$200 Indian Luxury Hotel in Dubai
- I am at the Taj hotel in Dubai. Now, the Taj is an Indian brand of luxury hotels that I did not get the chance to stay in while I was in India, so hopefully now, here in Dubai, I will get the chance to experience some good Indian hospitality and cuisine. Surely, they've got some good Desi grub in this place. Let's go in and check it out. Hello, sir, how are you? I'm checking in. - Very well. We've been expecting you.
- [Dale] Okay, hi. Okay, good. - For your good health, wealth, and prosperity, and all the good wishes, all the good blessings. - [Dale] So what is it you're burning? - So it is called, in Hindi language, it's called Diya.
- [Dale] Ah, okay. - It's made of cotton, and then we put oil, and then we light it. - [Dale] So it gives a nice smell, and also, it's for blessing as well. - Yes, exactly, exactly.
It's an Indian way of blessing our guests. Thank you so very- - [Dale] It's the first time I've experienced that. It's very nice.
- All the good blessings and we wish you a pleasant stay. - Oh, thank you. - Thank you. Mr Philips, you drove here sir? - [Dale] Yeah, I drove from Fujairah. - [Hotel Employee] From Fujairah? Next time, you give it to our valet, sir. - [Dale] Ah, okay. I like to self-park, 'cause then when I want to go, I can just go.
I don't need to wait for... Thank you. - You're welcome. You just need to swipe it up under here- - Swipe here? Okay. Here you go. Okay, fantastic, sir. Thank you. - [Hotel Employee] You're welcome.
- Okay, great. 3105, it looks like I've got a high floor here. Four floors from the top, so should have a nice view from the room. Okay, next room should be my one.
Some lovely horses on the wall, and hopefully, a lovely room. My expectations are high for this place. Let's go in and check this place out. Oh, some nice flowers on the floor. Oh, they smell nice as well. Getting some good smells in this place.
Okay, right here, there's a place for me to (groans) dump off my worldly possessions. Oh, that feels a lot better. That feels about 15 kilos lighter. (laughs) I'm carrying all sorts of stuff on me, like this, that are useful. A couple of USB ports in there. It's been useful to me.
Okay, let's check this place out then. Oh! It's a big place. It's a big room. And what is this?
Some sweets for your man? Oh, wow! And some biscuits and some fruit, and what is this? Some baklava and dates, oh, my God! I'm spoiled. What have we got here? Coconut ladoo. This is Indian sweets. I know what ladoo is.
What the? That's me! It's yer man! What? (laughs) What is this? They've got pictures of me! This is me eating mutton... What? This is me eating mutton biryani in Calcutta. And this is me eating fire paan, these are my latest vlogs.
Oh, my God! How? Okay, so they were expecting me. (laughs) I've just ruined their beautiful... I'm taken aback by... That's the first time I've ever experienced anything like that in a hotel.
Wow, that's incredible. What else? Oh, my God, two cans of Coke Zero? Are you serious? "Courtesy from concierge." How did they know? How did they know? (laughs) Thank you, Kenneth James.
Thank you very much, Kenneth James. That is amazing! And what is this here? It's like an iPad, or something? I think this is like room service menu, but it's like an electronic thing. Oh, wow, this is incredible. Let's check out the view. Let's check out the view of Dubai. And, oh, wow! One of the world's most iconic buildings right there, and the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa, right there.
This is gonna look amazing at nighttime when it's all lit up. I'll try and remember to continue the vlog at night. And yeah, I think this is gonna be beautiful. Wow. So yeah, we're right there. That's the Dubai Fountain right there. That must be Dubai Mall, so almost walking distance.
I don't know if it's actually possible. Dubai's not really set up for pedestrians. I don't even see paths across there.
Probably have to take a taxi all the way around, or something, but we're very, very close to Dubai Mall, Burj Khalifa, Dubai Fountain right there. Very convenient location. Anyway, yeah. (laughs) I'm really astonished by that, seeing my own photo on the bloody sweets. What? I can barely believe it.
