Al Mashawai Al Halabiya at Garhoud - An absolute must try if you love good arabian food and shisha

Garhoud area is becoming a mecca of Middle Eastern and Levantine Cuisine in Dubai. With a slew of restaurants and cafes lining the road, one has the privilege to pick and choose a restaurant of ones liking.

We were recently at Al Mashawi Al Halabiya at Garhoud. Aleppo Grills is a monicker and if you were to check the map on Google It would show you as Aleppo Grills. Both are the same brand, so don't be confused. 

A sprawling restaurant with two levels divided into smoking, non smoking and family areas, Al Mashawi Al Halabiya has enough space inside to seat an entire marriage party. Slick and very well done up interiors with mid eastern tones and touches give the place a very arabian vibe. Even the tables have an interesting pattern, 

After the usual temperature check that is part of the new normal in Dubai, we were ushered into their non smoking dining area initially as my dining partner is a non smoker. Later we moved to the smoking part of the restaurant as the vibe was quite different there, with music, more people and more conversations.

The restaurant gets super busy usually on weekends as there is live music and entertainment for the guests. The ambiance is so open, airy, casual and relaxing. I am definitely going there to try their shisha again! 

In Food

We were offered their welcome platter which was fresh home made delicious and soft bread with an equally tantalizing dip. Love at first bite I should say and the quality of the bread gave us a fair sense of what to expect from there. There is an old belief that if the restaurant does their basics right, then everything else that follows wouldn't miss the mark. 

In drinks, we ordered watermelon and lemon mint. Reasonably priced at 18 and 19 respectively, the drinks were in giant glasses that remained till we completed our main course. 

On this note, I must mentioned that their pricing is very very reasonable for a restaurant of this standard and class in the location. You'll almost feel you are dining in a star hotels restaurant, so fine dining at its best. 

Starters and Appetizers and Small plates

Alepines Sausage : Baby sausages that tasted lit! It was served with french fries on side. 

Toskha Plate :  So well made and packed in flavours and great start to the meal.

Khameer : Better than most Khameer I tried recently. 

Rocca Salad : Freshness and Quality is what assured us that they source the best of fruits and vegetables available in the market

Quinoa salad : Healthy and good and absolutely a pleasure to have before the main event. 

Mutabal : One of the best Muthabal I have tried in recent times

Hummous : Very well made. Again best one we ever tried in recent times from any arabic restaurant

Muhamara : Good

Mix Grill : Tender meat, freshly sourced from lamb sourced by owner personally for his farms from Syria. This ensures that the meat is always top class.

They have home delivery at a reasonable charge and if you order one kg , they offer complimentary sides (hummous, muthabal, etc and bread ) along with it. 

in Desserts we had Mafroukeh with pistacios. I cant stop praising this dessert as it is one of the top top desserts I ve ever had a chance to enjoy from any arabic restaurant in Dubai. Reason being that it was so delicious yet, absolutely low on sugar and high on nuts. 

Arabic Ice cream with pistacious tasted amazing. It was so refreshing and a fabulous end ot the fascinating meal. 

Conclusion :

Top class recommended restaurant in Garhoud area which I can send people to, without thinking twice. I personally am so convinced about its quality and mesmerized by the taste and relieved by the pricing as i know i can walk in again and not worry about it being expensive. 

Very lovely place to take your family or friends to enjoy some fine arabian fare and great shishas. The shishas I should mention are priced quite normally and the quality is supreme.