Kamat Restaurant, Abu Shagara, Sharjah

Coffee

First thing first, it is very hard to find an unoccupied parking space near the restaurant on holidays, even though there are spaces for a million cars to park around it. Be prepared to patiently wait to get one of those sweet little spot for the car to rest in. Kamat restaurant in Abu Shagara is located on the King Faisal Street and it is one of the nicest vegetarian places to be in, in that area. The ambiance is very inviting and pleasing. The first thing you notice about this restaurant is the number of staff in it. Even though they are trying hard to do their job, they just can't serve all the tables properly when the restaurant has a good number of tables occupied. This restaurant is understaffed. These cost cutting measures kill the dining experience. When you consider the pricing, which is relatively expensive, its hard to agree with their eye for miserable saving.

Paneer Tikka

We found some one to take food orders after a bit of a struggle. The starter was Paneer Tikka. Paneer Tikka is an all time Indian veggie favorite, it is cottage cheese prepared in Tandoor. Tandoor is a cylindrical clay oven used in cooking and baking. It is one of the healthiest and tastiest ways of preparing protein. The Paneer Tikka in Kamat was a surprise; it was presented rather well when compared to other dishes in there. Tasted good too. Certainly not worth a special trip to the place to have it; but worth ordering as a starter if you are already in there. We had coffee with the starter. That's a bit weird habit but it's a tradition of our group to order coffee first in vegetarian Indian restaurants. The smell and richness of the coffee prepare us for the feast. Their coffee was good. We were pleased with that cup.

Poori

Meal Set

Roti

Pickle

The meal is a standard set of veggies, curries, crackers, breads, rice and sweets. The baked potato dish, potato curry and white chickpea curry went all right with the breads. Poori was hot, fresh and crispy yet soft. Roti was hot and soft. Breads were plentiful. Pickle and sliced onions are the traditional frind of Roti and its no different here. When we asked for a sliced onion, the steward went to the kitchen and came back with a full onion that is sliced nicely. Thats was a nice gesture; it would have been much better if presented better in a small pot. Obviously, there were understaffed and hence no time to waste on getting small details right. Great combination. Green veg, Rasam, Curd, Sambar and Dal Fry were to accompany rice. Steamed long grain white rice was cooked to perfection. Dal fry had water on top of it. We assume that it was poured in to the plate too early. Any way, it tasted just fine. Rasam was a disaster. Sambar was sweet in true Kannadiga style. Not very good though. Curd was creamy and fresh. Green veg was not nice to taste. Could be a healthy dish by the look of it. To sum up, the breads were nice, rice was good and the curries were not very good.

Kesarkali, Malai Sandwich and Chumchum

Rasmalai

The sweet that was a part of the meal was carrot halwa. It was dry and had hard bits of ghee in it. We heard a lot about the Kamat sweets and decided to have their signature sweets. Malai Sandwich and Chumchum were nice. Rasmalai came with the sweet milky drink. Rasmalai was good but was the weaker one. Kesarkali was the best of them all. Melt in the mouth, brilliant and exquisite little gem. We highly recommend you to have that one. Over all, Kamat has very inviting tables, helpful waiting staff, acceptable food and very nice sweets. Prices are on the expensive side for a restaurant in its class. That aspect makes it a bit unaffordable for those who are on a budget. Truth be told, there are much better places in which that money can be spent more wisely. Despite that Kamat can be given a chance. Once atleast.

Rating Description

One Star: Avoid

Two Stars: If you are really hungry and thats the only restaurant nearby, you may dine in there.

Three Stars: A very good restaurant in it's category.

Four Stars: Excellent cooking; worth a detour.

Five Stars: Exceptional cuisine; worth a special trip.