I can barely believe it. Oh, wow. Okay, so it's a really nice touch, isn't it? Everything kinda like Indian-style decor, the art on the wall as well. Very, very nice. Big comfy bed. Usually, all this stuff, I just get rid of it. I just like the bed nice and simple. This thing as well.
Big massive TV, some, what do you call them? Vases. Anyway, let's check out the bathroom. So we've got right here, a massive bathtub, and that looks gleamingly-clean as well. It's like marble as well. Let's go and check that out. Let's take a wander round here and check this out.
Wow! Look at this. That is real marble. That is thick real marble. How elegant is that? And at nighttime, it's gonna be possible, when all that's lit up, the Burj Khalifa and stuff, I'll be lying in the bath with that view, with those curtains wide open. Surely, nobody can see in that far, or maybe they can. Maybe there's somebody living in the Burj Khalifa, 60th floor, spying on me in the bath. Oh, well.
Absolutely massive mirror. Everything gleaming, thick marble as well. No expense spared. Look at this. It's not like imitation. It's not like a layer on the top of marble. It's just a thick slab of marble.
A little scale there, and this should be the shower, or not. It's a separate toilet area. That's nice. Cos, you know, after eating Indian food, you do a big doo-doo in there, and you don't want it stinking out your room. You can just close this. Perfect! Absolutely perfect. And this, a separate shower. I do like that as well.
I do like when you have the separate shower from the bathtub. Anyway, mini bar, that's always an important thing. In Dubai, for about the last year-and-a-half, since the 'rona started. This is the mini bar. Yeah, they don't provide anything in mini bars in hotels.
It's against the law. They have to leave the fridge empty. But I think you guys know, if you've seen my vlogs before, what's about to happen. That fridge is about to get filled up by yer man's own mini bar. Let's do it.
I think it's only fitting, when you stay in an Indian hotel, that you bring your own Indian mini bar. That's why I've got all this. These Badam drinks, these are like almond milk drinks that are made in India, and yeah. One with chocolate, cardamon, rose, pretty sure that's gonna taste like a falooda, and saffron. And then these snacks. Cos the supermarkets here, they're full of all this kinda stuff because so many Indian people live in the UAE, that they have all the snacks imported to provide for them.
So I've got this sweet boondi. That's made from besan. That's the chickpea flour. Sugar, cardamon, ghee, cashew nuts, raisins, and sunflower oil. Some Gingelly Balls, and some Khatta Meetha.
This looks like the bhelpuri I was eating in Delhi, but it's not bhelpuri 'cause they had another one called bhelpuri. This one, chickpea flour, noodles, rice flakes, green peas, and peanuts. So yeah, yer man's gonna get fat eating all this. Fortunately, we've got the sugar-free Coca-Cola. That's what we need. And right now, I've got a reservation for the Bombay Brasserie.
Let's go and get that Desi grub. (elevator chimes) Okay, fourth floor. There is no four. Oh, there is, Bombay Brasserie. (bright music) Hello, namaste. - Hi! - I made a reservation for Dale Philip.
Ah, okay, great, thank you. Ah, okay, fantastic. Thank you, very nice. Okay, I'll take this one then with all the stuff. - Certainly. - Wow, that's so much stuff. (warm music) So what do we have? - Here, you have some basil chicken tikka for you.
- This one's the chicken tikka right here? - Yes. - Ah, okay. - With (indistinct), some basil and kaffir lime - Okay, let me have a look. So this is the chicken tikka, right? And then there's a prawn on top. - [Waitress] Yeah, so prawn, which is (indistinct) some Indian spices. Here you have your minted lamb chops, your mint sauce. - Mint sauce. - [Waitress] Here you have some scallop and mushroom (indistinct).
- [Dale] Scallop, okay. - [Waitress] Here you have your beetroot (indistinct) sir. - Okay, fantastic. Looks amazing.
Okay, thank you very much, thank you. Wow. I'm gonna start with this. Oh, this is absolutely massive, this prawn, this bhatti prawn. So I just googled the word bhatti, expecting it would tell me what type of spice it is that's rubbed on this, 'cause it says bhatti prawn with a spice rub, or something. But it turns out bhatti is a clan of Rajputs or something. Maybe that clan of Rajputs, maybe that was their favourite spice, or something, but let's see if it's gonna be a favourite of mine.
I made a mess, my first bite. My first bite in a fancy restaurant, and it's on the bloody floor. Sorry, I made a mess.
My first bite, I made a mess. Sorry. (waitress speaking indistinctly) - [Waitress] I'll take care of it. - Really, I'm so sorry.
- [Waitress] You okay? - Yeah. - Too hot for you. - Luckily, it's like a spice rub, not like a curry or something. (laughs) So I just brushed it off.
(coughs) Okay, thank you. How about some this? Oh, yeah. (laughs) Yeah, I think I need it, actually. Thank you. Thank you so much. Okay, I feel like I probably need a bib, like a baby. Okay, so yeah.
Medium spicy, I'm feeling the spice, but I can handle it. And this prawn, absolutely massive, absolutely huge. It's a two-biter. Maybe a three-biter if you count the bite-size chunk that fell on the floor. This is what you need when you eat spicy food, a few sips of this between bites. Right, let's take a bite of this lamb chop.
A bit hanging off, am I gonna make a mess? Let's dip this in the lamb sauce, the mint sauce. (moans satisfactorily) That's nice. This lamb is so tender, and I'm not usually a big fan of mint sauce, but it's quite subtle. It's not overpowering or anything like that, so it is quite nice. And barely have to chew it as well.
It's so soft, it's so tender. Mm, lovely. Well, hands are messy now. I might as well eat the whole meal with my hands.
I think you're supposed to eat all this with your hands, right? Anything at all Indian, I think, it's acceptable to eat with your hands. Let's do this. Oh, this is the chicken tikka, actually. I thought that was more lamb 'cause it's covered in the mint sauce as well, I think. Oh, wow. And that is as tender as the lamb, just soft, succulent meat, delicious.
(Dale moans satisfactorily) Lovely. Okay, the scallop. I've never heard of scallops being in Indian cuisine before. I don't know, you guys tell me. Is this Indian or not? Let's see. Looks like there's some kinda Indian spice on it, though, so. It's incredible and just as tender as the meat, and yeah, has some sort of masala rub on it, so nice and spicy and another sip of the lassi required.
I'm probably gonna need a second glass of this. And now for the beetroot thing. The beetroot what? I don't know. I think she said it was a beetroot 'parchy' or something.
I don't know exactly what it is. Is that a chunk of beetroot, or is it something that's covered in beetroot? I don't know but it's a very fancy decoration. I almost feel bad about breaking this up. Let's see. Oh, what? This looks like some, oh, making a mess. This looks like something, I don't know, like...
Mm. Tastes like cream cheese mixed with beetroot. That's what it tastes like.
I guess this is something more that you'd want to spread on something. Maybe I should have been probably spreading that. I thought that was a chunk of something. Actually, this probably could have been spread on top of the lamb chop, but everything's gone.
I've nothing to spread on, so I'm just gonna eat it. (laughs) I'm just gonna pick it up and eat it. (Dale moans satisfactorily) I'm pretty sure that's cream cheese with chunks of beetroot in it.
Pink fingers now. - How is it? - I finished, but the beetroot thing, I was supposed to spread it on the meat or something, right? - Yes- - Ah, I left it till the end. I thought it was like a chunk of something, so I left it to the end and it just, like, spread like a spread, and I was like, "Oh, I'm so stupid." (Dale and waitress laughing) - [Waitress] Okay, maybe next time, you will come next time as well.
