Indian restaurants in United Arab Emirates
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A
Vegetarian's Restaurant
They take their vegetarianism seriously here; the extensive menu offers everything from delicious dosas to tandooris and fragrant curries.
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B
India Palace
You'll feel as if you're in Rajasthan rather than Abu Dhabi when you eat at this expat favourite with its regal Raj interior and fine North Indian cuisine, including lots of vegetarian options and delicious tandoori dishes.
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C
Mumtaz Mahal
One of our favourite North Indian eateries, the tandoor specialities, excellent service and in-house Indian band and dancers make for a fun night out. While any of the smoky-flavoured specials that come out of the clay oven are excellent, we especially love the lamb dharba masala.
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D
Khazana
The steady stream of regulars seems to prove that Khazana is one of the best Indian restaurants in town. Curries are like poetry, thanks to personally calibrated spicing by chef Sanjeer Kapoor. Ample bamboo and rattan create a relaxed feel-good ambience, helped along by the friendly servers.
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E
Kwality
The food is dependable and the service swift at this long-standing Indian restaurant (though the walls need a good scrubbing; sit upstairs). It’s hard to go wrong with hearty portions of favourites like chicken makhani (butter chicken) or rogan josh (lamb curry). Good vegetarian options and tandoori too.
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Antique Bazaar
As the name suggests, this deservedly popular Indian eatery resembles a wildly coloured antique bazaar, with dynamic Indian cooking to match. The preparations are classics, and they’re deftly prepared. What really makes this place special is the combination of the food, raucous house band and Indian dancer. Note: bring earplugs if you’re sensitive to noise.
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Ashiana
This oldie but goodie is still one of the city’s top Indian restaurants. Presentations of the northern Indian fare are brilliant: dum biryani is cooked in a pot sealed with bread, elegantly perfuming the meat. Sophisticated, complex curries justify the prices, as do the solicitous service, atmospheric dining room and live sitar music. Plan to linger long. Good vegetarian food, too.
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Indego
Michelin-starred Vineet Bhatia is the consulting chef at this gracious Indian restaurant with a spacious and open dining room, lorded over by big brass Natraj sculptures. Recommended dishes include the house-smoked tandoori salmon, prawns poached in coconut and chilli masala, and the chocolate samosas. Note: unlike most Indian cooking, plates here are delicately composed and not designed for sharing.
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Chutneys
The hotel lobby setting does not impress and neither does the decor, but the food, oh the food, is well worth the trip to Chutneys. It’ll be a first-class culinary journey at economy prices to northern India, home of Hafeez and Hasib Qureshi, whose family traces its gastro lineage to the kitchens of the Moghul emperors. Tuck into toothsome kebabs and fluffy biryanis as Ghazal singers croon smoothly in the background.
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Iz
The modernist-feeling wood-and-stone dining room glows by candlelight at this tapas-style contemporary Indian eatery. The tandoori-oven specialities are perfectly executed (fantastic skewered roasted prawns), as are classics like murgha tikka, aka butter chicken in a creamy tomato sauce, perfect for sopping up with the fresh-from-the-oven bread. Sit at the open kitchen’s counter and watch the chefs’ theatrics. One drawback: all those little plates add up fast – plan for Dh300 a head.
reviewed
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K
Options
Beaded glass curtains, tufted red-vinyl walls, and glittering crystal chandeliers set a Subcontinent-fancy mood at Indian celeb-chef Sanjeer Kapoors’ Options. Though noteworthy for consistency, the kitchen’s real excellence lies in the chef’s exquisite spicing. Standouts include tandoori-grilled citrus-marinated prawns with green cardamom, cream and cashew paste; chicken tikka with saffron gravy and rose petals; and vegetarian slow-cooked black lentils with pomegranate, finished with housemade butter.
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Nina
Follow the locals to this lush den whose floor-to-ceiling purple fabric, red-orange light and beaded curtains set a seductive backdrop for the dynamic cooking on offer. The chef combines Indian with a touch of Thai and tempers it with European techniques. The results will perk up even the most passive proboscis: rich spicing means flavours develop slowly on the palate with an elegant complexity that demands savouring. Choose the chef’s selection of starters and curries for a sense of his broad repertoire. Reservations essential.
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M
Gazebo
You’ll forgive the unexciting interior when you taste the brilliant North Indian cooking. Standouts on the huge menu include a great tawa lobster masala, with succulent chunks of lobster, black pepper, tomato and rich masala sauce; Banjara Gosht, mutton in masala gravy, rose petals, cashew nuts and tomato; and Gosht Achari, mutton in coriander, tomato and pomegranate. Good value. Note: vegetarians should hop next door to Kamat, its sister restaurant.
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Bombay
It’s worth a detour deep into Deira for Bombay’s orthodox North Indian cooking. Come hungry and start with the kebab sampler (mutton, chicken, fish) then move on to mint-marinated fish cooked tandoori style, or a cardamom-rich saag gosht (lamb and spinach). There’s lots for vegetarians. The French-style service by tuxedo-clad waiters is a surprise at this price, but we’re not arguing. We’re just happy they serve beer.
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O
Asha’s
Namesake of Bollywood singer Asha Bhosle, Asha’s packs a see-and-be-seen crowd of rich Indian expats into its sexy, low-light, tandoori-orange dining room, with ethnic-fusion dance music playing in the background. The menu focuses on contemporary northwest Indian fare, which translates into such palate-teasers as spicy-ginger-garlic marinated prawns and muscat gosht (tomato-and-butter-braised spicy lamb) – both Asha’s personal recipes. It’s a fabulous place to party; if the tots are tagging along, they’ve even got their own play area.
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