Molecular gastronomy Indian food is all the rage in Dubai, and Farzi Cafe offers it at its most affordable! Yesterday, I got a chance to attend the exclusive preview of ‘Farzi Twist,’ their latest new menu thanks to Haiya of Pass Me the Dimsum.
This event gave me the chance to meet up with some pretty awesome, quite seasoned food bloggers who I have been following over the years. I arrived alone, but I’d like to think I’d made a friend with Gagan of Baggage & Dish. 🙂 (He did an amazing 26 day trip across Europe recently and I had so much to learn from him!)
We started off our tasting with something called ‘movie time.’ And what do you take as snacks for a movie? Popcorn and coke, of course! The guys at Farzi Cafe have just switched the flavors in this drink. The ‘coke’ tastes like popcorn and the popcorn tasted like coke! How…’twist’ed..haha!
Next on, were these epic mango shots that dazzled me. You pop it in your mouth and there’s just a burst of flavours. Refreshing to say the least.
Another drink that I tried was ‘It’s You.’ Yep, that’s the name. Arriving in a mirror with peach and egg white juice and a strawberry fragrance, this one was truly a twist and turn for the tastebuds. However, it was much too sweet for my taste.
The berry cocktail drink was A+ in terms of both presentation and taste:
We were looking forward to beginning our meal. They have three different types of tapas that we started off our meal with:
- The chole kulche tamarind onion salsa
Well, since this was my first visit to Farzi cafe, I was actually not expected the full-on Indian spices and flavour of this dish. Tangy and spicy, there’s an umami-ish tinge and tanginess personified with this dish. Eloquently presented, it tasted as good as it looked, though a bit spicy for those not well-versed to the spicy Indian palate.
2. Braised mutton bunny chow
My second favourite tapa off the menu, this mutton bunny chow just melted morsel after morsel in my mouth. Absolutely irresistable! Gagan did mention to me that Farzi does red meat well. I was reassured of this as I ate the dish. Presentation wise, it was relatively simple for the ‘Farzi style.’ However, the flavours were on point!
3. Chilli beef spiked kulcha
This was probably one of my favourite dishes of the night. Succulent, spicy beef marinated oh so perfectly enwrapped by a soft kulcha on these cute stands; this dish had me from presentation to taste.
On to the sliders!
For the sliders, we had soya masala nuggets and a masala kheema baguette, both of which came in a similar masala. I would recommend you order either one or the other. The soya masala nuggets were extremely tasty; the nuggets were not super chewy which was a big plus. The masala kheema baguette was a bit too salty for my taste, with a bread that was not baguette-like.
As mains, I was extremely excited for the tenderloin medallion with aloo chokha and a ‘texture of green’, otherwise known as creamy spinach. I liked the spin, but I don’t think it went well together as both the spinach and the potatoes were a tad bit too salty. We ordered the tenderloin medium rare, and that is what we got. Beautiful, beautiful, juicy, seared meat.
Their beef pepper fry with the south indian uppam was simple and hada no complications. Kind of a ‘twist’ for Farzi itself! However, it was extremely tasty and full of flavour as well as spice.
Their chicken yakhni came the most fragrant pilaf. A delight to watch being poured and very soft and light on the taste buds. Highly recommended for those that enjoy only mild spices in their food.
Now, on to my favourite main course. The confit boti and dal pakwan was the clear winner of the night. Both the textures and the flavours in this dish were exemplary. I can’t wait to come back for more!
Though I’m not the biggest fan of soups, their chicken mulligatawny soup was wholesome and absolutely spectacular. I felt so comforted having that soup!
And finally, dessert. Phew! The only one on the menu was called ‘pile of dirt.’
Though visually appealing, I feel like this was the biggest disappointment. The concept is great, but the ‘soil’ was dry and the puffed rice and other ingredients didn’t add much pizzazz to the dish. Decent vanilla ice cream though.
In conclusion, the new “Farzi Twist” menu at Farzi Cafe is like a rollercoaster; there are some twists and turns you will like..but others, maybe not as much.
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