Peppermill – Lulu Hypermarket – Al Barsha, Dubai

Wow what an experience it was. If you’ve never been to Peppermill before I’d tell you this should be one of the top restaurants on your list especially if you have any guests or business partners to impress ;). Sadly this restaurant is located inside LULU HyperMarket. I believe this restaurant should be standalone and deserve a better space where it can meet it’s right audience like Downtown Dubai. Located on the first floor of LuLu Hypermarket Al Barsha, the moment you see the restaurant name from a distance you realize it’s not ordinary looking.

The moment I got in this restaurant it’s been a thriller ride for me. It was like entering a Maharaja’s palace. Most elegant interiors you could find in a restaurant. This restaurant is trying to take you back to the golden era of undivided India when ruled by Maharajas and the whole theme is set around it. As I step inside this restaurant on both sides I see this huge posters of different emperors of ancient India. Right on top of me were those bent fans which were common back the colonial years in India. Chairs were heavy and royal. The dining rooms were simply special. Each of them had these huge chandeliers surrounded by beautiful art and wallpapers. One of the best dining places to impress any guest.

They went one step further by keeping a collection of antique items for us to see. I was fascinated by some of them specially the camera. Technology has evolved quite a bit :). There is many more to see. I just took a few shots for you to know else i’ll end up showing your more of their antique collections. They had many posters of different rulers of India. It was a good informative experience.

From the menu we first ordered a few drinks. Since this restaurant was all about traditional India I was sure to try their Lassi. Infact I tried two of them. The first lassi I tried was the banana and strawberry Lassi but the banana was so dominant that it more tasted like a banana shake. The moment I highlighted my view to the restaurant they were kind enough to quickly replace my drink with Saffron and rose Lassi and it rocked! If you enjoy Lassi like me do try their saffron and rose Lassi.

Their Strawberry colada had that coconut milk which gave that unique taste and to me this drink was my second favourite. The mojitos were very refreshing too. 🙂

MULLIGATAWNY SOUP – National lentil based soup with hint of basmati rice and chicken.
CORN SHORBA – An Indian style corn soup blended with fresh corn and herbs finished with cream.

Out of the 2 soups I enjoyed the lentil soup more. However both had it’s taste but whoever sipped both wanted to have more of the lentil soup.

KARARE PALAK CHAAT – Batter fried fresh spinach topped with mint, tamarind chutney and yoghurt sprinkled with ground spices and fresh coriander.

JHINGA CHAAP – Prawns marinated in crumbed masala deep fried and served with mint chutney.

Both these starters were amazing specially the Karare Palak Chaat. It was weird that the chaat was able to give stiff competition to a deep fried meat. It was funny that you couldn’t stop touching these plates until you got it empty. Thoroughly enjoyed our appetizers.

Then came their main course.

SIKANDARI RAAN – An entire leg of baby lamb marinated in aromatic spices and slowly cooked in the stock, served with potatoes.

If you didn’t order their RAAN for here then that’s the biggest mistake you are making. I’ve had many raans before and I can tell you these guyz make it really good. The lamb was really young, supple, tender and great tasting.

I wasn’t sure which kebabs to choose from their long kebab list so I chose the platter which consisted a little bit of everything but later I realized the panner tikka were missing but it was too late to order by then 🙁

PEPPERMILL MAHARAJA PLATTER (A sampler of Murgh Achari Tikka, Tandoori Chicken, Tandoori Malai Prawn Seekh Kebab and Fried Calamari Rings)

All their Kebabs tasted good as their appearance. Somehow me and the calamari wasn’t getting very well(maybe it was it’s elasticity) but otherwise I was able to enjoy the rest of the platter.

GOAN FISH CURRY – Tender pieces of fish simmered in fiery red gravy with kokum and finished with freshly pressed coconut milk.

PASLIYON KA SALAN – Peppermill’s signature dish! A perfect lamb rib curry.

BADSHAH’S DELIGHT – Chicken breast stuffed with almonds, cheddar cheese, bell peppers and spices, braised in curry sauce.

The Goan fish curry taste was similar to one of the keralite fish curry taste and lamb ribs in Pasliyon ka salan was pretty good. The chicken found in the Badshah’s Delight was very soft and had that special taste of spices coming out of it. Thick and juicy!

We ordered a mix of Roti. For naans I generally like it thinner and crispier. Here their garlic naan came a little thick than expected. They make very good stuffed roti though like the Paneer kulcha and Onion Kulcha. Pudina paratha is also one of my favourites which came out well. The Roti photo above can very well speak for itself, you’ve got some good roti options to enjoy 😉

Whichever Raita you order it’s all the same on the inside. The difference is on the top. So if i remove the top content then it’s just pure yoghurt underneath. I think this is one department they can improve in taste. The raita was too pure and didn’t have any flavor as such. Maybe they could add some salt/sugar to give it some taste.

Indian desserts were always my favourite.

SHAHI TUKDA – Toasted brioche caramalized and served with pistachio kulfi (ice cream) drizzled with saffron sauce and topped with a biscotti.

RASMALAI – Delicious patties of clotted cream submerged in a light and creamy saffron sauce.

KESAR PHIRNI – Traditional saffron flavoured rice custard cooked with fresh milk.

Out of this 3 desserts we ordered their Shahi Tukda stole the show. It’s mainly that kulfi ice cream on the top that does the trick. Also the breads under it are homemade. When it came after our heavy dinner we thought we can never finish it but it was easily gone in a few minutes. Since Peppermill try to give you the best and they want you to feel that premium touch it looks like they add saffron wherever possible. That’s the reason you see the other 2 desserts yellow in color. The rasmalai as such was good but I prefer it to be a litte more thicker.

You can find their entire menu on their website: http://www.peppermill.me/

Oh and  just a quick note here that pepper in the old days was considered as a royal spice and hence the restaurant was named peppermill. In this restaurant you will also find the worlds tallest peppermill (not yet certified by Guinness world records). You also get to buy different type of pepper mills in this restaurant(small, big, manual, electronic etc). I really wanted to cover this for all of you. I kept it for later and forgot about it 🙁

Click any photo below to enjoy them in fullscreen view.