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