It is not everyday that I get invited out by the King of Kong, Mr Mansour “the food guru of Dubai” Madani himself. So, to be invited out twice in as many weeks is, well, very special indeed. This review, my first since the C-19 outbreak, is about the first of those invites – Ghazal Coffee Shop and Iranian restaurant in Baniyas. Pre-COVID, Ghazal was quite a popular, if somewhat stereotypical, shisha joint and restaurant…not that different to Baran around the corner and Arman Café (now closed) at the Emirates Concorde a few doors down – both as famous for their notoriety as for their food, especially Baran.
Sadaf is on the other side. I like Ghazal this much better. 
A view from the street 
Private dining 
The interior, thankfully devoid of shisha smell
Sadly, their head-chef Khalil, who some may remember from his time at Qashqai in Al Muttena Road (also closed), was not in town on the day HRH and I visited the restaurant. We ordered a mixed grill, which comprised of Tikka Masti Chicken, Bahraini Meat Kabab, Koobideh and a boneless Saffron Jujeh Kabab. All Ghazal Coffee Shop orders come with complimentary soup, herbs, mast-o-khiyar (cucumber raita), salad and flat bread (usually hot from the oven – usually) – yeah, our bread turned out to be plain supermarket Lebanese bread. I’m reminded that we’re just coming out of lockdown so I shouldn’t be too picky.
The spread 
Rice with Tahdeeg – Yum! 
Tikka Masti Chicken 
The Mixed Grill
I’ll be honest, the kababs were better than I expected. How much of this was because, after so many weeks of isolation, I was craving kababs sooooooo bad, and how much was down to the kababs actually being good…I guess I will not know till I go back and try their kababs again. I singled out their Koobideh for praise. It wasn’t nearly as good as Feri Classic’s but hey, Feri’s still not opened…so top spot for best Koobideh in Dubai is suddenly wide open. I liked their Bahraini more than their Tikka Masti which I felt was slightly overcooked. All in all, GOOD kabab – definitely worth a try.
#1 Blogger on Zomato Dubai in 2018 and 2019 and #1 Reviewer on Zomato Dubai for three consecutive years before that…Yeah!
Xerxes physically dines at, or orders from, each and every venue he reviews. He pays in full for whatever he and his companions eat, drink, take away or occasionally throw at each other. Xerxes accepts no money, gifts, discounts or free meals in return for reviews or favouritism. What you have read was NOT influenced in any way by the venue. Join me on Instagram @ravenousxerxes or email me on xerxes@dellara.com.