Dubai: For a meat-lover, eating out at a vegetarian restaurant can be a serious challenge. Not at Govinda’s where the chef says his aim is to make gourmet vegetarian dishes that appeal to everyone.
A proof of that claim is in its kebabs. If you thought only meat made them good, Govinda’s special tandoori platter will prove you wrong. An assortment of their best starters, it includes tandoori broccoli, mildly spiced tandoori potato, a piquant achari paneer tikka, paneer lemon tikka, moti kebab made of minced mixed vegetables and the fabulous cheese seekh kebab.
Govinda’s is also about its mouthwatering curries and veg dishes like aloo bhindi masala, a semi-dry spiced preparation of okra and potatoes and paneer sandwich masala, an innovative item made of homemade cottage cheese stuffed with spinach like a sandwich, cooked in a thick gravy. If you are not calorie conscious, you could have them both with one whole mataji paratha, made completely in pure Indian ghee (clarified butter) or one of Govinda’s speciality biryanis like the methi paneer biryani, cooked dum style and with a very likeable bitter after-taste of the fenugreek. Slide in a dal tadka or the yellow lentil that’s topped with three round chillies, lots of ghee and other condiment as well and the meal is pretty much complete.
For those who want to sample the menu in greater detail, there’s a special thali (platter), dedicated to each day of the week For Dh42, my special Saturday thali gave me a mint cooler, an Italian veg salad, spinach raita, tandoori aloo and mix bhajiya as starters and mains like paneer lababdar, vegetable hariyali, kadai gobhi and dahi kadhi alongside ghee rice, roti/naan and shreekhand and moong dal halwa in desserts.
The more wondrous thing about this Govinda’s outlet, however, is its Italian menu comprising a host of pizzas, pastas and lasagnas of which the Alla Firritiana is a must try. A classic combination of cheese and spinach sauce, it is a marvelously rich and creamy dish laden with delicious parmesan and mozzarella.
Details:
Meal for two: Dh200
Location: Umm Suqeim-2, Jumeirah Beach Road, Dubai
Contact: 04-321 1884
Timings: 12–3.30pm, 7pm–12am
We recommend: Special tandoori platter, paneer sandwich masala, methi paneer biryani, Alla Firritiana
Ratings:
Ambience: 5
Food: 4
Price: 4
Overall: 4
