Mohalla – Dubai Design District

Interior at Mohalla, Dubai Design District
Rotis at Mohalla at Dubai Design District

It is nice to know there is an Indian restaurant to find at the stylish Dubai Design District. Mohalla serves colorful Indian food from all corners of India. The vibrant colors, authentic Indian spices, tantalizing flavours will elude you to their restaurant more often. It’s more than just the typical Indian food on their menu, some of the items come with a modern twist that has a fusion between Indian classic recipe mixed with modern ingredients for the latest taste buds.

Interior at Mohalla, Dubai Design District
Interior at Mohalla, Dubai Design District
Outside seating at Mohalla, Dubai Design District
Outside seating at Mohalla, Dubai Design District
Outside seating at Mohalla, Dubai Design District
Outside seating at Mohalla, Dubai Design District

We had approached the restaurant quite late for lunch and was quite surprised to see they still had customers flowing in. Plenty of Arabs visiting this restaurant and we were the only Indians in the restaurant. They have different types of seating, you can opt to sit in or out. I loved the feeling inside, it felt warm and nice. The make and finish of the chairs and tables is typical Indian style and definitely tries to reflect the Indian heritage at the restaurant.

From left: Mango Lassi(AED 25) and Passionfruit Mocktail(AED 33)
Avocado Papdi Chaat – AED 49 – Crisp wheat crackers topped with desi guac and chutneys.

Raj Kachori – AED 52 – A spicy chaat bowl made of semolina and filled with a variety of condiments including, potato, pomegranate, dal crisps, nylon sev with trio of chutneys.
Raj Kachori – AED 52 – A spicy chaat bowl made of semolina and filled with a variety of condiments including, potato, pomegranate, dal crisps, nylon sev with trio of chutneys.

We started with the mocktail and Lassi. Passion fruit mocktail definitely had the punch you needed in the mocktail. It does refresh you and infact so good that you might just continue to finish it at one go. The lassi felt a bit diluted, it didn’t have the thickness and richness we expect from a Mango Lassi, so we personally felt it could get better. The Indian street food we tried were just too good especially the colorful Raj Kachori which stole the shown on the table. It’s the best Raj Kachori we’ve had and highly recommend everyone to try this one when you visit Mohalla. The papdi chaat was with gaucamole sitting on top which is the current trend in todays world of fusion culinary. The Indian street food has been really impressive here and they do have many more interesting ones in their menu which is worth a try.

Tender Chicken Kebab – AED 65 – Served on naan, topped with secret spices, yoghurt and salad.
Rayalaseema Prawns Curry – AED 73 – Coastal Andhra style curry made with tomato chutney and coconut
Mutton Kosha – AED 68 – Slow cooked caramelized lamb
Malabari Paratha – AED 12

The yoghurt marinated chicken kebab was fabulous. The additional yoghurt on the side also went as a great dip inside the chicken kebabs. My favourite would be the Andhra style prawns coconut curry, which was a pleasingly rich sweet curry that went well with anything along with it, including the Rotis. Talking about rotis I must admit the so called Malabari paratha was oustanding. The paratha was crisp and flaky in the mouth and was a fantastic combo with the prawns curry. You can also expect to find four giant prawns inside this curry. The Mutton kosha is a nice thick caramelized lamb which went very well with the naans and the tender lamb can only be appreciated. It’s that thick masala on it which makes this lamb taste so good. Surely there’s plenty of meat for you eat in this dish.

Kulfi Falooda – AED 29
Jalebi with Rabri – AED 35

Both desserts have been luscious. The Kulfi Falooda was a little different. It was just kulfi and noodles. We loved the kulfi pieces for sure which was terrific but for a falooda we expect much more that a two piece set, usually includes milk, ice cream, syrups, malai etc. The Jalebi was also a fascinating dessert which came with a bonus dipper rabri. The quality of the Jalebi and rabri could be easily appreciated. The Jabeli coming on top of newspaper is the classic way of how it is originally served in India. It was a lovely experience today at Mohalla.

South Indian Filter Coffee – AED 15 – Foamy Madaras coffee obtained by brewing finely grounded selected Indian coffee beans.

Mohalla Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

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