Restaurant Review: Mohalla

When there’s something delectable and aromatic cooking in the neighbourhood kitchen, there are chances that you know about it, especially if it involves desi spices. That pretty much describes a home-delivered experience by Mohalla. For, on a weekend evening, not just our home but even our neighbour’s home got doused in the warm, soothing aromas of a multitude of spices. Befittingly, the word Mohalla, when translated to Hindi, means the neighbourhood.

Tempted by the chefs from this Indian food restaurant at Dubai Design District to sample their Classic Mutton Biryani, we signed up for a meal to remember and vouch for the emotion that they indeed serve one of the best biryanis in the town. The debate on the latter is an old one, just as there are as many ways to prepare a biryani, there are as many contenders in the city claiming the title. The tender-juicy pieces of marinated mutton draped in authentic spices and malt vinegar would remind you of the comfort of homemade food, which prides on generation-old recipe. The rice to meat ratio was perfect, unlike in most cases where diners are left with meatless rice floating on the plate. The accompanying yakhni sauce was rich and oozing with flavour. If you ever wondered how broth can transform into a curry, this would be it. The biryani, garnished with nuts, was indeed the showstopper. They also serve the No-Meat Biryani, prepared with jackfruit, besides the regular chicken and prawn biryani, and for true-blue lovers, there is the Mutton Raan Biryani.

Moving on from the showstopper, the first runner-up of the evening was the Mango Cake. It would be a tad unfair to call this dessert a cake, for it actually was fresh mango cut julienne and draped in the goodness of cream (amongst other things) with crumbled cake adding the right crunch to a dessert. If I were to rename it, I’d say it was a close blend between a Tres Leches, Panettone and Cheesecake.

purva@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai