Dabang | Dubai Marina Mall

Indian restaurants in a food court always have me in doubt, but Dabang Kathi & Curry changed my mind. Serving a line-up of freshly prepared dishes, this casual restaurant located at Dubai Marina Mall offers everything you’d expect from an Indian Restaurant – grills, kathi rolls, chaat, curries, biryani and more – but with the convenience of a food court. This means you can enjoy the goodness of hot food (or cold chaat of course) without doubting if it was prepared an hour ago or 10 hours ago – because it’s all made to order.

We started our food discovery with their healthy tandoori chicken. For one, I loved the way it was presented in the box – half salad and half chicken – a good way to balance the protein with fresh veggies. And the chicken, OMG. It was super succulent and almost melt-in-your-mouth tender. A great choice for those looking at something that would match up to individual healthy protein bowls. Next we tried the chaat platter. I have to make a mention of their packaging here. All their dishes were served in take away boxes, in fact some of them in a very sustainable packaging, and everything was easy to pack up and take away, whether you were taking away the entire dish, were halfway through it or just had a little left that you wanted to finish later. Our chaat platter came with samosa chaat, sev puri and onion pakoda with chutney in the center and some extra farsan on the side. I obviously loved everything, but my favorite was the sev puri, which although not very common, was paired with yogurt that added a whole new level of refreshing flavors to it. This is commonly known as SPDP (sev puri dahi puri) in various parts of India. Chicken wings flew in next packed in an Asian take out box. A good point to add here is that they are working towards making all their packaging eco-friendly and plastic-free, and I wish them all the very best towards achieving this sustainable goal. The wings were covered in a spicy gravy-esque sauce, which was sort of a replacement for any sauce on the side. Slightly spicy but finger licking delicious, this one’s going to get your hands messy, so you might want to ask for a few wet tissues with it.

Our first main was the classic Kulcha Chhole. This one was epic. In fact, I don’t even know how to describe the chhole, because I have 100% invested in the kulcha. That bread in itself was a fine dish. Topped with spices and herbs and baked crisp, I can only imagine how amazing this flat bread would taste with tea. The next set of mains came with a creamy dal makhni, flavorful fish curry and chicken tikka biryani. The dal and curry were paired with a naan basket on the side. I liked all three dishes (especially the biryani), but I was too full to finish them all, so we ended up packing these after trying a little. Needless to say, packing it up was really quick and easy, and the food tasted great even on the next day.

Well, the mains we packed, but we still had to try dessert. And for that we were given the Shahi Tukda. Topped with a scoop of cinnamon flavored ice cream, I loved the little fusion there. The bread could have been more softer, like a milk cake, but it was fair.

Next time you’re by the marina or catching a movie at the cinema, make sure to stop by at this spot and try some of their uber delicious fare.

Dabang Kathi & Curry

Location: Food Court, Level 2, Dubai Marina Mall, Al Marsa Street, Dubai Marina, Dubai
Contact: 04 5260617

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