Aloo There - Indian at Arjee Bharjee
A Licensed British Curry House in Dubai is somewhat of a novelty, so on that count alone I had to check it out. In case you didn’t know, Arjee Bharjee is hidden away on the Palm behind Al Das on Shoreline 10, which is opposite Club Vista Mare. Apparently, if you’re driving this is also where you are meant park as there is no parking allocated in the actual building for the restaurant itself, which is kind of weird.
Parking oddities aside, when you get there you’ll find a very basic outdoor dining area, reminiscent of Biddi Bondi which in the cooler months is no doubt the best place be. This space gives way to quite a large indoor dining area that truth be told is visually not great with it's orange and green tones combining to become quite jarring and unfortunately pretty cliche.
It's not all bad, some healthy looking indoor plants and the inclusion of some brightly colored and nice looking tiffins do work well. The addition of a pool table and a full bar that runs the length of the back wall, seems to give rise to mixed thoughts of what Arjee Bharjee is actually meant to be. Is it a British Indian inspired Pub or a Licensed Restaurant?
In any event on this evening, the restaurant is worryingly empty.
So with uninspiring interiors and strange parking arrangements you're kind of left with the food needing to be the wow factor.
Enter the Aloo Channa Chaat (15 AED) which without any exaggeration probably single-handedly transforms the experience in a positive way. It is a revelation with its perfectly balanced and tangy mix of potatoes, onion, tomato, pomegranate seeds and coriander. This is a triumph of Indian flavor and a must a try.
Moving on from the openers of Vegetable Samosa (20 AED) and the Papadums (5 AED) which were nice but not up there with the Chaat, the mains still held some promise.
The Mutton Biryani (50 AED) arrived in a copper pot with a candle heater and it was hot! So be warned do not try to serve it while touching the pot. As far as biryani's go in this part of the world the competition is immense so it was always going to be interesting to see how Arjee's would stack up and for the most part it was nice but for some reason it just seemed to lack anything that made it memorable. With the exception of the Union Jack place-mats there was nothing to really discern it as being 'Brindian'.
On the other hand the Chicken Tikka Masala (50 AED) was pretty darn good with it's rich and creamy curry and nicely cooked, tender chicken pieces. The dish was very flavorful and full of aromatics and thoroughly enjoyable.
Regrettably, the accompanying Cheese Naan was much less successful and was akin to eating a dull piece of cardboard with a smidgen of cheese hidden in it. This was not a great way to celebrate such a wonderful curry. So with that and in the absence of any punters or real argy bargy it was time to bid the one lone server farewell and say good night.
I’ve gotta say sadly that overall, Arjee Bharjee was a real hit and miss kind of affair.
In fairness the price point is good for what's on offer and by Palm standards represents great value for money if you can look past the lack of ambience and any real wow factor. You could think of Arjee Bharjee being to Brindian what Bidi Bondi is to Australiana and no wonder it turns out that both venues are run by Emirates Leisure Group.
If you live close by or have gotten bored with what's happening next door then this may well be a viable local for you. The question is, is this enough to make the overall concept a success as it seems to just fall a little short in execution to really provide the gravitas needed to make it an Indian smash hit and reach a wider audience.
Perhaps you need to tikka look for yourself and decide.