Restaurant Contact Number: 065599044

Location Map

Shambath Cafeteria, Al Qusais

Cafeterias provide food for those who greatly help Dubai go forward. As some one said, the great food in any great city can be found on its naked streets. Dubai is no different. Yes there are some aristocratic places which provide heavenly dining experiences. There are some other decent places serving exquisite food. But for the sake of excitement of eating, we are more likely to be a eater on the streets. Shambath Cafeteria doesn't have magnificent food. But the whole Shambath experience is one of those a food lover can go through with a very pleasant smile on their face. There are about twenty parking spaces nearby but its very hard to get one to park in. All of them are always occupied. No matter, a car can be parked on the side of the road with out disturbing other road users. There is likely to be a crowd all the time surrounding the little cafeteria. You will have to shout to be heard by the serving staff. Thats all part of the cafeteria experience.

Their snack shelf will be full of inviting bits and pieces of food till late evening. Let us introduce you to the wonderful world of these snacks and the more wonderful world of names. Undampori, Pazham pori, Bonda, Samosa, Parippu vada, Mutta bajji, Ulli vada and Uzhunnu vada. Undampori is deep fried sweet dough ball. Pazham pori is ripe banana slice coated in special dough mix and deep fried. Bonda is baked potatoes mixed with chopped green chillies covered in dough mix and deep fried. Samosa can be made from meat and vegetables. Shambath has vegetable samosas. Veg mix (onion, green piece etc) covered in rolled dough and deep fried to make veggie-samosa. Parippu vada is a row grind mix of curry leaves, ginger, salt, onion, green chilly, fennel seeds, asafoetida and Split Bangal Gram, deep fried. Mutta bajji is Boiled egg coved in dough and deep fried. Ulli vada is a mix of gram flour, rice flour, onion, ginger, green chilly, curry leaves and salt, deep fried. Black peppercorns and a mix of black gram dal, rice flour, onion, green chillies, curry leaves, ginger and salt are deep fried to prepare uzhunnu vada. The funny thing about uzhunnu vada is that it has a hole in the middle. Like a doughnut. It is not just a funny hole, its is made that way so that the area exposed to hot oil while frying is greater. 

Everything is deep fried and none of them are very healthy. Come on, for one day, one time, lets all forget about being overly health conscious. All of them are one dirham each. All of them are of at least above average taste. On some occasions, you might even find a gem in that shelf. We found one on one of our visits last month, a lovely "Pazham pori". Crisp outside and well cooked sweet banana slice inside. On our most recent visit, we got a brilliant "Samosa". The cracking noise while we chew through it announced that it was delicious. Snacks go very well with tea and coffee. Both of those are prepared with condensed milk and priced one and two dirhams respectively. Coffee tastes slightly better than their tea. If you prefer tea, there is nothing hugely wrong with it; go on, have one. 

They have a couple of Indian breads and curries on the menu as well. Strictly speaking, they don't have a printed menu, one of their staff will help you with the names and prices. To help chew through those Indian breads, they have Chicken Chukka, Chicken Chilly, Beef Fry, Chicken Pepper Masala, Nadan Chicken Curry and Chicken Masala. Chicken Chukka is well cooked chicken in grated coconut and spices. Chicken chilly is deep fried chicken bits coated in spices. Beef fry is juicy beef bits coated in spices and deep fried. Chicken pepper masala is chicken cooked in a mix of veggies and spices. Nadan chicken fry is Kerala chicken curry, Shambath style. Chicken masala is another south indian chicken curry version. All these curries are 10 dirhams a pop and of not very bad taste. For that money, those curries and breads will happily fill ones belly. All we say is that if you are some where near by, take the extra step, be at the Cafeteria, grab a snack or two you fancy and a tea or coffee for a couple of dirhams. Or get a curry and a set of breads for less than 20 to feed two hungry souls. Happy eating.

Rating Description

One Star: Avoid

Two Stars: If you are really hungry and thats the only restaurant nearby, you may dine in there.

Three Stars: A very good restaurant in it's category.

Four Stars: Excellent cooking; worth a detour.

Five Stars: Exceptional cuisine; worth a special trip.

