Zizo, Dlf Cyber Hub, Gurgaon

Fattoush Salad: It is always considered “healthy” to begin a meal with a light sweet and savoury salad. My holiday lunch began with this light salad consisting of diced zucchini, cucumber, tomatoes, crispy pita chips and pomegranate seeds in a slightly tangy sauce. RECOMMENDED.

Hummus Rasasfour: This is a special type of hummus served with pomegranate, molasses and diced chicken. The chicken pieces are extra juicy and have well imbibed the flavours of the molasses.

Mixed Grill Platter: A refreshing break from the regular spiced laden Tandoori platter. The Turkish Adana and lamb kebabs were very juicy, firm, tender and resembled our very own Seekh kebab, albeit subtler but hot. Shish Touk was ohh-so-luscious with the goodness of mint  and smoked to perfection with butter. Iranian Urfa chicken kebab was slightly hotter, drier and saltier. RECOMMENDED.

Yamini Chicken Manfi Rice: I shall call this Yemenese biryani. Two humongous pieces of chicken leg and breast on a bed of spiced rice is surely my dream meal. The rice was cooked in Yemenese spices as well as our coarse ones – black cardomam, cloves and black pepper and topped with caramelised onions. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Cheese Gunafa: I though desserts fashioned out of cheese were only the expertise of Europeans. But no, hell no, Middle Eastern cuisine also uses cheese to prepare delectable sugary bites. The cheese gunafa is warm and moderately sweet with fried vermicelli dipped in sugar syrup on top. Not to forget the finely chopped pistachios. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.