FAMISHED EXPLORER

Ashiana is an Indian restaurant located in Sheraton beside Dubai Creek. Recently it has got a new head chef - Joseph Yohanna - and has started its Indo-Arab menu; and we were among the first ones invited to try it out.  This was my first time visiting this outlet, and as soon as I entered, the ambiance felt classy. They've got live Indian music too (bollywood, and ghazals), so if you're a fan, you'll love it, otherwise it might be a bit too loud.  We started off with some pani-puri fruit juice shots . In this, instead of the regular pani, there was a mango-based fruit juice. The taste wasn't bad by itself, but if you're in the mood for pani-puri, then this doesn't quite hit the spot.  After this, all the items were Indian, with an Arabic twist to it.  We had a soup which was called dejaj (chicken) shorba . In a bowl were small pieces of chicken, and a bread-stick tempered with cumin, over which we poured the broth that was served separately...

The Yellow Chilli is a restaurant by the renowned chef Sanjeev Kapoor, and the dishes here are his signature ones, so they have a bit of a twist to them, and are a little different than the ones you'll have in most Indian restaurants.  I was invited to this restaurant nestled in JLT, to try out their lovely food.  We ordered some soups to start with, and as we waited, they got us some papads to munch on.  I ordered for the prawn pepper rasam . This was something I had for the first time and I really loved it since it tasted just as the name suggested. There was rasam, with pepper (which was a lot), and there was prawn. Since we were sitting outside, and the weather was cold, it complemented it very well. Also, since I love spicy food I enjoyed it, but I'm pretty sure it would be too spicy for most people.  My friend ordered the vegetarian makai shorba . This is as soup containing corn. It was totally different from the sweet corn soups, or most of the c...

Omnia Bharat is a concept by Chef Silvena Rowe and is one of the Omnia series of Restaurants. This one serves Indian food and is aptly named "Bharat". It is located beside VOX Cinemas in the Mall of the Emirates, and I was invited for a tasting session here.  The restaurant has a brown and pink theme and the staff is mostly dressed in shades of pink, which is catchy and different compared to most other places. The interiors are nice and have a wall with an Indian caricature.  The inside (covered) section wasn't operational on this particular day so we had to sit outside which is a little bit noisy since there are a lot of passers-by.  The staff is courteous and very welcoming.  We started with some Indian street-food items. One of them was the all time favorite - the Pani Puri . It was extremely well presented, with smoke coming out from the center. The sweet and spicy water was served in a small tumbler, with pipettes alongside to add it to your ...

This place was previously called the "house of curry", and now it has got a complete makeover. We were at JBR walk, and looking for an Indian restaurant. There aren't many choices so we ended up going here.  The ambiance inside is really nice. They've got a mini fountain inside, and some trees too, and especially the Indian Monalisa that caught my attention. The starters were really interesting. They were a fusion of sorts. After seeing " calamari bhel " in the menu, obviously I couldn't resist ordering. This one was really yum. The chutneys aren't as much as you'd expect in a bhel, and it is a bit dry, but taste is good nonetheless. Now I love paneer, and I'm a big fan of zaatar. Guess what I see on the menu next. The zaatar paneer tikka ! This one wasn't all that bad. The flavor of zaatar wasn't so prominent, and overall felt a bit bland, though the paneer was soft. I was expecting more from it. It is served with a tahi...