Where: Barbecue Delights is located at Lamcy Square, JBR, Downtown Dubai and Dragon Mart 2

How much: AED 75 (Sun-Thu) AED 80 (Fri-Sat)

Recommended: Bonjan Borani and the Gulab Jamun

As a pescetarian, a restaurant called Barbecue Delights would typically be last on my list of places to dine, right down there with The Meat Co. and Salt (wonderful restaurants with very limited vegetarian options), but after having been invited to an iftar preview, I found that my wariness was largely unfounded.

Although I did have to take a meat-loving friend along to truly do this Barbecue Delights review justice.

Food

Barbecue Delights is an Indo-Afghani hybrid where the menu ranges from your everyday hummus to chicken biriyani. The dessert menu is has an even crazier cultural palette, and you can compliment your gulab jamun with a cubed helping of strawberry jello, like we did- but I’ll get to that in a minute.

For starters, the restaurant’s Boulevard location makes it a short walking distance from the free underground parking across the street, and only ten minutes away from a mosque on foot for those who punctuate meals with prayer.

An entire wall is paned with glass, allowing for some people-watching entertainment with your meal. The inside of the restaurant is spacious and simply decorated with intricate oriental designs. So you have plenty to look at if iftar is a quiet affair.

Starters

 

For our starters, we tried the tabouleh, bonjan borani, grilled potatoes, hummus and fresh garden salad – your typical pre-meal fare. The bonjan borani, which is a yogurt-based dish with eggplants, had us going for seconds. Something about that tomato sauce they dollop on the eggplants – mmm, mm.

While the appetizer selection was nothing to write home about, Barbecue Delights compensated with their bread, which included assorted naan and sheermaal – all fresh. In spreads like these, you usually get cold, bland pita, so the change was a pleasant surprise.

Main Course

 

The main course is where we split. I had the fried shrimp and palak paneer while my partner-in-crime had a generous helping of haleem, ribs, reshmi, mutton chellab kebab and malai boti. You can guess who got the better end of the deal here.

Vegetarian options were sparse, but they were there. As for fish, there were only two options. If you really, really love creamy pasta and spinach then you’re going to be alright. Although, I thought that the paneer’s spinach was overpowering – a good sign if you’re looking for a boost in iron, but not so much for taste.

By a carnivorous Hyderabadi’s standards, the meat ranged from average to good. While the daal in the haleem was overpowering and too liquidy for my companion’s liking, the reshmi went over well.

I was also assured that the mutton chellab kebab was excellent thanks to a slight sweetness in the meat. And the malai boti was smoked well, although small in size (but it’s a buffet, so you can always add more).

Dessert & Drinks

 

Our dietary preferences were reconciled over dessert, and both of us agreed that the gulab jamun was very good, and wasn’t drowned in syrup, as is usually the case. The jello was jello. If you’re watching your blood sugar, there are also fruit platters and fruit salad to munch on.

Oh, and the lemonade was fantastic.

All in All

Overall, it was good – even better if you eat meat. Thanks to its decent selection of salads and appetizers (and that eggplant, mm!), vegetarians won’t be at a complete loss. Those looking for a wide range of barbecue won’t be disappointed either, as there’s plenty of dishes to sample from.

Barbecue Delights is located at Lamcy Square, JBR, Downtown Dubai and Dragon Mart 2. Prices differ depending on location.

Anything to add to this Barbecue Delights Review? Tell us in the comments below.

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