The newest addition to Hamdan Street’s illustrious collection of Indian restaurants, Golden Crown, certainly goes all out to give its customers the royal treatment. When we arrived, we were greeted by a welcoming committee of waiters all lined up and beaming eagerly at the door, and ushered upstairs to an extremely gold room. The restaurant’s theme, according to the menu, is the Mughal Era (that’s the fifteenth to nineteenth century rulers of India, in case you were wondering), although touches such as the chintzy seating, numerous pages of Chinese food on the menu and a smattering of Arabic starters seem a bit incongruous.
We tucked into fried squid and threaded chicken – strips of meat wound in strings of batter – to begin with. Maybe they were bad choices on our part, but both were too heavy to be classed as starters, even when divided between four people. That said, we couldn’t fault the waiting staff, who were incredibly attentive and formal, dishing out the food with astoundingly meticulous fairness. In fact it got quite nerve-wracking when, after dishing out one piece of chicken to each of us, the waiter’s spoon came across a spare piece. Looking flustered, and not wanting to seem like he had favourites, he hurriedly dropped it on to a spare plate. Since in budget curry houses we’re more used to bowls of steaming curries being unceremoniously slapped on the table, followed by a free-for-all of bread-tearing, rice-scooping and sauce-dipping, we persuaded them to leave us to it for the main course.
Speaking of the mains, the chicken makhani was a big hit, with the right balance of creaminess, tomato and tender chunks of meat. The garlic naan was brittle and crispy, rather than soft, but packed a good garlicky punch, and the Tandoori pomfret was spicy and well-cooked, although not as meaty as we’d hoped. We ordered a Chinese dish to see if the Golden Crown could pull it off, and they almost did. Sesame prawns, battered and served in a gloopy sauce were tasty, but the salt and garlic overwhelmed any other flavours. In other words, if you pay this restaurant a visit, stick to the Indian fare.
Luckily, the five-star service doesn’t come with an appropriate bill, and, although it’s marginally more expensive than some of the other backstreet Indian restaurants in the area, the few extra dirhams you’ll cough up are worth it.
The bill (for four)
Stir fried squid Dhs25
Threaded chicken Dhs27
Tandoori pomfret Dhs29
Chicken makhani Dhs24
Sesame prawns Dhs44
Garlic naan Dhs16
Total (excluding service) Dhs165
