Last night at Dubai, we ventured out to try this new restaurant by Chef Ranveer Brar called Kashkan, portmanteau of Kashmir to Kanyakumari. A large 180 seater restaurant with few PDR’s (Personal Dining Room) and beautiful outside seating overlooking the water front with musical fountain and giving the view of grand Burj Khalifa, we couldn’t have asked for a better view.
As we started to order, we met Jitendra, our server who had served me at Punjab Grill at Aerocity almost 3 years ago. What a lovely coincidence and he recommended us a couple of must order dishes from the menu.
The first being kale chaat. I have eaten kale in salad but this was my first experience in a chaat and I must say it went very well. The crunch, sound when mixed and the flavours all spot on. I especially loved the apricot murabba mixed in this chaat. Kashkan doesn’t serve any alcohol and while one of my friends ordered a hibiscus rasam which was rightly sour-ish and packed a punch, our mocktail ‘Nikki de tikki’ warranted a repeat.
Then came a variety of starters like tandoori chicken, sunheri jhinga, local hammour fish done in tandoor apart from Ranveer’s special galaouti kebab. I, probably would’ve liked a bit thinner ulta tawa parantha beneath the very aptly spiced Galouti. But this kebab made of lamb and not of mutton was perfect in all other ways. It is very difficult to get good mutton in the UAE and hence the need to replace it with lamb.
For the mains, we went with homely chicken curry from North, Black chicken curry made with black sesame paste and served with sticky rice and bamboo pickle from East and Hyderabadi khatti dal from South. While each dish was flavourful, each of us had their own favourite. One friend couldn’t resist finishing the entire bowl of homely chicken curry, my favourite was khatti dal and my other friend went with black chicken curry.
We had certainly over eaten but we weren’t leaving from Kashkan without the desserts. We had Umm Ali that had a masala chai twist to this Egyptian dessert and Paan Mousse. Both desserts were good but paan mousse definitely stood out.
The pricing is not very aggressive, the view is outstanding and the food is delicious. No wonder I could see a huge wait outside the restaurant. If they continue with this quality of food, this restaurant will certainly see a longer wait. Must visit when you are in Dubai and craving for Indian food and that too with a minor twist.
Ratings (Out of 5):
Food: 5.0 | Service: 5.0 | Ambience: 5.0 | Overall: 5.0
Address
Mall – Level 1 – Dubai Festival City – Dubai – United Arab Emirates
Phone: +971 55 129 1646
