstly, they don't have the shawarma machine (which I came to know later), so the texture wasn't comparable to the regular shawarma that you'd get elsewhere. Secondly, the pieces of chicken inside were huge and it didn't feel quite right. The taste was just about okay. 

Now moving on to the desserts, which are basically sweet versions of the Saj. 
We had a nutella banana Saj. This one was quite good. It was hot and the Nutella tasted good. 

We also had the milk chocolate one which was just about okay. Though there was ample amount of milk chocolate, I could taste more of the bread, and it felt a bit dry. Also, it didn't quite feel like I was having a dessert. 

I think the concept is really interesting and the people behind it are passionate, but they've got a long way to go and definitely scope for improvement.