I love Arabic food... must be because I was one of those Gulfie kids, born and brought up in the Middle East till the beginning of my teens. I had a Palestinian babysitter to boot, who could cook the pants off any hatted chef and who loved to feed me all the time. And that's why when I heard that Ranoosh serves Dolma, I was itching to get there. Dolma basically refers to stuffed vegetables - common ones that get stuffed are aubergines, zucchinis, peppers and others. But my favorite has always been the grape leaf that my babysitter made... these beautiful little glistening green rolls stuffed with rice, mince, slivers of cabbage and served warm.
We headed to Ranoosh and all I could think of was the Dolma. Thankfully they have valet parking, and the automatic doors open straight into the restaurant. A nice spacious floor with sofa and individual seating as well.
A view of one part of the restaurant
A complimentary fresh salad
As soon as I got the menu in hand, scanned through it, saw the Dolma in the cold mezze section and asked for it right away. It took a few minutes of waiting to realize that it was in the cold mezze section which meant it was vegetarian. The non-veggie ones are generally served warm. Never mind... it was coming to the table anyway. And then it did. First impressions - not as generously packed as my babysitter used to make them. It also had this tamarind glaze running on top of it. Popped one into my mouth and the initial taste was very lemony, coupled with the tamarind on top it was slightly over-powering. But for me... nice since I love sour to the extent of squeezing a lemon directly into my mouth. For those who don't really like lots a lemon, maybe you will need to tell the chef to tone that down a bit... So this one dish did not live up to my memories of dolma, but to a lemon lover like me it was not a complete let down.
Dolma
Moving on, we had another starter from the hot mezze section - Chicken liver sauteed with garlic and lemon with a pomegranate dip. I am not one for innards of any sort, but was in a mood to try out something different that the usual falafels, fatayers and Fatoushs that were there. When it did come, it was really great. The liver bits were not rubbery to bite into and with the pan drippings that they were served with and that signature lemony taste, it was really yum. Suffice to say that if it had me reaching out with my fork multiple times, it was good. We got a garlic dip here and not pomegranate as the menu mentioned. But it was nice nevertheless. We had the pomegranate dip which was surprisingly spicy at iKebab Istanbul Grill when it was open. Thinking back, the garlic dip was a better bet with this dish.
Sauteed chicken liver
There is not much by way of soft drinks here, and so a virgin mojito was all we ordered. Now that I think of it, that signature lemon was in it too. But it was pleasant.
Virgin Mojito
Anoushka had brunch already by time we got here and so we stuck to a simple chicken cream soup for her. It came with some bread sticks. It was all that the name said - creamy and filled with chicken and quite the filling soup for our little mite.
Chicken cream soup
Mixed Grill Meat with Shish Tawouk
The soft, out-of-the-oven pita bread
One of the rolls before I rolled it up
They had this counter filled with goodies and which was constantly being added to. For dessert it was a toss up between Mahalabiyah and Oriental Baklava. Mahalabiyah won. It did look very coconutty and that was not working in its favor initially.
The counter of yumminess
Mahalabiyah
But when we ordered it finally, this sweet dish was the perfect example of how a simple milk based dessert can be such a fantastic end to a beautiful meal. One bowl looks like something that will sit heavy on your stomach, but that is just the way it looks. Each spoonful is like going through cream and the taste so light without being overly sweet. And that dose of crushed pistas made the perfect garnish.
Service is good and the wait staff know the menu inside out. The menu itself is long and there is a decent choice for vegetarians as well. For those who are not too experimentive, the Arabian biryanis they have should work good. I would love to go back and try their arayes and shawarmas for old time sake. The loos are clean. This meal came to Rs 1700 all taxes included.
Address: No 120-125 Mega Tower, KH Road, Shanthinagar
Phone:43452222Cuisine: Arabic, Lebanese
Wallet factor: Rs 1500 for two
Parking: Valet parking
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