We have another sunny, hot day in Abu Dhabi – and getting hotter. Today I decided sitting inside was a better idea for lunch. Monday early afternoon, I attempted to sit outside at Café Special, next to Corniche road. Bad idea – it was just too bloody hot to enjoy being outside – and my mango smoothie was not cold. I’m back at Idioms Café, enjoying a watermelon shisha and a cold colada smoothie – strawberry, coconut and pineapple. My chicken sandwich with fries is tasty too.
Picture of me setting at Idioms earlier this month.
India Palace, Abu Dhabi
Last night we ordered dinner from India Palace. Many of our expatriate friends have recommended India Palace. Even though delivery is never as good as eating at the restaurant, it was just easier to have food delivered. Finding the phone number was easy, we have a large local phone book. But what to order? Google it of course. Okay, there are many positive reviews of India Palace online. The phone number listed in the phone book matched the online restaurant reviews for India Palace. Good. And the address for the restaurant agreed with where I was told it was too. Good. A menu of items to order was non-existent.
I’ve noticed that Websites for stores and restaurants in Abu Dhabi are almost non-existant. Back in the States, I’m accustomed to finding local restaurants advertising on the Web - many post their menu too. Well, you'll likely not find an online menu here ma'am, or sir. What I did find using google were a few, very few, personal recommendations of items ordered at the restaurant. Here they are:
“The Chicken Tikka, or delicious prawn or the traditional dal makhani”.
“…butter chicken will leave you with a smile on your face. The naan is most excellent”.
“..best dessert is rasmallay”.
“..tandoori boneless chicken with lashings of raita and plain naan bread. I make my own little naan bread wraps. My kids love the butter chicken masala, also with the naan bread. My wife is a dhal makani fan too and it’s great there.”
My before dinner research yielded some good recommendations. Taking charge of ordering dinner, I decided on a coconut prawn curry for my wife (can you go wrong with coconut curry?), then the butter chicken masala for my son and the tandoori boneless chicken for myself, oh, and don't forget the buttered naan and some cardamom rice.
According to the receipt we were given, what we actually ordered was:
3 Nan Makhani 18 dirhams
1 Murg Tikka Shole 30 dirhams
1 Prawn Moilee 55 dirhams
1 Murg Makhanwala 30 dirhams
1 Kesari Pulao 18 dirhams
Total: 151 dirhams
(not a bad price for delivery, but not as reasonable as what we typically order from the Lebanese restaurants – a feast for 100 dirhams - but certainly not as spendy as the Indian restaurant in Khalidiyah Mall).
The food was excellent, we ate everything. We ate everything, except for some of the condiments. I do not know the name of some of the condiments we received. There was a white sauce we did not care for, and a typical green sauce which is spicy, and tastes of pureed parsley and there was a small container of something red. I was the only one brave enough to sample the red condiment – wow! That red stuff was intense, hot, vinegar, with a lot of cumin, coriander, chili and something pickled. It took me a couple of minutes to adjust to that stuff. I think I liked it.
India Palace, Al Salam Street, Abu Dhabi, Phone: 02.644.8777
note: The Indian restaurant in Khalidiyah Mall is an excellent choice too. The food is very spicy, exotic, and authentic. The selection of chilled fruit drinks alone will keep you coming back (love the Delhi Devil). I’ll try to post a review of them at a later date.
Cheers.
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