Dubai has no shortage of Indian restaurants, and I have visited most of them. Naya has been around for couple of years and I hadn’t visited them as yet. So last Friday, I booked a table for my little girl and me for their Friday brunch.
Located on the First Floor of Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Naya is an authentic Indian restaurant specializing in North Indian Cuisine. Around the time I visited them they had a mango festival going on- Aam Sutra. So I got to try few of their mango based dishes.
The interiors of Naya is rustic, earthy and colorful. The restaurant offers indoor and outdoor dining area. The outdoor terrace offers the stunning Burj Al Arab view.
The Maharaja Friday Feast is Naya’s Friday brunch that happens on every Friday at 12:30-15:30. It comes with 3 kinds of package- 1 with alcohol, 2 with soft drinks and 3 only food. We opted for the second package with soft beverages. It cost us AED 225 per person.
The best part of the brunch was there was no buffet. All the dishes were served to our table, course wise. So it was a relaxed affair.
While we were sipping on fresh Orange Juice we were offered the customary Poppadums with three kinds of chutney.
Naya is headed by Chef Pravish Shetty. Loved the way he beautifully presented the traditional North Indian dishes. The plating was on point.
Starters
As vegetarians, we ordered only veg dishes. First to arrive at our table was Veg Starter platter and it consisted of Paneer Tikka, Dahi Puri Chaat and Sabudana Chaat. Each and every starter was deliciously different, flavorful and tasty.
From their Mango Festival menu we were served Mango Papdi Chaat. It was the regular chaat with the addition of good quality mangoes. It had a mix of sweet and spice. My daughter didn’t like it, as I like this kind of flavor, I loved it.
Naya has limited options for vegetarians.
Mains
Mango Kofta Curry was again their dish from Mango Festival menu. It had mango kofta, creamy sauce with spices. We found it a bit too sweet.
Tadka Dal is a simple lentil curry and you cannot go wrong with that.
Amritsari Chole is one of the popular Punjabi dish in Punjab, India and at Naya, it was cooked perfectly and had a delicious homemade taste and flavor.
Mango Pulav was another winning dish. Long grained basmati rice was cooked with raw mango and spices. This Pulav had a tangy flavor and we absolutely loved it.
Bread Basket had a mix of Tandoori Roti and Paratha that was freshly made and went well with the curries.
Desserts
Naya Dessert Platter featured Gulab Jamun, Mango Kulfi and Rasmalai. The Gulab Jamun had a melt-in-your mouth quality to it, the Kulfi was amazing and the Rasmalai was sweet and creamy.
We were also served a dessert from their Mango Festival menu. We liked the good quality mango slices and the elaichi ice cream. But the dessert(I didn’t get the name) didn’t work well, as it was soggy and tasted bland.
Our overall experience was good. But the service has to be improved as it was very slow and they took too much time to serve us though the restaurant was not crowded.
For reservations call: 04 432 3232
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