Restaurant Contact Number: 042613182

Location Map

Al Ain Way, Nad Al Sheba

We trust that you have heard of Porotta. It is a South Asian bread made of wheat flour (maida). Porotta Making is an art that requires precision, perfection and dough skills. We have met "Porotta Masters" who make the task look very effortless by wrestling with 50kg of dough to make about 800 Porottas a day. Handling the dough which is very sticky, is a tough task. The manual labour involved in it and the physical strength required are so demanding that only a very few men could  take up the job of Porotta making in a busy restaurant. These amazing men do not have to visit the gym to keep themselves fit, for sure.

Porotta is as much tasty as it is unhealthy. Food lovers know that but cannot say no to the humble, tasty Porotta. Porotta sandwich rolls are very popular in Dubai. These sandwiches are available in many choices of fillings right from chicken strips to sausages. we found a gem of a Porotta sandwich today from a very unexpected place. Al Ain Way Cafeteria. It is on the Dubai-Al Ain road, next to the petrol station on the opposite side of Dubai Polo club. Their food is not very good, particularly the tea. There are very few exceptions such as Roti and Dal but most of their dishes are very oily, of poor quality and bad taste. They do not have a very clean dining area, service is not satisfactory and finding a parking spot near it is a nightmare. 

Lets come back to the Sandwich. They have a lot of choices right from eggs to sausages as fillings. They even have two choices of chicken. A spicy one and a “normal" one. The normal one that costs 4 Dirhams each, is the star. The chicken pieces were a delight to chew through. The sauces were of slight sweetness and saltiness. The Porotta was very well made. And the price was very reasonable. We recommend to park the car nearby, wait for their serving staff to come to the car and order it from there. One sandwich is enough for an average person’s lunch. The good part is that it is wrapped in a very well manner that no bits an pieces will fall off from it to ruin the car interior while eating while you travel. Happy eating.

Note: The rating is on the basis that the order is placed from the car and the diner has never entered the dining area. This rating only considers their "Normal Chicken Porotta Sandwich". Almost all other dishes from them are of One Star rating.

 Rating Description

One Star: Avoid.

Two Stars: If you are really hungry and thats the only restaurant nearby, you may dine in there.

Three Stars: A very good restaurant in it's category.

Four Stars: Excellent cooking; worth a detour.

Five Stars: Exceptional cuisine; worth a special trip.


Restaurant Contact Number: 044409302
Location Map

Eat Well Restaurant, Ajman

One of our team members is a big fan of South Indian meals. A South Indian meals consists of rice, set of curries, crunchy pappadams/appalams, pickles, fish fry (Non-Veg ones obviously), specially prepared butter milk etc. These dishes together are traditionally served on banana leaves. South Indian Meals is originated in the Southern Part of India, a very useful piece of information, isn't it? Well, the southern part of India has 4 states, namely Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Andhra Pradesh was divided in to 2 separate states very recently. All these 4 states are as diverse as a man from Japan, an Italian Girl, a kid from a South Caralina school and an old Scottish person. Very different. Since all of them are human beings, they possess many common characteristics even when they are different from each other. Its the same with these states. Even when they are not the same as the other, the have a lot in common. A huge costal line for example. Each of them have hundreds of miles of it. As you have guessed, each state add heavenly seafood dishes to their Non-Vegitarian meals. Well, our point is that all these 4 states serve meals, they have common bits yet they are very different from each other. We have provided some photographs for reference. All these images are from the internet.

Andhra Meals

Kannada Meals

Kerala Meals

Tamil Meals

These meals are served by many in Duabi and they do add their own twists to them. Mostly they are priced anywhere from 8 to 15 Dirhams. Very few restaurants serve it on banana leaves and charge a couple of Dirham premium. Most restaurants serve unlimited amount of rice and curries. Non vegetarian restaurants add fish curries and fish fries to the set. Today we were in Ajman and we found a little restaurant in there. Eat Well. No you guessed wrong, thats the name of the restaurant. There were plenty of parking available, the location was not close to the residential areas though. The dining area was neat and tidy. It was almost empty and the remoteness of the location could be the reason. We have ordered for a Kerala meals, as it was a Kerala non vegetarian restaurant. 

