Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you who you are. – Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin
Mint leaf of London, situated in the Dubai International Financial Centre is such an exquisite place to dine at. Perfect for business meetings and gatherings. What a (some what) gastronomic experience it truly was!
The parking was quite easily available but though we had to walk a little distance. That hardly matters when you’re in the world trade centre vicinity and tall and intriguing buildings surround you.
Walking into Mint Leaf, we were grateful for the fact we had made earlier reservations.. The place was packed! Chittering and Clattering filled the room, while the person waiting on us greeted us with a huge smile and walked us to our table. At first glance, the low lighting situation in this restaurant was a bit over whelming. The view though, it captured my attention and for the next thirty minutes I was just looking around.
We were then given our drinks and main menu cards along with some fried papads and three varieties of sauce and chutneys (mango chutney, tamarind/ imlee chutney and hot chilli sauce.) We finished it. Yes. Guilty. We were famished!
We had to rush someplace so we skipped our appetizers and leaped right into the main course.
WHAT WE HAD:
RALLY MILLI SUBZI [68dhs] – This was a mix of vegetables in the usual korma style. This dish was delicious. It had just the right amount of spices and was very creamy to begin with. Although, if you’re not a fan of a little of sweetness in your savoury food, I’m safely guessing you would not quite like this. It had an after taste of sweetness, something that I like in my savoury items especially if its in korma or kofta curries. The veggies in the dish was cooked perfectly, and tasted fresh and crunchy, not stale and over/under cooked.
Next from the vegetarian front, we had, HARIYAALI TIKKI KOFTA [75dhs] – This was possibly the best thing I had tasted all day.The kofta curry was a blend of spinach (palak) and fenugreek (methi) – though it says only fenugreek sauce. Me, personally, I am not a fan of fenugreek at all, it’s bitter and all kinds of nasty! But this curry was simply delectable. So creamy and cooked to perfection. The Tikki cutlets in the curries were mouth-watering. The were made with spinach, paneer (cottage cheese) and a bit of potatoes. I really did not want to share those cutlets but I guess I am a nice person.
Following, we had the crowd pleaser, DAL (lentil) MAKHNI [50dhs] – Every time we go get ourselves some badass Indian Cuisine, I always insist of having Dal Makhni – creamy black lentil . For me, Indian food is not complete without some thick, cooked for hours, creamy black daal. So I know what perfection tastes like. And it surely did not taste like it here. I understand Mint leaf focuses on commercialization than the true authentic Indian cuisine. But I did not quite like their daal makhni and I honestly could not put a finger on where they went wrong. It smelled divine and visually was appealing too. There was something about the initial spices in the black daal that was just not adding up.
For the non-vegetarian part of the food, we had MURG TIKKA LAZAAZ [105dhs] – This was a classic chicken tikka curry – roasted sweet pepper cream. With a twist, it was not so classic. I love chicken tikka, but this was just not working out for me. Talking about the curry, it was a tad bit too salty. And the curry tasted as though it was made out of pure tomato puree. I was not a big fan. The chicken pieces however tasted delicious. They were tender and juicy and the spices had gone in completely. We were unable to finish the dish and mind you – the dishes were petite in size.
We then ordered for two of the MIXED TRADITIONAL BREAD PLATTER [8 pieces, 60dhs] – The breads were hot and fresh. But again, I was so disappointed! So basically the mixed platter came with the following breads;
Naan.
Chilli Naan.
Yes, that’s it. I was so upset. I expected much more.
Also, STEAMED BASMATI RICE [20dhs]
To end the night, we ordered something I was looking forward since forever now, GULAB JAMUN CHEESECAKE [48dhs] – The presentation was prepossessing! The chef came and placed the well – known dessert in front of us and our eyes glistened. The dessert comprised of a few strawberry pieces, mint leaf, one raspberry chopped mango, some crumbled graham biscuits, rasmalai/rasgulla cut in two, a beautiful piece of gulab jamun cheesecake and stencil of mint made with icing sugar.
The rasmali was so tooth-some.. I can’t even. Soft, spongy and juicy! the Cheesecake was so delectable. Before coming to Mint Leaf, I was kind of put off by the fact that how can one eat gulab jamun cheesecake, that is just wrong. But it wasn’t. It was creamy, filling and scrummy – nummy.
I think I need to put it out there that the prices were outrageous for the microscopic food we devoured. Delicious to a limit none the less.
Ambience: ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
Service: ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
Pricing: ♦ ♦
Eating Experience: ♦ ♦ ♦
Over All: ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
eatwithaditi 