First Look: Moombai & Co. Café and Bar
Time Out Dubai checks out the new modern Parsi café at The H Dubai
There’s a brand-new Indian restaurant in town – and Time Out Dubai got an exclusive look ahead of its opening.
Moombai & Co. Café and Bar is due to throw open its doors this Friday (September 15) in The H Dubai on Sheikh Zayed Road.
It’s billed as a “modern Parsi café, featuring all of Auntie’s favourite Indian dishes”.
The quirky eatery blends 1950s Mumbai with modern-day Dubai and aims to maintain the legacy of Parsi cafés.
Parsi cafés are well-known in Mumbai and were established by Persian settlers in the 19th century, who would gather in the evenings and chat over chai and bun maksa (bread and butter).
The décor is reminiscent of this, too, featuring ceiling fans, exposed brick, mahogany furniture, Italian marble tabletops, bent cane chairs and pendulum wall clocks.
There are also vibrant old Bollywood posters, memorabilia and more that have been sourced directly from Mumbai.
“Moombai & Co. Café and Bar revives and relives a rich part of Mumbai’s cultural narrative and rewrites it, right here in Dubai,” says the team behind it. “It’s like visiting your auntie’s house back home where everyone is welcome and no one leaves hungry.”
The kitchen is headed up by chef Ashish Kumar who has rolled out an interesting and delicious-sounding menu.
The extensive list has some exciting-sounding dishes including keema pao, a traditional café delicacy of minced meat with buttered pao bread and patra ni macchi, white pomfret marinated with green chutney and wrapped in banana leaf before being steamed.
There are also lamb shanks cooked in a traditional copper tiffin and the signature chicken berry biryani, made with mixed berries and cooked in authentic earthenware.
And as a nod to “Auntie” that the restaurant refers to throughout, there’s Auntie’s bhuna gosht, a slow-cooked goat curry.
A separate bar called the Permit Bar also features, so if you’re after a chilled-out drink a daily happy hour with various offers will run from 5pm to 8pm.
That’s not all the exciting news, either. There’s also a brunch in the pipeline, aimed to reflect an all-day breakfast theme on a Saturday, though timings and prices are yet to be confirmed. And there’s an outdoor terrace to come, too.
Head down there from Friday September 15 to see it for yourself.
