Gazibo - Restaurant Review

I'll be straying from the theme of my blog a bit as I'll be reviewing a restaurant in Dubai. I recently dined at Gazibo, a restaurant serving Indian cuisine and specialising in kebabs and biryani, after their advertisement in the weekly Friday magazine caught my eye.

We arrived at about 9 PM and were lucky enough to find a parking spot right away. The restaurant was buzzing with diners, and we were seated next to a large group of English tourists. Soon after, a waiter handed us the menu, which had extensive lists of kebabs and biryanis and some curries that were pretty new to me. I probably took a good 15 minutes to go through the entire menu, and a few more minutes were devoted to debating over which items to shortlist for the evening. We finally settled for Paneer Kurkuri and Kachumber Salad for our appetizer, and Raan-e-Sikandari, Peshawari Gosht Tikka, Lahori Murg, Bombay Biryani and assorted Naan, Kulcha and Paratha for the main course. I guess it's pretty obvious that Gazibo has a peculiar obsession with naming their dishes after cities. Anyway, we were first served our drinks. I had gone for a sweetened lime and soda drink, called Shikanji at this particular place, and it was pretty refreshing though nothing extraordinary.

The appetizers arrived soon after. I thought the Paneer Kurkuri, essentially cottage cheese rolled in dough and deep-fried, was pretty disappointing since it had very little salt. The dark-red sauce accompanying it (couldn't tell what it was) had an oriental taste to it. That particular dish might've worked in a fusion restaurant, but I thought it was out of place in this one. The exotically named Kachumber Salad was nothing other than finely diced onions, cucumber and some other vegetable tossed in chaat masala.

Paneer Kurkure (foreground) and Kachumber Salad

The main dishes arrived in phases, probably according to the order in which they were prepared. The first to reach our table was the Peshawari Gosht Tikka. We were having second thoughts about ordering it earlier on hearing that it was going to be boneless, but all my doubts about the dish disappeared once I tasted it. It tasted a lot like Bihari kebab, except the flavours were more intense. The waiter served it on our plates, so there was no chance of a second helping although there's nothing I would've liked more. That was followed by the Raan-e-Sikandari and Lahori Murg. The Raan-e-Sikandari, a roasted lamb leg, could have been better in my opinion. Although it was cooked thoroughly and appeared quite mouth-watering, it wasn't bursting with flavours like the Peshawari Gosht Tikka. The Lahori Murg, a spicy chicken curry touted as the chef's special, had a unique taste for a chicken curry. The spicy gravy was a concoction of very familiar flavours, but I just couldn't put my finger on what they were. The Bombay Biryani was the last to arrive. I was pretty full by that time, so I just had a small serving of the rice, which was reasonably good, but I don't remember its taste as vividly as that of the kebab. A little word on the assorted breads, they were reliable accompaniments and predictably tasty.

Peshawari Gosht Tikka

Raan-e-Sikandari

Lahori Murg

Bombay Biryani

Assorted breads

If there was one glitch in the evening, it was that I wanted to try their Shahi Tukra, and they had all the desserts on the menu except that one. Anyway, Gazibo has some of the best Indian food I've come across, and I definitely plan to go back someday to try some of the other tempting things on offer. Even though the restaurant was packed, the service was pretty good and prompt (I later found out that they have no service charge!). When we were leaving at around 10 30 PM, there were around 20 people still waiting in the reception area to be seated. To say the restaurant is popular would be stating the obvious.

Location: Mankhool,Opposite Meena Plaza Hotel, Dubai
Also available at: Dubai Internet City
Price:
Kachumber Salad AED10
Paneer Kurkure AED 18
Raan-e-Sikandari AED 80
Peshawari Gosht Tikka AED 32
Lahori Murg AED 33
Bombay Biryani AED 34
Assorted Breads AED 25
Shikanji AED 10
Mineral Water AED 5
Aerated Drinks AED 8
Total: AED 255