Roobaru is a delight and offers what can be termed as ‘the straightforward functionality’ of diminishing cafes and food outlets back home in India and in UAE. From chaats and curries to everything in between, with a bit of local flavours thrown in, here’s where to get your fill in the emirate.
The lovely menu that is concise to our relief (read – long menus that make it so difficult to pick one!!) offers a reinterpretation of Indian cuisine, designed to share, and enjoy. The team at Roobaru ably led by Chef Gaurav Yadav of Bombay Canteen and Comorin fame, creates dishes and evolves menus combining Indian ingredients with local and international produce to create something simple yet elevated with a sweet, zesty tumble of dishes, contrasting textures and a whole arsenal of comforting flavors. Roobaru experiments with Indian regional classic dishes as well as popular UAE foods with imaginative contemporary twists and innovative creativity, producing a unique layering of flavours. The restaurant houses a chai bar, offering diners a refreshing cup of their innovative chais and signature mocktails.
Their carefully curated concept stays true to their attentive design – airy bright with pops of light colors make the design of the dining room distinguishable, blending classy modernity with a twist of retro and perect for families too!
The luxurious dining room decor coupled with an ingenious array of dishes cooled with a mélange of mocktails is the answer to what people are looking for.
Flawlessly drawing from old and new, classic, and modern, traditional, and contemporary, Roobaru is a culinary affair that marries signature service with Downtown Dubai’s renowned gastronomic scene.
We tried out the Vegetarian dishes and tell you all about our experience.
On recommendation by the courteous and friendly Manager Vishal, we start with two mocktails, the What-a-Melon, a fresh tangy drink made artfully by the Bar chef Ajay Rawat with fresh watermelon juice, orange juice, peach syrup topped with mint and basil leaves and a dash of citrus! The perfect way to kickstart a meal. My friend opted for the Anar Panna – a pomegranate juice with pomegranate molasses, dash of citrus, black salt and soda.
We kicked off our experience with the Sharjah Sambusa Chaat, a fried samosa paired with Chips Oman – a nod to the UAE of old. The samosas were made from Cheddar cheese, onion and green peas and were delightfully crisp. The Oman chips topping was the icing on the cake!
Next on was the Papdi Smack – an India tostada – a delicious medley of lentil chaat, topped with picked apricot, pomegranate and radish, a lovely burst of tangy flavours all in one! The papdi was delightfully smacked in front of us for us to get a feel of the crunch!
The Corn Hummus and Crisps were the classic Indian bhutte-ka-keesh meets hummus with charred corn sundal (Sundal is essentially a dry dish made from desi channa, kabuli channa or black-eyed beans seasoned with mustard, green chillies, ginger and coconut) and polenta corn khakhara (Khakhra is a round shaped, crisp roti, generally eaten as a snack). A delightful and scrumptious snack that had us eating till the last bite!
The portions were substantial and can easily allow for four to share. We had our fill of the starters and went on to the main course.
Since we were vegetarians, we opted for the Paneer Makhani – seared stuffed paneer on makhana gravy topped with garlic butter. The paneer was melt in the mouth with a delicious stuffing and the smoked gravy had us licking our fingers. This was accompanied by the house dal- their signature dal cooked over coal for a long time and infused with all the flavours and delightful to taste.
We chose two varieties of Kulcha – the chili cheese and the truffle. The former was handmade in their oven and not a tandoor!) with cheddar cheese and green chilles – just the right amount of spicy to tickle the plate. The truffle kulcha was a panner stuffed kulcha with truffle infused ghee – giving that right contemporary twist to an age-old recipe. The kulchas were delightfully soft and fluffy to taste.
The nani’s chawal was reminiscent of the meetha chawal of olden days (a popular north indian flavoured rice recipe prepared with basmati rice, saffron and sugar, typically served as a dessert after the meal or perhaps during the meal during the special occasions and celebrations) – caramelized onion with long grained basmati rice and a special touch of nani’s shakkar.
The best was yet to come – the Roobaru Cassata – an in-house cassata ice cream with three flavours (rose, pistachio and chocolate) on a sponge cake, layered with pistachio, rose gulkand semifreddo dark chocolate mousse and cardamom sponge! In earlier days, often longed for but seldom consumed this ice-cream delight was the stuff dreams were made of! My sudden tryst with the Cassata of my childhood evoked a whole slew of memories!
The word Roobaru means face-to-face in Urdu and here you are face-to-face with a beautiful experience, delightful cuisine, a beautiful location and ample of parking, Roobaru is a great place to hang out with friends and family or have a lovely dinner with a date. With this restaurant’s delicious cuisine and relaxing atmosphere, you’re bound to have an amazing time.
The Good: A lovely ambience and delightful flavours with a fresh concise menu. Affordable pricing and great portions.
The Bad: You may wan tto go repeatedly to try out their new dishes.
The Trendy: The right contemporary twist to age-old dishes.
Location.
Ground Floor, DT1 Residential Towers,
Downtown Dubai
For more information visit @roobaru.me or www.roobaru-me.com
Review by: Viki Shah