They came back pretty quick with the meal. The set had Boiled rice, Sambar, Rasam, Fish Curry, Payasam, Fish Fry, Thoran, Lime Pickle and Pappadam. The rice was properly cooked. These dishes may not be familiar with those who never had South Indian dishes before. They are delicious but require great care while coking to be so. We were happy with the taste of all in the set. The fish fry and the fish curry had decent portions of good quality fish. That was a well prepared meals set.

We have ordered lime juices to finish off the lunch. The lime juice was delightful. It was fresh, had the wonderful taste of lime and chill enough. Sweetness is a bit more than required, though. Should be alright for people with sweet tooth. Prices were alright. Meals set was 10 and the Juice was 6 Dirhams. Most Dubai restaurants charge 10 or 12 Dirhams for similar meals set but with out the fish fry. Yes the restaurant is in Ajman and hence they should be cheaper. Point noted. But we believe that they have got the pricing part right. They even bothered to come to us and enquire about the taste and quality of the food. We love the fact that they care about the diners. It is not a fancy restaurant. They do not woo the diners with all the glitters and glamour. Just a small, honest place to have good, affordable food.

Rating Description

One Star: Avoid.

Two Stars: If you are really hungry and thats the only restaurant nearby, you may dine in there.

Three Stars: A very good restaurant in it's category.

Four Stars: Excellent cooking; worth a detour.

Five Stars: Exceptional cuisine; worth a special trip.

Restaurant Contact Number: 067417557

Location Map

Panoor Restaurant, Near National Paints, Sharjah

Despite the conspicuous name board, Panoor is a humble restaurant with average ambiance. Somehow the interior looked very old and shabby. Kerala snacks wrapped in thin film on those big trays invited us in. We were hungry. Hence decided to skip the snacks and go a bit heavier. A waiter with a rather long face came to our table and announced that they have Biriyani and Chappathi. That's alright, because at half four in the evening, no one expect them to serve the full menu. But we were not satisfied and asked him to look inside the kitchen for something a bit more interesting.

He went inside the kitchen and came back to report that they have Kappa (Tapioca prepared in termeric, chopped green chilly and crushed garlic pods), the ultimate Kerala heavy weight snack. Well, we had to go for a plate of Kappa, Mathi Mulakittathu (Sardine chilly curry) and of course, some Chappathy. Even we thought that Biriyani was a tall order as an evening bite. We had ordered for Milk Tea as well. The tea came first. It didn't feel like one prepared with fresh milk. That unmistakable taste of horror, condensed milk, betrayed it. We were not happy about it.

Our utter disappointment was short lived as the Kappa and Mathi Mulakittathu were very good. Kappa was a bit dry, but tasted very good. Cooked enough, spiced up just right and with the proper yellowish colour. Two medium sized sardines in that very good gravy was of right saltiness, satisfactorily tamarind flavoured and the spices in it were well balanced. The gravy was of the right thickness too. But one thing lacked. The WOW FACTOR. Both the dishes were short of that special feel which makes a dish great from being just good. 

The Chappathies were not very good. They were very large in size and unbelievably thin. Machine made for sure. And not made from Atta (wheat flour), we suspect. That's cheap, you see. We were running short of the fish curry gravy as we entered in to the advanced eating mode of 4 Chappathies and Kappa. We wanted some more gravy and they provided it with a special smile. That special smile was so special that it would cost us something in the end. Right. When all the dishes were finished, we decided to notice those snacks once again and ordered Pazham Pori (Ripe banana slices coated in thin layer of dough and deep fried). Pazham Pori was as disappointing as the tea. They didn't use ripe bananas. The banana slices were very thick and hard. 

The surprise was the bill. Just 24 Dirhams. 24 for two to fill their empty stomachs with Kappa, Fish, Chappathi, Tea and Pazham Pori. Not too bad. The bill was so surprising that we looked in to it once again. Kappa was 5, fish curry was 6, Chappathies and teas were 1 Dirham each and the banana fry was one dirham fifty each. Very reasonable. But the real surprise was the extra charge for the extra gravy. Come on, that's a ripoff, even after considering that special smile. We latter came to know from a restauranteur friend that those Chappathies were ready-made in a factory and available in the open market for as cheap as 35 fills each. Not so reasonable then. Panoor is an average restaurant with average ambiance, average service, average price and just about average tasting food. Average. 

