Mango Fish Curry @ Kayaloram in Karama

one thing about indian restaurants in dubai, most are rich in serving cuisines from all over india; north indian, and south indian, oh and wherever else! as a result, we get all this different kinds of briyani, all sorts of curry imaginable – indian cuisine is infinitely rich in flavours, texture and taste! amazing. and when we stumble upon kayaloram, we’re also spoilt for choice. what curry to eat with hot steamed rice?

kayaloram is near al-khazna center, karama. we were waiting for khaleef’s specs to be fixed nearby, grew hungry, and got into the first available indian restaurant. what a find. boasting ‘the real taste of kerala’, the food here is indeed delicious!

 

mango in curry? whaaaat or wowwww?

 

 

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the interior is simple, but very clean and spacious. the staff were helpful and courteous; smartly dressed complete with head cover like shower caps. i would say, kayaloram presented itself very well.

 

khaleef enjoying his paratha.

 

we tried the chicken corn soup, a very common soup available in any indian-chinese restaurants in dubai. this one is flavourful and freshly made. yummy!

 

 

malaysians call it ‘roti canai’ but here in dubai, the same fluffy bread with crispy flakey texture is called ‘paratha or parotha’. at kayaloram, the paratha is deliciously fluffy; as good as you can get at ‘green city’ or ‘metro falcon’ – both a favorite paratha haunt for malaysians in dubai. my boys are great fans of paratha, but only my eldest khaleef eats it with spicy curry. kahfi and kazim preferred dipping their paratha in sugar.

 

 

now comes the star of the show – the ‘king fish mango curry’ with all its smell, flavour and color! i was skeptical at first; being the less adventurous foodie of the two, but mr khairul immediately loved it. love at first sip of the curry! i mean, mango FRUIT, in a savoury curry? it’s absurd (at least to me!) just like putting nangka in our masak lemak cilli padi huhu. but try it i did. it’s not drastically different in taste compared to the curries that i’ve had before, but with the mango in the curry, it does give the curry an extra kick of zest. overall, delicious with hot steamed rice!

 

i wanted something other than fish, which is also NOT too spicy, so we got this crispy dry-fry chicken. absolutely tasty. crispy on the outside, juicy and tender on the inside. well-marinated.

 

 

   complimentary plate of veggies.

 

if you ever wanna try ‘the real taste of kerala’, head on to kayaloram in karama. i don’t know for sure whether it IS the REAL taste, but i can assure you that it is a great one. delicious! semua sedap!

Syigim’s Birthday : Aigner, Pizza & Cinnabon

this is going to be a very short posting, with some pictures. oh, no biggie. it was just my birthday, got an awesome birthday present from my cookiedough, and a birthday pizza to top it all. alhamdulillah!

 

with my birthday present. with love from my cookiedough.

 

mr. khairul couldn’t be there on my exact birthday as he was leaving for algeria. so the day before he left, we went the mall of emirates, and without warning he just walked into aigner. out of the blue he picked two items, and asked me to pick one that i like. it turned out that he had been scouting for a birthday present for me weeks ago and he already knew which one he wants to buy me. he narrowed it down to two, and ask me to choose. best sangat. it was an absolute surprise. thanks honey. i love it, and i love you!

 

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bapak is out of town, but we’re still gonna celebrate! bought cinnabons – which ironically, i did not like haha. but my boys love it so much so i know i’ll be happy when they’re super happy to eat cinnabon. so jadilah cinnabon treat on my birthday!

 

 

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my birthday pizza. JUST cheese. again, just the way my boys like it. ni birthday mak ke birthday korang ni. huhu.

 

may Allah grant me many more years to see my boys grow up and achieve their dreams. more years to see them find the woman with whom they will spend the rest of their lives (so that i dont have to worry about them anymore hihi). more years to see my grandchildren, and to grow old with my honey cookiedough. more years to be your humble servant ya Allah. amin.

Bob’s Fish & Chips : Simply Tasty!

a good plate of fish and chips needs no frills – just juicy freshly fried fish, crispy fat fries, and tangy tartar sauce. plain and simple. and that’s what bob’s fish & chips delivers! bob’s fish & chips is in dubai marina, opposite marina byblos hotel. you can clearly see BOB’S – can’t miss it!

 

i can eat this all day with bottomless tartar sauce!

 

bob’s fish & chips is open from 8am and they have a spread of english breakfast like all kinds of omelette and such. bob’s fish & chips not only serve seafood, but they have others like lamb kebab and chicken burgers too. of course, for their main dishes, you can choose between black cod, dory, hammour, salmon or red snapper; shrimps and calamari too. wide choice! not too hungry? soups and salad are available too.

 

free valet parking and free wifi – plus point!

 

it would be so pleasant to sit outside during dubai winter and enjoy the cool weather while eating hot fresh fish & chips!

 

 

simple and sweet decor. a comfy place to enjoy good ol fish & chips.

  

i love the presentation! served in this quirky metal pan. love it!

 

i took ‘hammour and chips’ – hammour fillet in crispy batter served with chips & tartar sauce. as good as can be! not too oily, the crisp batter is satisfying, the fish fresh and the tartar sauce deliciously tangy! i would come again!

 

 

mr khairul chose ‘grilled spicy fish fillet’ – marinated in bob’s chef’s secret spice, marinade and grilled to perfection. served with baked potato or mixed salad; and mr. khairul chose the baked potato. too pricey for a simple dish, but it’s tasty. most importantly, the fish tasted fresh!

 

 

khaleef got himself the chicken burger. satisfying, as good as any simple chicken burger.

 

opposite marina byblos, open from 8am to 4am! i’m thinking we can drop by for sahur during ramadhan!

Luqaimat @ Freej, Al-Barsha Mall

luqaimat is a traditional emirati dessert; delicious fried dough, crispy on the outside, and soft and fluffy on the inside. i absolute LOVE it! everytime i go to global village (which opens only few months yearly during winter) i will definitely look for that small kiosk with bedouin ladies sitting cross-legged on the floor, a hot wok of oil in front of her frying yummy luqaimat. one big-size of luqaimat, please! with silky sweet date syrup on top!

i love luqaimat so much!

 

 

upon suggestion from a dubai friend, i found out that there’s a shop in the food court of al-barsha mall called ‘freej’ or ‘fereej’ serving traditional emirati dishes, including my beloved luqaimat! pretty excited to get that information as 1) i don’t need to wait for winter to get a huge plate of luqaimat from the global village, and 2) it’s SO much nearer to my place than going all the way out to global village!

 

 

the menu is pretty extensive – with grills such as tikka and shish tawooq, and of course all sorts of rice dishes like briyani, mandi, madhbi and sorts. their appetizers are also very arab – halloumi (a kind of cheese), sambousk (macam karipap kita, filled with meat, spices or cheese!), baba ghannouj (a dip made from eggplant), labneh (rich, thick yoghurt), moutable and hummus. 

 

 

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my boys LOVE luqaimat as much as i do!

 

 

 

verdict : the luqaimat from the global village is SO MUCH BETTER because not only does it look more appealing in terms of color and consistency in size, it’s also fried perfectly – global village luqaimat is just right – thin crisp on the outside, and delicious fluffiness on the inside. however at freej, you can see from the pictures that it’s obviously over-fried which made it too crispy and oily. you can also see that it comes in various sizes; which should be fine but not as presentable as the ones fried by those wonderful makcik bedouin at global village.

freej at al-barsha mall maybe closer to home, but i know now that luqaimat at global village is worth the wait, and the trip! but hey, if you wanna try out the rest of the arabic dishes in their menu, head on to the food court, level 1, al barsha mall, barsha 2.

My Little Graduate : Kahfi’s FS2 Convo

congrats my little graduate! abcs 123 doremi. next yr welcome to UAE social studies and arabic! it’s my 2nd son’s 1st graduation day, and we’re making a big deal out of it! there were singing and dancing – the kids are just so adorable as always!

 

 

this is the small hall they have next to the classes, usually used for music class or short assembly. simple decor but still festive!

 

 

graduated at an arab country, so took a picture with a camel haha enjoy the rest of the post with pictures of kahfi and his fellow graduates!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

kahfi & his classmate muhammad. cute!