Decent Arabic fare that won’t hurt your wallet.
Walking into this little eatery just opposite Abu Dhabi Mall, you won’t get any grand notions. The venue is simple yet inviting, with friendly staff at hand ready to assist you. We took a seat beside a large table
of cackling ladies and were presented with menus. The décor around us is straight to the point; a little humour is injected into some murals and there are comic drawings adorning the walls. We noticed a pillow with an image of (Egyptian superstar) Umm Kulthum on one of the shelves. The menu consisted of all the usual suspects when it comes to Levantine cuisine and we soon settled on a few options.
We started with a large tabbouleh to share and some stuffed vine leaves. The salad was quite substantial and was executed well.
It packed all the right flavour, but the parsley was just a tad course. Nevertheless, it was very fresh and we enjoyed bites of the citrusy dish with our meal. Even after wolfing down mouthfuls while chatting, there was still a large portion left. This salad is easily fit for three to share. The vine leaves were great; they were light and refreshing.
For our mains, we tried a meat shawarma plate and a spinach with cheese manouche, which arrived fairly quickly after we’d ordered.
The portions were reasonable; the shawarma plate had Arabic bread open with a large pile of meat on it, as well as fries and tahini sauce.
The meat was juicy and just spiced enough. With a light drizzling of the tahini sauce, each bite was very satisfying. The meat was fresh and a great shawarma option in the city. The spinach manouche with cheese was also decent; it was cooked to perfection and was not too salty or greasy. The venue serves two kinds of manakish; the open faced ones and the wrapped ones. People around us seemed to be enjoying both kinds.
After eating most of our dishes, we were tempted to end on a sweet note by the little ice cream stand in the corner. The venue boasts some interesting flavours, like miska (mastic) and Kinder. After much deliberating, we settled on Snickers and ordered one portion to share. The scoop arrived with little chunks of the chocolate bar in it, and our pledge to stick to one bite was hard to maintain. Mora also sells ice creams by the kilo and half kilo, and they deliver; a great solution for any celebratory events.
When we finally got the bill, we were impressed to see how affordable it was. Mora is certainly a budget eatery that does not skimp on quality.
The bill (for two)
Vine leaves Dhs15
Large tabbouleh Dhs25
Meat shawarma plate Dhs20
Manouche Dhs12
Ice cream Dhs7
Total (excluding service) Dhs79
