On our weekend staycation at the Rosewood Abu Dhabi a couple of months ago, we dined in the evening at Spice Mela, their in-house Indian restaurant. Now, Indian cuisine is not normally our favourite food of choice, but both Mr. Arabian Notes and myself were very impressed with what came next…
UPDATE OCT 2015: SPICE MELA IS SADLY NO LONGER OPERATING
We tried Chef Siddharth’s tasting menu which was fairly ambitious after having had brunch already that day, but it was well worth the effort…
There are a whole lot of starters before you even get started on the mains so take your appetite – but it is a great way to taste a variety of different things… and it’s really well worth the effort I promise! You can also choose from two options – with or without alcohol. If you go for the alcohol version every course comes paired with a different wine… a great fun night out for a group of friends with unbelievable food! It brings a whole new style to the idea of ‘a few beers and a curry’! I certainly know a few people who would absolutely love this meal!
Chilled mango soup and Spiced Heirloom Tomato Salad
Scallops with ginger and grilled monkfish
I love scallops, and this dish was no different – beautifully presented and tasted amazing too! The texture of the monkfish was amazing, so tender and juicy.
Oven roasted Chilean seabass
Rajasthani lamb kebab
It seemed like dish after dish just kept coming, each equally as excellent as the last. And every single one of them so beautiful to look at too! If eating is also for the eyes, then these eyes also overindulged that night!
Next, it was finally onto the main course!
Calcutta prawn curry, Konkan Green Chicken, Bindhi Singhara Do Pyaza and Dal Panchmel
Lentils, prawns, chicken, okra, rice and bread, though it doesn’t sound as impressive when I say it like that! Again, it looked amazing, smelled amazing, and was flipping delicious…
I honestly have no idea how we did it, but we did manage to squeeze in some dessert… the tasting menu dessert was a dark chocolate dish that consisted of hazelnut praline and walnut ice cream which Mr. Arabian Notes enjoyed, though I am not a nut lover so they kindly brought me an alternative…
Dark chocolate wattalappam
Garam Masala rice Brûlée with black cherry granita
…of a Garam Masala rice brûlée with black cherry granita, which was basically a fancy (and utterly yummy) rice pudding. The black cherry granita was especially good – I think I could have eaten a bowl of that alone! 🙂
Overall, it was a very special meal and far exceeded our expectations. As people who don’t often pick Indian cuisine as our meal of choice I have to say it was so impressive and we would absolutely go back. I have several friends in mind that I know would love it, especially with the different wine pairings for each course – definitely a great way to spend a lovely (and I daresay after a couple of courses – quite lively!) evening out with friends!
The other amazing thing about this meal is the good value it offers – for everything on the tasting menu I’ve listed above, it’s priced at just Dhs295, or Dhs460 for the food and wine! Now that might sound like quite a lot, but when you look at what you actually get for that – let alone the sheer quality, it’s really a very good price.
Spice Mela is now closed until after the summer but will reopen around September time with some new tastes and dishes to add to the menu. But make sure you add it to the must do list – I for one can’t wait to get back and have another go! 🙂
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