we have many favorite mandi restaurants – tawasol, maraheb, bait al-mandi; but once a while we decided to try new mandi-rice places, and that’s how we ended up eating mandi rice at ‘dar al-mandi & madhbi at al-barsha. (that’s a lot of ‘mandi’ in one sentence! yah, I’m an addict!)
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we decided to try out mandi restaurant closer to home, so we tried 'dar al-mandi & madhbi' at al-barsha, situated behind mall of emirates, near armada hotel.
the most minimalist mandi restaurant that I’ve been to – judging from the number of seats and small space for the majlees (place to sit down cross-legged).
this is our view from the majlees. there’s a curtain separating us from the seating area. just a small space. funny fact : the restaurant owner/staff changed the channel of the TV to korean drama series all of a sudden. diorang ingat kitorang korean ke hape? haha.
the majlees in ‘dar al-mandi & madhbi’ is the smallest majlees I’ve seen in any mandi restaurant, which usually has more than one majlees. it could probably fit less than a few adult. they even use parts of the majlees to store can drinks. nevertheless, we were the only ones using the majlees, so it was reasonably comfy.
the menu has the usual fare of a mandi restaurant – chicken or meat mandi, madhbi rice and such.
ok, I don’t know whether we came on a particular day where the cook forgot to put salt in the soup, or this ‘dar al-mandi & madhbi' restaurant is particularly health-conscious – but the soup is very bland. it’s got the taste and spices but BLAND. so no fret, we just add in some salt, and voila – an acceptably tasty soup after all.
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the texture of the mandi rice is soft, but what struck me most is the usage of too much cardamon (if I’m not mistaken) which I don’t really like. me no likey but mr. khairul loves the extra spice!
now the grilled CHICKEN that comes with the mandi rice is seriously one of the best grilled chicken I’ve ever tasted! fresh and hot. deliciously juicy, tender meat, well-marinated – completely mouth-watering! I may not prefer the mandi rice itself, but I could come again to dar al-mandi & madhbi JUST to have this grilled chicken!
the meat was quite disappointing mandi-meat fan mr. khairul. for the first time, we ate meat mandi that’s a bit tasteless. the texture is good enough – the meat ‘melted’ from the bones, but it needs a sprinkle of salt to make it tasty. healthy cooking kot, kurangkan garam dalam masakan!
where’s my favorite jerjer leaf?
healthy cooking or not, apparently there’s lack of salt in the soup and meat. nevertheless, I would give a thumbs up to the grilled chicken! now if only I could take the mandi rice from ‘bait al-mandi’, and eat it with the grilled chicken from ‘dar al-mandi & madhbi’? perfect.
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