Our Flavours: Indian

Wednesday, 2 April 2014

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

Monday, 31 March 2014

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.

Location Map