Tucked into the middle of town, vegetarian Indian restaurant Chhappan Bhog looks fairly innocuous from the outside, but we’ve heard positive rumours about the food coming from the kitchen here, so we venture inside in the hope of a good feed for lunch.
The décor here is a simple cafeteria, nothing stands out. On our visit, approximately half of the dozen or so tables are occupied with couples tucking into traditional dishes. A counter contains street food for those looking to pop in and grab something on the go, and a sweet pastry shop offering daintier delicacies.
We take a glance at the menu, but as we are flicking through we’re told what isn’t available, which turns out to be the majority of it. There are no dosas or chaats, and only the appetisers that we can see in the counter (we spot the samosas, but there are no bhajis to be seen).
Having established what isn’t on the menu, we take a closer look at what is. This isn’t as easy as it sounds, because there is no English on the menu. Thankfully, we feel fairly well versed in the language of the traditional Indian menu, recognising many of the vegetables, and know what parathas, chaats and dosas are, but we still feel as though we could do with a little more info.
We are confused, and it is heavily suggested we order the thali (it appears everyone is eating the same) so we make it simple for ourselves and go along with the waiters suggestion and order the thali (various small dishes), two vegetable samosas, a gobi (cauliflower) paratha and an aloo (potato) paratha.
We dig into the samosas to start. They are big, packed with filling and well-seasoned. They are oily, but that’s how we like them – and think they should always be – so we agree they are a hit.
We are then presented with the thali. We aren’t told what the dishes are, but from eye we see a potato curry, a green bean curry, a lentil curry, a curry we simply don’t recognise, raita, rice and some mini flat breads. The curries are hot and full of flavour – particularly the green bean which is our favourite – and they are ably supported by the parathas, which are fluffy and distinctively different in flavour.
We enjoy our food at Chhappan Bhog, particularly when we see the bill, which comes to a fraction of what we usually pay for a meal. We’re a little disappointed we weren’t given the option of ordering anything from the menu (it felt like the food was pre-prepared for dinner before arrival – in which case it would be better to make this clear from the outset), but overall we would recommend dining here to the adventurous foodie.
The bill (for two)
Samosa x2 Dhs5
Gobi paratha Dhs7
Aloo paratha Dhs8
Thali Dhs21
Total (excl. service) Dhs41
