Eat Out: Dine with Ruby the robot in Dubai

It was another hot and sultry evening. So as we walked into the interestingly-named Drink and Spice Magics restaurant on Dubai’s Khalid bin Waleed Road (near Burjuman metro station), we hoped we could spend some time relaxing in a new ambience and savour some of the food that this new place offered.

We sat down on the red leather sofas, looked around at the people who stopped over after a long day’s work, stretched our legs and waited for the starters to come.

That’s when we met Ruby.

Born in Japan, Ruby moved to Dubai recently to add charm and novelty to the recently opened restaurant. Ruby ensures that the food is served with poise and an ever-pleasant smile. Although she does not take orders directly from customers, she follows instructions from the staff and speaks when needed. Her arrival is heralded by music, and once she serves the customers, Ruby heads off to the kitchen via a magnetic strip on the floor to receive the next order. Needless to say, the children are delighted every time Ruby makes an entry. Truth be told, even the adults can’t stifle a grin when she is around.

The restaurant staff told us that Ruby is the first robot waitress in Dubai.

We started with Paya Shorba (flavoured lamb trotters simmered with spices and finished with a drizzle of lemon juice and mint) and Magic Salad (a restaurant special mix of lettuce, cherry tomato, mozzarella cheese, olives, red pepper and green beans).

Our appetite whetted, we looked forward to the rest of the evening.

Aloo ki addayein (stuffed potatoes with cottage cheese and nuts), paneer tikka and Gosht seekh kabab (minced mutton on skewers) came next. The food had just the right mix of spices to suit even the palette that is not used to too much masala.

For the main course, we had a choice of rotis from the bread basket to polish off the paneer makhni (cubes of cottage cheese cooked in tomato gravy and garnished with cream), sunahri dal tadka (lentils) and methi murgh (chicken with fenugreek) which melted in the mouth.

We topped off the dinner with gosht dum biryani (Basmati rice with mildly spiced mutton).

We had just enough space in our stomachs to try the recommended freshly made jalebis and Shahi tukda (deep fried bread pieces topped with cream)

The food was delicious and for a restaurant that has plans to expand quickly around the region this is an excellent start.

Drink and Spice Magics ranks high on the novelty factor with Ruby the robot waitress. But that should not be the only consideration for visiting the restaurant. There is a wide variety of food to choose from — whether it be Indian or Chinese. The chaat corner from where you can get your favourite snacks and the drinks section which serves more than 200 varieties of fruit juice and shakes are added reasons to visit the outlet.