My 1st Camel Mandi @ Emirates Resthouse Restaurants & Kitchen, Abu Dhabi

as a self-professed mandi-freak who has been staying in an arab country for over 5 years, I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve NEVER eaten camel mandi – until last week. such shame, considering the fact that hoards of camels can be seen casually crossing highways in this country. hihi.

I’ve had camel satay and camel burger before, but camel mandi – this was my first!

 

 

yes, I’m a camel-mandi virgin who has found delicious glory at ‘emirates resthouse restaurants & kitchen’ in abu dhabi. haha. camel mandi at last!

thanks to our abu dhabi buddy helmey, who was more than happy to show us the way to one of the best (if not THE ONLY) camel mandi around town.

 

abu dhabians helmey & wifey mimi – thanks for showing us the way to camel mandi! yum! ‘emirates resthouse restaurants & kitchen’ is in the al-mussaffah area, abu dhabi, opposite carrefour. it’s quite a maze once you’re around the shoplot area, so good luck in spotting the green signage!

 

so nice and authentic to see an actual arab in arab kandoora manning the counter at a restaurant. selalunya it’s arab in normal clothings or indians! kurang la feel makan kat restoran arab kan!

 

the restaurant is very simple and small with minimal décor of just pictures of UAE leaders on the wall. well, no matter – the most important is it’s clean!

 

one look, and this place looks like a place to take ablution in a mosque – when actually this is the sections in the restaurant if you choose to sit down cross-legged to enjoy your meal. space is quite constraint, but there’s always the table-and-chair option.

 

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first, let’s talk about the mandi rice itself – soft beads of carbo delight that’s so soft and delicious. no extra taste of overpowering herbs that I don’t like. in short, I absolutely LOVE the rice. this one comes with the chicken – tasty, tender, tantalizing – as good plate of chicken mandi.

 

its lamb mandi is equally delicious – the lamb has a nice texture, and deliciously marinated. however, as good as this plate of lamb mandi is, it’s unfortunately beaten by the star meat of the day – the CAMEL mandi!

 

ladies and gents, THIS is the plate of camel mugalgal (‘mugalgal’ means ‘fried meat’ if I’m not mistaken) served with a plate of mandi rice.

 

I’ve eaten camel satay and camel burger – none came close to the taste and texture of the CAMEL meat that I had at ‘emirates resthouse restaurants & kitchen’ here in al-mussaffah. DELICIOUS. in fact, it tasted like a very tasty medium-well steak you would normally eat.

put a side dish of mint sauce, mashed potatoes and steamed veggies – you’ll get one posh western dish, I’m sure!

the camel meat has a nice texture that’s easy on the teeth – soft and tender. not too hard nor rubbery. just nice. and I just LOVE the taste. only khaleef tried the camel, and though he’s not too excited about it like us, he said its’ not too bad (for a picky eater, that’s a GOOD comment! haha)

eat it on its own, or eat it with the mandi rice – it’s all good. highly recommended to all you adventurous foodies out there!

 

as usual; a mandi rice dish is incomplete without the chili-tomatoes condiment, hot meat broth, and a plate of fresh veggies. my favorite accompanying veggies is the rocket leaves or jerjer leaves, but this one is just cut up lettuce and cucumber. jadi lah!

 

overall, I absolutely enjoyed my first experience eating CAMEL mandi, I would recommend it to all you curious eaters – especially here at ‘emirates resthouse restaurants & kitchen’ because the other dishes here are also quite satisfying.

 

again, thanks helmey and mimi for joining us for our first camel mandi experience, and to helmey for showing the way. confirm datang lagi!

 

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after much googling, I found out that you can get camel mugalgal at mandilicious. will check it out soon. and if you wanna try camel burger, you can head on to ‘turath al-mandi’, or ‘best burger’ in dubai marina, (exactly across the marina behind dora bay). you can also get all sorts of camel burger, camel shawarma or camel kebab in zaina restaurant in al-barsha.

happy hunting, camel-eaters!