Rating Description

One Star: Avoid.

Two Stars: If you are really hungry and thats the only restaurant nearby, you may dine in there.

Three Stars: A very good restaurant in it's category.

Four Stars: Excellent cooking; worth a detour.

Five Stars: Exceptional cuisine; worth a special trip.

Restaurant Contact Number: 065352754

Location Map

China Wok, Al Qusais

Finding proper Chinese food in Dubai is a bit of a task. That's the reason we thought it's worth a special trip, when we heard of China Wok and the Chinese food they serve. So we did visit them on a Friday evening. The location was behind Grand Hotel. There were some parking space and luckily one was available. As we entered the restaurant, a very bad smell surrounded us. The smell was so bad that it made us think seriously about having food in there. Since we were keen about tasting their food, we decided to ignore the smell painfully. The interior design resembled those in early James Bond movies in which the bond visits the Asian villain. It was very dark, full of dull yet red in colour and filled with random Chinese letters.

The restaurant had nearly 10 tables. As all of them were empty and no one was there to offer us a particular table, we choose to dine on a random one. Even though we enjoy the cold weather, we had to ask some one to switch off the arctic wether generating air conditioner. After another session of waiting, somebody approached us to take the food order. We ordered sweet corn chicken soup first. The piping hot soup came relatively fast. It's colour was curious. After a couple of minutes, we decided to not wonder about the strange dark colour of it anymore and started tasting it. There was the smell of the soup. It smelled of slightly rotten fish. Could be a special fish sauce they use. The taste was below average. The disappointing soup didn't let our desire for Chinese food down. 

We ordered for more. Special fried rice, Dragon Chicken and Devils Chicken were ordered. The China Wok Special Fried rice was mixed with chicken, prawns and bits of lamb. The prawns were so tiny that one need to look for those very hard to notice them. Good job that the prawns were not prominent, because the diner could save the shock of discovering the uncleaned ones. The other meat pieces were hard to find as well. The fried rice tasted very similar to an average fried rice one can find in any average Dubai restaurant. The only thing not average about it was the price. 25 dirhams. Almost double that of at similar restaurants. 

Dragon Chicken and Devils Chicken had very comparable tastes. The only difference was that Devils chicken had a gravy texture and dragons chicken was dry and had bits of cashew nuts in it. We have reasons to believe that both the dishes had chicken batter fried in the same method and then prepared using same ingredients apart from the amount of water and cashew nuts obviously. Both these dishes had the rotten fish like smell and the colour used in those can be used along with a couple of litres of white spirit to paint a medium sized building.  The taste was not too bad but both of them had a strange sweet taste.

The prices were not cheap. The Soup was 16, Fried Rice was 25, Devils Chicken was 26 and Dragon Chicken was 21 Dirhams. The ambience, food presentation, taste, cleanliness or the service standards didn’t really justify the prices. The service was particularly bad. No one smiles in there. No one has a pleasing face. No one comes to the diners with suggestions or willingness to help. The diner really need to work hard to get the notice of the serving staff even though almost all the tables were empty. This restaurant doesn't deserve a special trip. It doesn't even deserve a detour. We would rather avoid it. The very sad part is that we couldn't find proper Chinese food in Dubai this time. No matter, we will soldier on.

Note: Their washroom was of very bad standard that we had to not use our hands to eat so that we could avoid a trip to the washroom.

Rating Description

One Star: Avoid

Two Stars: If you are really hungry and thats the only restaurant nearby, you may dine in there.

Three Stars: A very good restaurant in it's category.

Four Stars: Excellent cooking; worth a detour.

Five Stars: Exceptional cuisine; worth a special trip.

Restaurant Contact Number: 042631590

Location Map