Dubai: Diwali, the Indian festival of lights, is also a joyous occasion for many Indians to celebrate food and a good place to do so this weekend is Naya, the fine dining Indian restaurant in Jumeirah Beach Hotel.
There’s a special Diwali menu for those who prefer to go fully vegetarian on the day but for others there’s a grand three course eat-all-you-can ‘Maharaja Feast’ on offer too.
Based on the popular sharing platter concept, the royal menu starts with a fabulous fish Amritsari - batter fried fillet of fish with a twisted tangy caraway marinade, aloo methi tikki or pan fried potato patty flavoured with fenugreek and a spicy mint chutney and a street food style dahl puri chaat made with lightly spiced chickpeas and draped with tangy yoghurt and gram flour chips. Each is a great dish, but the one that stands out is surely the fish tikka for its crisp batter.
A selection of three kababs comes next, all fresh from the tandoor. A lamb seekh kabab made of spicy minced lamb threaded on a skewer and chargrilled in tandoor, a chicken tikka kabab made with chunks of juicy chicken in a spiced, yoghurt based marinade and a delectable paneer tikka that’s chargrilled with capsicum and onions but pickled and marinated in exotic spices for a brilliant after-taste. The softness of the cottage cheese makes the last one even better.
Mains are next and three more popular items are in line – a murgh makhani or char smoked chicken in a creamy fenugreek flavoured tomato sauce, a lamb rogan josh simmered in onion, ground tomatoes and saffron milk and a pure veg Amritsari chole or chickpeas that’s slow cooked in a roasted coriander gravy with plenty of red onions. The highlight of this particular course is the refreshingly different version of the humble butter chicken.
Have them with a tandoori roti or the fragrant kesari (saffron) pulao. If you are in for more, try one of Naya’s special naans (the chilli-garlic is a must try) and the rich creamy dal tadka before signing off with the trio of desserts – ras malai, mango kulfi and gulab jamun.
Details:
Price: Dh175 per person
Location: First Floor, Jumeirah Beach Hotel
Contact: 04-432 3232
Lunch: 12.30pm–3pm (Fridays only)
Dinner: 6pm-midnight
We recommend: Fish amritsari, paneer tikka, murgh makhani, lamb rogan josh, mango kulfi
Ratings:
Ambience: 4
Food: 4
Price: 5
Overall: 4
