Signature by Sanjeev Kapoor – Melia Hotel – Bur Dubai

Here I am at a celebrity Chef’s restaurant. This one’s from Sanjeev Kapoor, one of the most successful chefs in India and is definitely worth a moment to get an opportunity to try some of his cuisine. Signature is located inside Media One Hotel in Burdubai. The location is one thing I like about this restaurant. It’s in the city and close to my house. The food here comes with great presentation and along with Sanjeev Kapoors stamp followed by many awards to the restaurant, you can only expect their menu to come with a premium tag.

Interiors were very cozy. Lighting were dim on the inside, just good enough to see your table clear. I love their balcony seating which is covered by glass and air conditioned. Unfortunately the heat was quite strong in the afternoon that the air condition in the balcony couldn’t keep up so it was better to be seated inside the restaurant. I love the designer signature plates. Wish they gave the option to buy them as a souvenir. They also have a special table where you can sit next to the LIVE cooking station. For Dhs 299 per person you can have a selection of appetizers, main course, desserts which will be cooked in front of your eyes as you are seated in front of the Chef’s station. A very cool concept.

As we waited came first the pappads and the spicy dippers like mint & coriander chutney, tomato & onion salsa, pineapple chutney, a chef made special pickle and cocktail onions mixed with vinegar. I took a little of each put on my plate and enjoyed licking them over my finger. The cocktail onions mixed with vinegar was my favourite from this one. Meanwhile came my special drink of the day which was the Tropical Thandai. I was in complete love with it. I typically love saffron milk and this was a thicker version but not exactly a lassi but had a little hint of it with a unique taste of it’s own. I thoroughly enjoyed this drink throughout my lunch at Signature. Here the original Lassi was a little on the weaker side being a bit thin and light in taste. But thankfully the Tropical Thandai made up for it. The good looking mocktail Passion Fruit Panna was also not bad, it’s taste had a nice pinch of spice to it with the help of green chillis in it. Just after our drinks we were given the Chef Special(A moong sprout chaat) as a start of journey to the Signature experience. It was an awesome chaat I tell you.

Appetizers was the best part here. The lamp chop, Hammour tikka, Tandoori prawns was something that you had to appreciate. We were really mesmerized by them. The meat were tender, had it’s spice and juicy enough that you wanted more of them. However I must say that the yoghurt and cream chicken tikka wasn’t very convincing to me. It felt a little bland in taste. The chutney that came along was a nice pair to go along with those grilled meats. I am pretty convinced that they make very good grills here.

Then came the magic of molecular gastronomy. This is currently in trend today where a liquid nitrogen is poured over which freezes everything it touches and boils away forming a huge thick nitrogen fog which gives a nice aesthetic to the dish. It was actually a lemon sorbet which they had given to reset our taste buds for the incoming main course. The extreme temperature of liquid nitrogen is to be handled with care. They say mishandling can cause serious burns to the skin. Liquid nitrogen is generally stored in special flasks and preferred to be used with safety gears like gloves and aprons.

Then came the real heavy weights. The curry that definitely stood out was the Dum Nariyali Prawns which was nicely presented filled in a natural shell of an empty coconut. The content was marinated tiger prawns inside a nice thick gravy made of coconut milk, coconut water along with other spices. I was surprised when they shared the recipe of this successful curry on their facebook page. It’s a must try and anyone would love this curry easily. I give a 5 star to this one 🙂 Also the other specialty was their black daal curry which is called lalla mussa dal. It’s a little different from the typical daal curry you find otherwise. There is a 48 hours procedure in making this curry. The curry texture is extremely smooth. The daal is so fined that you can’t feel it but only taste it while you have this thick buttery curry.

I’ve had Indian desserts like Gulab Jamuns, Kulfis before but never have they come so well presented. The way the Electric Kulfi would light up your table itself was very exciting to see. Eating Electric Kulfi is like having crackers in your mouth. You can continuously feel them popping in your mouth. Its the experience you pay for but I can honestly tell you I’d prefer a non fried kulfi than a fried one. The Gulab Jamun was another great stage show. Initially I had no clue what had just come. Then they started pouring the hot chocolate over the white chocolate dome melted revealing the Gulab Jamun. Gulab Jamun by itself was very good and along with chocolate the taste was even more intense. I am a big fan of rasmallai but they had something called Ras Madhuri which felt a little of rasagulla and a little of rasmallai. Just loved this little piece of saffron sponge.

The Signature experience has literally been art on a plate. Click pictures below to see them in full screen view: