Masala | A spice adventure at Bab Al Shams

All of you who’ve been following my Insta-stories know I spent the weekend at Bab Al Shams Desert Resort. Although I am not a big fan of eating at restaurants in hotels (room service ftw), this is one exception I was glad to make. I had wanted to try out Masala for the longest time, but the distance meant it needed to be an occasion, and blogging about food almost all the time means I hardly get to pick the restaurants I want to eat at.

But this weekend I decided to make my own dinner choices and booked a table at this restaurant that’s nominated by @whatsondubai in their “Favourite Indian Restaurant” category. Does it deserve the award though? Read on to find out.

Ambiance

As soon as you step inside this quintessentially North Indian restaurant, you are greeted with bright firoza blue interiors, your olfactory senses seemingly welcomed with a strong fragrance of incense sticks and melodies of sufi music lightly humming into your ears. I had hoped for a live ghazal performance, and they have a set-up for it too, but I am guessing it only happens on fixed days. (I visited on a Friday evening, btw).

The restaurant is divided into multiple sections – all flaunting the same peacock blue wallpapers, making it a maze of sorts, while also lending a very palatial appeal to the place. There’s a lovely courtyard styled outdoor area, which is open only during cooler months. It has yet another set-up for live music (we were told there is live music during the season), along with plentiful seating options.

Apart from these, the restaurant is also equipped to entertain big groups of people in a private dining space. So next time you’re planning a corporate getaway dinner or a family get together, keep Masala on your list of options.

Drinks

We started off with two of their highly recommended drinks. Now it’s an Indian restaurant, and being the person I am, I would obviously go for something specific to the cuisine, which is why I opted for Anarkali. A refreshing mix of pomegranate and watermelon, this mocktail was just right for the summer night.

My date decided to go for another Indian inspired drink – Rum Ananas. While I assumed this cocktail to be like a Pina Colada with an Indian twist, it was more like a pineapple and rum infused Jal Jeera, extremely cooling and refreshing nonetheless.
If you’re a fan of milk or yogurt based drinks, you can also try their Thandai or Lassi.

Papad & Dips

Like any other Indian restaurant, Papads and dips were a must for us. We got a basket of mixed papad along with a trio of spicy green and two sweet chutneys to go with it. The papad basket was replenished later during our mains on request.

Dilli Chaat Sampler

To kick start our Indian meal (after the papad of course), we opted for a Dilli Chaat Sampler. This came with two pieces each of Papdi Chaat, Peas Kachori, Aloo Samosa and Aloo Tikki.
My favorite from the four was the potato samosa, while my date loved the crunchy papdi chaat.

Amritsari Machli

Next up was one of my favorite appetizers from the Indian cuisine – Amritsari Machli. Hammour fish heavily marinated in tandoori spices and fried to a crispy golden perfection, this is probably the only fish based dish I can eat forever. Luckily, this one had so fishy smell, which made it a 10 on 10 for me.

Chicken Biryani

To my surprise, the quantity of all the dishes at Masala was more than what we had expected. So despite being listed on The Entertainer, we could not bring ourselves to order two different mains. My ultimate choice is Indian Mughlai restaurants has always been Biryani, so there was no way I would choose otherwise at Masala. To start off with, the portion was big, and the biryani – impeccable! Right from the fragrant basmati that drew us in, to the spicy marinade that enhanced the flavors of the perfectly cooked boneless chicken, this was a dish that alone deserves an award just for existing.

Quite unlike me, but I was honestly full with all of that deliciousness. So as much as I’d have loved to try something from their dessert selection, I had to give that a miss. But well, that’s something for my next visit maybe!

Masala

Location: Level 1, Bab Al Shams Desert Resort & Spa, Al Qudra Road, Dubai
Contact: 04 8096194

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