I remember the first time I visited Delhi's infamous Chor Bazaar (thieves' market). Now a certified tourist attraction and a flea market, it began as a place where stolen goods would be sold at throwaway prices.
I clearly recall rows and rows of discarded computer keyboards, mountains of shoes, stacks of furniture and empty collector's bottles. There were antiques as well, jewellery and every electronic gadget you can imagine. There were also balloons, beggars and road-side food vendors catering to the tired bargain hunters.
At Chor Bazaar in Ibn Battuta Gate hotel in Dubai, you will find none of this. No pesky shopkeepers here, there is no haggling necessary, and there is definitely no fear that someone might make off with your wallet any minute.
Instead, you are led by a smiling hostess in a sari to a table, sat down and even asked if you'd want an extra pillow to make yourself comfortable. All this before you are politely handed the beverage and food menu.
As you browse through the menu, you immediately make the connection. Chef de cuisine Ravi Rao explains that many ingredients were "stolen" from various parts of India and given an unique twist, thus the name.
But there is another thing this relatively new tandoor restaurant shares with its namesake, and that's variety. And the three massive tandoor ovens in the glass-walled kitchen work the hardest to keep that going.
We started off with the restaurant's signature starters, the aloo tikki chaat (Dh15), which is potato patties mixed with spicy chickpeas, yoghurt and tamarind chutney. A popular North Indian snack, this one, which quickly disappeared off the plate, set the tone for the rest of the meal. The makhmali seekh kebab (Dh30), minced chicken with ginger and coriander, was so tenderly tandoored, it melted in a burst of flavours in the mouth. By the time the masala crab tikki (Dh50), the highlight appetiser, was consumed, my dining companions and I were itching to try the main courses.
Interesting
I opted for the Bengali fish curry (Dh68), I loved it since my childhood in East India, but it came a bit redder than I remembered. Curries tend to be a bit more yellow in eastern India, but at Chor Bazaar it was all about the twist. I hesitantly tried it but found that I liked it, although I wasn't sure I would rave about it. My dining companion had the mughlai biryani (Dh64), which he swore he wouldn't finish but eventually did and praised it.
In between chef Rao also introduced us to tandoor broccoli (Dh38) and tandoori salmon (Dh64), both very interesting and a must-try.
We did observe, though, that the spiciness was heavily toned down, if you didn't ask for it, so it's palatable for those less adventurous.
Inside, the décor is minimal, with a few pieces of South East Asian art splashed on the walls. There is also an option to dine in the dramatically lit lobby, one of my favourites lobbies in the UAE, and definitely the hotel's highlight.
By the time our gulab jamun (Dh30) customised with vanilla ice cream came about, the conversation was flowing — and the hunger pangs all forgotten. Or stolen, should I say?
CHOR BAZAAR
- Where: Ibn Battuta Gate Hotel, Dubai Phone: 04-4440000
- Ambience: Intimate yet airy
- Décor: Eastern minimalist
- Must-have: Masala crab tikki
