Khazana
The crispy masala papads with onion and tomato crackled on our tongues with chilli-infused dips and lime pickle in a brouhaha of bitter-sweet flavours 51 Reviews
A tag-team of waiters hustled around the table. As one approached with yet another bountiful dish of something steaming and colourful, another was making his way back to the little trestle table, which buckled under the mass of more mounded plates. Back and forth they pattered, as the ravenous gent they were serving muttered some instructions into a mobile phone. He was probably ordering a dial-a-pizza as back-up, just in case Khazana ran out of food. At the rate he was going, he would either triple his body weight by the time he had finished – if he ever finished – or explode. Either way, he’d probably need a new pair of trousers. Oblivious to our scrutiny, the rapacious rascal shovelled more choice nuggets into his unremitting mouth as we reluctantly got up to leave after a veritable feast of our own.
The trouble with Indian celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor’s Khazana is summoning up the willpower to depart. In the unlikely event that you haven’t eaten something dizzyingly sumptuous, somebody else will be making short work of something that is. Consider, for example, the couple that took delivery of a sizzling dish of lamb shanks, which when splashed with a hearty glug of brandy became engulfed in a triumph of tangerine flames. We were palpably envious of them. But we had no reason to be after our own exquisite meal.
The crispy masala papads with onion and tomato crackled on our tongues with chilli-infused dips and lime pickle in a brouhaha of bitter-sweet flavours. And the tandoori murgh chaat bristled with distinctive hints of garlic, ginger and spice. But the perfectly prickled tenderness of the tandoori chicken legs rendered mere words redundant. Suffice it to say that by the time I had sucked the deliriously juicy meat from the bones they were so smooth I could have knitted a jumper with them (but not a tank-top – according to sign by the entrance they’re banned at Khazana, rather wisely, we feel).
The delights just kept on coming. The kheema hari mirch pyaza stirred moist granules of minced lamb with incendiary chilli eruptions; the saag ghost boasted seaweed-green spinach that clung to rocks of pink, soft lamb; and the lalla mussa dal exhibited comfortingly mushy lentils in a rich dark sauce. Cuddling up to a gleaming white blanket of basmati rice, each heady creation was gathered between sheets of soft nan and roti breads until we could eat no more. We were glowing as we scanned the bamboo-bedecked restaurant for treats our eyes could devour next time round. And before the unstoppable eating machine at the next table came apart at the seams, we thanked our genial hosts and squeezed out of the door.
The bill (for two)
2x mineral water Dhs16.80
Tandoori murgh chaat Dhs21.60
Half tandoori chicken Dhs16.80
Kheema hari mirch pyaza Dhs31.20
Sarson saag gosht Dhs31.20
Bhindi do pyaaza Dhs26.40
Lalla mussa dal Dhs24
Chikka rotiyan bread basket Dhs22.80
Sada chawal rice Dhs12
Masala papad Dhs19.20
Total (including service) Dhs222
- Previous reviews
- 25 March,2012- reviewed by Time Out Dubai staff
- 28 March,2011- reviewed by Time Out Dubai staff
- 07 April,2010- reviewed by Time Out Dubai staff
- 19 March,2009- reviewed by Time Out Dubai staff
- 26 March,2008- reviewed by Time Out Dubai Staff
- 15 January,2008- reviewed by James Brennan
- 12 March,2007- reviewed by Time Out Dubai Staff
- 30 April,2006- reviewed by TimeOut Dubai Staff
- 01 January,2002- reviewed by Time Out Dubai Staff
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