Puranmal Meena Bazaar is the largest of the many Puranmal’s I have visited throughout Dubai. Walk in and you wouldn’t think so though, the downstairs entrance area is mainly occupied by chilled display counters where their famous Indian sweets are exhibited like jewellery in the gold Souq.
Take the stairs up however and you enter a proper restaurant; one with a little lounge on the side, an open kitchen, washing areas and a nice view of the street below. A window table is recommended.
I was there for breakfast and ordered, by default, an idly-wada combo to start followed by a masala dosa. Although Puranmal is famous for its sweets I am always impressed with the quality of its food, South Indian breakfast in particular. My idly was light and fluffy and my wada crunchy. The coconut chutney was lovely and fresh and I ended up eating it on its own, much to the amusement of the kitchen staff.
My waiter timed delivery of my dosa perfectly, bringing it out two minutes after I had finished my idly-wada. The dosa too was lovely; crispy yet soft and flexible enough to tear pieces off without it crumbling. And it wasn’t too oily either. I loved it’s almost creamy potato filling. If I must nag about something it would have to be the sambar, which I thought was, believe it or not, a little bitter. Otherwise it the entire episode was the perfect start to the day.
If you’re in the area and fancy a South Indian breakfast, you can’t go wrong at Puranmal.
Waste NOT. Want NOT.