We Are Letting You In On Frazer Town's Best Kept Secret This Ramzan

Many were mourning the fact that MM Road has shut its roads this year again to the stalls that usually sell Iftar treats. There are a few who still managed to open their stalls within the restaurant premises, but it doesn’t feel the same. So here is the good news: why not set a date with one special restaurant that will set you up with a fabulous Iftar meal. This is where you come to Ali Baba restaurant on MM road.

This is not a place where you can just land up and eat, you need to call owner Shaad Hassan Damudi, a day earlier as he only works on advance notice. You begin the meal with customary dates and with a Shorba Harira, a nourishing chickpeas and chicken soup with vermicelli, served during Ramzan. Shaad then served us a fruit salad. A combination of kiwi, melon, apple and lychee fruit mixed with lychee juice, and with a hint of lemon and rose water. This was followed by a plate of quail kabab. A huge plate {and I mean huge} plate of Maqlooba Lahm, an Arabian style upside-down biryani arrived, comprising a gravy of vegetables and fall-off-the-bone mutton to be eaten from the same plate. Shaad asked us to have this with Tabloueh, the traditional parsley and broken wheat salad. Apparently it elevates the flavours of the biryani.

Up next were flaky, homemade chicken samosas, followed by Masala Gudio, another Bhatkal special, but this was similar to the crepe parcel you get on the street. The meal ended on a sweet note with an agar and tender coconut pudding known as Shaala China Grass. Remember all those Japanese Raindrop cakes everyone went gaga over last year? Tell those folks to keep calm and head to Ali Baba instead. It looked exactly like the water cake with ribbons of tender coconut and was delicately sweet. We finished our meal here with Moroccan mint tea.

People with big appetites, if you come in a  large  group, there will be many more dishes. This place is for people who love homely flavours as some of the dishes Shaad offers is made at home. And the meal is available only till Monday, June 26. 

Featured photo: Saina Jayapal