Bait-Al-Mandi

We actually do not plan anything for any weekend. Just immediate plans. And such a decision was to have lunch from the "bait-al-mandi" restaurant in Al Rigga Road, Deira this weekend. Its a yemeni restaurant where we get Arabic food. For my in-laws who dropped in to Dubai we were trying out several food varieties for the past 2 months since Dubai is one place where we get all kinds of food.
We (Myself, My husband, My In-laws, and my 4 months old daughter) headed towards Deira at around 1.30 PM. We reached "bait-al-mandi" at around 2 PM. The place reminded me of the days I love most in my life. This is the place where I started my life as a wife. Experiments with cooking, and experience of living in a shared house with a shared kitchen, waiting for husband to return from work during week days, job search, and the weekend blast with our dear friends. So memorable days. As I was deep in those memories, our car stopped infront of "bait-al-mandi" and we all came out and met our friend and family there. Just had a chat with them and we all went inside.
I happened to be there once before. To be frank with you, its such a nice option to hang out and have food. The ground floor is similar to any other restaurant where we have food at tables. But the real fun is there upstairs. Small rooms numbered 1-10 (I guess). We a group of 6 people and 2 kids got room number 5. We walked through a narrow corridor both sides of which consisted of small rooms with doors. And there is No.5. I forgot to tell you, here we sit down on carpets on the floor to have food. So we left our chappals outside the room before entering. We entered a well maintained room. Ofcourse its accessories are looking old but still its so beautiful which is decorated all sides with flowers. One side of our room facing the road. Through the glass we could see the beauty of Deira. It was a big room where have red pillows to suit the red carpet on the floor. And there are few square cushions which I guess to sit on (my guess only) and a few boxes over which we may place food if we want.
We all sat on the floor. My daughter laying on the floor was looking curiosly at each every thing in that room. A man came and asked something in Arabic. We guessed he was asking about the food we wish to order. We ordered 1 plate of "mandi" (Yemeni dish) along with mutton, chicken and fish. You might be wondering why we are not looking at the menu. I do not remember seeing a menu over there. And none of us bothered to look for a menu. Because the only thing we ever had from there is a "mandi".
Let me explain what is a "mandi". It is a dish with rice and meat. The rice is cooked with some flavours and masalas. The meat/fish/rice comes in huge quantities. And there would be curd, and some salad. The salad looks like a paste of water melon. Actually its main content is tomato.
Our gang of 6 people easily managed with a single plate of "mandi". By that you will understand the huge quantity served. We all were so happy because there were so much space unlike other restaurants and much privacy. And the bill did not go beyond 80 AED. Which shows it is cost effective too. Everybody enjoyed it fully including the children.
And we left "bait-al-mandi" with great pleasure of having food from a different atmosphere.