Farzi Cafe was a total surprise!

The trendy-looking cafe on City Walk looks like it might serve some interesting dishes, but nothing prepares you for the Farzi five-star fine-dining experience…

I realize we’re spoiled for funky cafes in Dubai, but when your meal starts with an amuse-bouche like this, you blink twice in disbelief:

And that’s just to warm up your palate!

Beautiful presentation – live, active smoky movement, a bed of the freshest rocket, and an exceptionally tangy bite of delight!

Are you really in a cafe, or a top restaurant?

Well, the answer is both…

Farzi Cafe is a modern Indian bistro, very cleverly presenting a relaxed luxury cafe styling, and then surprising with Indian fusion haute cuisine!

City Walk II is a bustling dining/shopping arcade, directly between the Burj Khalifa and the beach – and Farzi Cafe is nestled front, pride and center along the main stretch : unmissable!

Seating inside or outside is your choice,

and the interior dining hall goes from cozy, to private nook, and back to full-frontal excitement!

The menu is eclectic and vibrant.

But when an Italian diner, in an Indian restaurant, sees “Arancini” on the menu, there are two instant forces of nature that arise:

One instinct is to say, “No way!” and turn the page, as a matter of patriotic pride, and to avoid having to experience a mutilation of proper authentic flavors…

Yet the other instinct is one of curiosity, of wonder… “What could a really talented Indian fusion Chef do with an Arancino?”

Surely Farzi Cafe is the place to unleash the latter sentiment – let innovation and experimentation rule the day!

And you would be very wise to do so – I was flabbergasted!

An insanely delicious Dal Chawal Arancini!

Lentil risotto balls, pickle mayo, poppadom rolls, on a bed of phenomenal tomato salsa, sprinkled with magic…

This dish just exploded my taste buds, and blew open my mind – I was now ready and eager for any fused concoction the good Farzi Chef could produce!

I was primed for Farzification!!!

And Farzi Cafe just took off from that moment on, taking us on a whirlwind tour of all possible and impossible flavors and textures, bred from ancient Indian lineage of delicacies, but tweaked and innovated into modern renditions – all of them culinary masterpieces in their own right.

A gorgeous Paneer Tikka, and below a chicken tandoor version:

Exemplary preparation technique, and delicious to boot!

Just look at the care and attention to detail in the caramelization and preceding marination with mystical spices – superb.

And more!

And I’ll purposely exclude some of the magnificent and creative presentations, not to spoil your surprise when you visit – because indeed the theme at Farzi Cafe was ‘surprise’, and I believe you should have that privilege for your own experience – so please forgive me for leaving out some of the best theatrics and props…

I will instead comment on what was probably the most delicious, and creamiest, slow-cooked Dal Makhni ever tasted in 22 years of culinary enjoyment in the UAE – and this is a dish one finds from the smallest hole-in-the-wall cafeteria to the most prestigious of Indian establishments: usually all delicious in their own way, but then comes Farzi’s, head and shoulders above all.

Try it, and tell me what you think.

Drinks were of the same esteemed level of excitement and excellence…

… and dessert crowned a magnificent dining experience, at Farzi Cafe.

Dramatic, surprising, and especially delicious, Farzi Cafe left me in awe, while at the same feeling relaxed, in a wonderful contrast of understated luxury that I think epitomizes the host city: Dubai.

The service was provided by a humble yet very knowledgeable young man, Mr Anish Jamwal, a professional with a promising future in hospitality management; and yet leaving us totally feeling at ease and well-cared for, as the good Chef teased our palate as a masterful musician would play the sitar – all in all, Farzi Cafe was exceptional in all regards.