Ravi Restaurant, Dubai : Excellent Pakistani Food

One thing that I watch most on YouTube and Facebook is videos about Pakistani food. I can’t travel to Pakistan given our diplomatic relations. However, I have eaten few Pakistani dishes, courtesy some chefs including Osama Jalali. And that is why Pakistani Kadai was on my mind when I visited UAE. Someone suggested Ravi restaurant in Dubai and we went there for lunch today.

Pronounced as ‘Raavi’, it is a popular Pakistani restaurant located in the Old Dubai area called Karama. Serving almost 400-500 guests from a 50 seater restaurant speaks highly of their efficiency. On request I could even visit their kitchen. Most of the food is prepared fresh in big utensils and served quickly, just like at dhabas.

We ordered Ravi’s most sought after Peshawari mutton handi, dal maash, ginger chicken in the main course and seekh kebab, chicken boti and chicken tikka in starters. Portions at Ravi are pretty big and pricing very reasonable compared to Dubai standards.

Seekh kebab are moist and juicy though spicy. It went well with crisp tandoori roti. Chicken boti is again very good but there was so much food that I just tasted. The rest of the food was finished by my friends. What they call chicken tikka is like a cut of tandoori chicken with the chicken tikka spices. We loved it!

Two dishes certainly not to be missed are dal maash, the crunchy dal without any onions is something I never get right at home. The other not to be missed dish is Peshawari mutton kadai. Made in a korma style and served in a kadhai, I could see curd in the kitchen which almost dried when served to us. This mutton is sourced from Pakistan and we loved it. Ginger chicken is fried chicken slivers cooked in gravy and dried. It is then topped up with Hari mirch and ginger. Another good dish but if you want to eat only two dishes then my picks are Peshawari mutton kadai and daal maash.

Finished the meal with almond topped kheer and kadak chai.

Ravi is another must-visit place.