Micro by Pappa Roti | The Dubai Mall

Micro plates, but macro flavor. This is what you’ll get at the newest dining addition at The Dubai Mall Fashion Avenue – Micro. Developed under the wing of the famous Malaysian brand Pappa Roti, Micro adds subtle fusion to Asian classics, and presents them in portions that are just right to keep you satisfied, at the same time leaving enough space to try another dish or two.

We decided to head over to The Dubai Mall on a Thursday evening (I know, so brave), and spotted Micro boldly flaunting it’s outdoor seating in the midst of the busy mall, but balanced with a neatly tucked in indoor space. I loved the minimalist, yet striking appeal of the restaurant, which combined beautifully to make their presence felt, but not in a subtle way. The location and outwardly appeal of the restaurant sure caught the attention of mall walkers and diners looking for options.

As soon as we were seated, we were greeted by restaurant manager Vishal, who gave us a little insight into his F&B experience, and explained the concept of the restaurant along with the kind of food they offer and their bestselling plates. Soon enough, we found ourselves confused between what to order and what to skip, because everything, and I repeat, EVERYTHING looked so tempting and totally worth a try. The good part though is their portions were not overwhelming, which allowed us to try a variety of dishes without feeling too full or worse guilty!

We went in with the recommendations from the staff and started our dinner with truffle and chicken dumplings, crispy shrimp salad, chicken karaage bao and shrimp tempura maki rolls. If you know me well, then you already know I lovvvved the dumplings for all that truffle. They were steamed and then lightly pan-fried bringing the best of both worlds, and more importantly, served over a layer of creamy truffle sauce. Yes, I licked the plate clean after eating 75% of the dumplings! The crispy shrimp salad was, simply put, Micro’s version of dynamite shrimps, but in no way were they just plain or simple. Tossed in a spicy tangy sauce, the shrimps were crispy on the outside and featured a succulent tender core making them absolutely blissful. My only recommendation here would be to eat these quick, because once they get cold and a little soggy, the experience might not be the same.

I don’t know why, but of late I’ve developed a new found love for chicken karaage. Whenever and wherever I see karaage on the menu, I know I want it on my plate. I could blame it on Neha’s (@astoryoffood) tempting stories about her own chicken karaage (which I haven’t got the pleasure of trying yet), but well, currently karaage is bae, and with the way it’s going, I am guessing it will stay that way for long. So then, when I saw the chicken karaage bun on the menu, I knew I had to have it. If you like baos and sliders and chicken, then you NEED TO TRY THIS. That melange of the soft bao and the crispy spicy karaage chicken was more perfect than any other chicken sandwich I could’ve asked for. The bao bun especially, was so soft, so thank God I had my lipstick transferred all over it with the first bite, so now I could safely excuse myself from sharing it with my plus one.

The maki rolls were brilliant. They had three options for maki rolls on the menu – one of which was raw fish and two which came with cooked meat – shrimp or chicken. We went with the cooked shrimp tempura rolls. I honestly love sushi that doesn’t taste too much like sushi – in the sense that it has a little of everything but no overpowering flavors. This one was just like that. I did my bit with the wasabi and happily enjoyed my share of 2 of the 4 maki rolls.

We paired our starters with a couple of mocktails from their list of 7 remarkable concoctions. Honestly, it’s sort of my goal now to try them all, but as for this visit we settled on Singapore Sunrise and Berries Hibiscus. While the former was a sweet, sour and sunny mix of passion fruit, oranges, mandarin and pineapple, the latter had mixed berries muddled with fresh mint, lemon and hibiscus.

Next up for the mains, we put our blind faith in the staff’s recommended plates and were beyond delighted with what was brought to our table. From the two mains we ordered, my favorite was the chicken laksa curry with jasmine rice. That combination was simply WOW. A mix of creamy, spicy, warm and comforting flavors, this Singaporean dish went just right with the rice, and if I wasn’t already full from all the starters we had, I would like finished it all by myself. My plus one was more than happy with our second main – char siu glazed short ribs. Very well done, the meat in these short ribs was fall off the bone tender and the glaze added so much drama in terms of flavor.

We were obviously not going to leave without dessert, but this time, for a change, we also decided to order some hot beverages to go with it. The dessert we chose was my first and obvious pick – non-sticky rice with mango sorbet. I ordered this one for it had coconut crumble as one of the main ingredients paired with vanilla bean rice and topped with a mango gelato. The rice tasted almost like a coconut and vanilla kheer – not too sweet, but supremely creamy, cool and refreshing.

Our hot drinks to go with the dessert included a pappa milk tea, which was very much like a normal milk tea, sans the strength of a karak; and a classic café latte which to my surprise came with a kitty latte art.

I’ll be going back to this restaurant soon to try their breakfast options, so keep an eye out for that.

Micro by Pappa Roti

Location: Level 2, Fashion Avenue, The Dubai Mall, Downtown Dubai, Dubai
Contact: 04 5520186

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