Loc : Sahara Star, Domestic Airport
Meal : Late Dinner
Mabruk is the Lebanese/middle eastern restaurant at the Sahara Star (previous visit here) one of the only ones offering the cuisine formally in the city.
Mabruk offers a fairly Mediterranean menu with a bent on towards the middle east, the menu has hot and cold mezzes, food of the grill and rice preparations.
The place as i have said before is a palace of excess along the lines of a Dubai hotel, lots of lights, flash, artifical environment. While i dont mind things like that, it is not the classiest looking place in the world, nouveau riche is what comes to mind.
Mabruk specifically has lovely seating by the lagoon. The seats are too comfortable.
The place has a distinctly middle eastern feel to it, Morocco (i know Morocco is not in the ME) via Iran.
The wife had a virgin pina colada which was not too bad, except it was a virgin!
The Horiatiki was a fresh salad made with feta cheese, olives, onions and greens drizzled with some lime & olive oil. The salad and the dressing were both great but the feta elevated the dish to something beyond.
The Falafal drizzled with tahina was pretty good, served with some pickles and tomatos were on the money.
We also had the Warkinab (not pictured) which was rice in vine leaves, a sweetish taste but again a fairly good dish. They also serve plenty of fresh pita with the food.Overall, the place is different with regards to ambiance and cuisine and both are fairly impressive. The service is a little rough around the edges and lacks finesse but is both friendly and quick.
Food : 8/10
Service : 7/10
Damage : 1600 for 2 without drinks.
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13 comments:
love your blog..its amazing how the little places one ignores can be so delightful..thankyou!
yup, you are spot on there, sometimes a good meal can really come out of a place you ignore & vice versa.
thanks for visiting!
Its fun to read your blog...I visit often....
Keep up the good work!!!
Gaurav,
I have started to read your very helpful blog the last few weeks.
We (Me and Mrs) will be moving (back) to India after 10+ years in Manhattan, NYC. As someone that wouldn't mind schlepping miles to discover a hole-in-the-wall, we were concerned if the move to Mumbai will deprive us of all the good food, where are spoilt on.
Thanks to your blog, we are a bit hopeful.
Would love to chat / share notes with you once we start hitting the restaurants in Mumbai.
We are moving to Mumbai for 2 to 3 years.
Ciao
karthi
Oh would love to hear about new places to try. In a few months, I will add some of my own, hopefully.
:)
Kartik,
Unfortunately when it comes to food the apple has got us beat, hands down. The sheer diversity and depth of dining options in NYC is overwhelming.
So i am afraid Bombay will not come close to filling the void when you are back. However the scene is a lot better than it was even three years ago.
I am sure there will be quite a few places you will find to be your favorites.
Have you decided what part of town you will be living in? ill make recommendations accordingly.
Welcome back & thanks for visiting !
Gaurav,
We went there Dec'08 to scout neigborhoods to live in, and we liked in the order:
1) Juhu
2) Bandra
3) Powai (nice and clean and disconnected).
We will stay in an temp. accom, and then choose an apartment.
My email is nan dyal at g mail dot com (Please remove the spaces)
Juhu & Bandra offer a decent quality of life (except for Auto Rickshaws) and some great restaurants, Powai i know very little about as i go there very very rarely.
There are a bunch of fine dine and stand alone joints in both Juhu & bandra (Del Italia, Saffron, Spices, Da Vinci, Don Giovanni, Pot Pourri, Pure, Royal China amongst others) you should have plenty to keep you occupied i reckon.
Gaurav,
I had posted earlier about our moving to Mumbai. We finally moved last week, and it has been a good experience so far.
We went around the city late night (around 2AM), and what a majestic city. We also understand that the South Mumbaites are rightfully proud (and look down at Bandra, Juhu,etc).
We tried Olive in Mahalaxmi Race course - The ambience and Al fresco dining, coming from a rather cold winter, was wonderful. The food was OK (they did not have two of the three vegetarian entree choices :) ), but me mrs. liked the Pasta.
We also like the Bombay bakery shop in the Marriot.
We are looking to go to Mama Khane, an old hole in Dadar. We were told it was hard to find, but we are going anyway.
Also we had surprisingly good Dim Sum in Tao, in Andheri East (@ tunga regale). It is tastefully done. Even though it is no Hong Kong, or Chinatown in Manhattan, but it holds its own.
We tried Saffron Spice (two branches - Powai and Andheri; We tried the one in the latter) - the kebabs were spiced my wife says. The Veggie kebabs I ordered were raw.
Hope to try new places, as we figure out the city better.
Hi,
Welcome to Bombay, did you finally figure out what part of town you wished to put up in?
I would highly recommend that you visit Moshe for its Mediterranean & Flamboyante for its world cuisine, both in Cuffe Parade.
Make a stop by Indigo for its brilliant ambiance and food in Colaba.
Swati Snacks at Tardeo for its local stuff.
I would recommend Del Italia in Juhu, opp the Ramada, on the curve of the road. A must have is the peppers stuffed with mozzarella.
There are plenty of options in the suburbs but i prefer South Bombay, just better food, people and ambiance to be had and lots to try.
Thanks for those great suggestions. Will have to checklist and cross them off in the next few weeks.
We will be staying in Bandra. It makes sense for both of us from a commute prespective. Dont hate me already for the choice :)
Will report back on some findings on this side of the civilization.
hi,
welcome & enjoy. hold your suburban status against you :)
cheers
Interesting blog…I enjoyed it when I read it. Good work…keep it up.
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