Makan Mandi @ Al-Marhabani

i'm a mandi freak, and i have been refusing theraphy because i'm enjoying my mania. i think when that day comes when i have to leave dubai for good, mandi chicken would be at the very top of my list of 'things i would miss about dubai'. in fact, it's probably the only thing in that list!

my favorite nasi mandi restaurant is of course al-tawasol - but recently, for a weekend berbuka, mr. khairul took me to a new place, al-marhabani. it is situated at the very border between dubai and sharjah.

the 'tents' at the family area

it's a huge place, taking up two shops. one shop is with tables and chairs on one half of the space, and an open, carpeted area for the men on the other half. the next shop has a couple of seats, but the family 'tents' took up most of the space.

it's certainly a 'classier' place than my favorite humble al-tawasol - with plaster ceiling and 'posh' chandelier hanging from it.

the tents has the usual red stripey cloth similar to the ones in al-tawasol. i didn't see the inside of the tent as it's all fully booked for berbuka (much to my disappointment) - so we took a seat.


a huge mirror was our wall, with designs of famous landmarks in dubai which includes the sail-shaped burj al-arab.


khaleef, as most night-outings - was asleep in the car, on the way here. that's what you get if you don't nap in the afternoons!


as you might know already, nasi mandi comes with a plate of vegetables or salad, and a small bowl of chilli.

in al-tawasol, what i like about its plate of salad is the cucumber but there's none here! also at al-tawasol, there are capsicum and daun-daun ulam ape ntah on the small salad plate. here in al-marhabani, the salad plate is a big one, and comes with lettuce, fat-sliced tomatoes and carrots.

hmm. i love carrots but i don't eat 'em raw. tomatoes are yummy but not so much with mandi. so i guess i'm still a rabbit as i went for the lettuce with a munch crunch a bunch!


and now we come to the main star of the show - my favorite mandi chicken!

my verdict : the rice is as juicy and 'oily', but the chicken was a boo boo. it's not as easily shreded as in al-tawasol, and you can see it's overcooked in some parts of the chicken - jadik keras sikit.

overall, it's as delicious as the one in al-tawasol except for the texture of the chicken. so if you want a yummy mandi dish in a place a little bit classier, try al-marhabani in dubai-sharjah border!

(abah cepat datang balik dubai! nanti kitorang bawak makan kat sini pulak! :)


just to share - we sat next to a couple of girls (obviously org sini) eating a plate of mandi chicken each. EACH. now a plate of mandi rice has HALF a chicken - not quarter ok, half - and these two girls had one plate each. now by the time these girls finish eating, i realized both of them left practically more than half a portion of rice and chicken on their plate.

when they went to pay, i thought the waiter was going to bungkus the nasi mandi for them but nope. sigh. i was broken hearted!

it's ramadhan. and minah-minah @rab ni membazir dua pinggan yang boleh bagi makan (paling kurang) 6 orang budak anak-anak yatim atau fakir miskin! kenapa tak share je? kalo share confirm diorang bole habiskan sepinggan. memang sangat sedih tengok betapa sambil lewa dan penuh angkuhnya diorang meninggalkan meja dan pinggan yang penuh makanan. dah la makanan fav aku!

i wonder what will happen to the food yang masih elok benar tu? aku pun kadang-kadang tak habis makan, tapi most definitely akan tapau bawak balik. esok panaskan. ayam kalau tak habis bole guna lagi untuk nasi goreng. selalu memang macam tu.

diorang ni tak tau ke ramadhan ni juga mengajar kita beringat-ingat orang yang takde makanan?