- Yeah, next time, I'll come with more knowledge. - Allow me to clear. - Yeah, please. Can I have another lassi as well? - [Waitress] Of course, lassi will fill up your stomach so you- - Yeah, but lassi, it balances out the spice. That's what I'm thinking about. Every time I eat something spicy, I take a little sip of lassi, and I feel good. - We do have a refreshing drink, which is watermelon.
- Watermelon. - Yeah, watermelon mint sauce. It's also very nice one, and then if you are looking for something sweet, we do have a Ranjha. - Ah, I'm gonna stick with the lassi for now. Next time, I will try the mocktails.
- Certainly. - Yeah. And this is medium spicy you gave me, right? Medium. - Yes. - Okay. - [Waitress] If you want more spice level down.
I can do that for you as well. - Oh, okay. I think it's fine just now, yeah. - It's fine? - I'm handling it. I'm not sweating, so. (laughs) I've eaten spicy food in India, and I've been, like, sweating, it's been so spicy. But yeah, I can handle the medium here.
- [Waitress] So you're ready to have the main course? - Yeah. - Certainly. (indistinct) - Okay, fantastic. - [Waitress] Here you have Ranjha. - What is it, Ranjha? - [Waitress] Yeah, the same drink which I was asking you to try.
- Okay, is that more of my mess? Oh, is that my mask? Oh, my mask is covered in the mess I made on the floor! Oh, no. It's okay. I have two more masks. Okay, this is Ranjha? Is this the one you said is watermelon? - No, sir, it's guava juice- - Guava. - Rose syrup,
and some dash of lemon juice. - You said it's guava and some kind of syrup? - [Waitress] Yes, rose syrup. - Rose syrup, ah, okay.
- Please enjoy. - Oh, wow, that's super sweet. There is a really nice rose flavor in there, but it doesn't taste like a falooda. It's like just way more sweet, and it's kinda like sparkling. Wow! That's off-the-chart sweet. - [Waitress] Just careful, it's warm plate.
- Warm, okay. Whenever someone tells me, "Be careful, it's hot, "be careful, it's warm," my first instinct is to touch it and see how hot it is. A little bit hot.
- [Luke] (laughs) Classic, dropping the food, yes. - Luke Damant says it's a classic that I drop the food. (Dale sighs) Oh, is this my main? - Yes. (Dale sighs)
Oh, is this my main? - Yes. - Oh, there's a lotta stuff. - [Waitress] Here, you have some steamed rice. - Some steamed rice.
- [Waitress] Some Jingha Alleppey Curry. - Say again. - [Waitress] Jingha Alleppey Curry, which is prawn curry. - Alleppey, Alleppey curry? - Alleppey. - Ah, okay. - It's an Indian- - Like from Alappuzha? - Yeah. - Ah.
- Here you have your martaban ka meat. - What is this? - It's lamb. - Lamb, ah, okay. - Here you have your spinach.
- Spinach. - [Waitress] You have your dal makhani, which is black lentils. - Okay. - [Waitress] And here you have some butter chicken for you. - Butter chicken, wow. This is a lot. - Raita.
- Raita, and then- - Assorted bread. It's a garlic naan and (indistinct). - Garlic naan and what paratha? (waitress speaking indistinctly) Okay. Wow, this is a lot. - Enjoy your- - It's like having a massive thali or something, but it's huge. Okay, okay, thank you so much. Wow, check this out. Wow, I'm gonna be stuffed after eating this, absolutely stuffed.
Let's start with the butter chicken. Let's mix this up. Oh, looks like there's two massive chunks, three massive chunks of chicken in there. You can see all that pepper. I can smell (sniffs deeply), I can smell the spiciness of that.
I did say I was gonna eat with my hands, but there's steam coming off that, so you know, I don't want to burn my hands. Maybe when some of this cools down, I'll try it with the... I'll try eating it with the fingers. Let's give this a go. Some beautiful white chicken meat covered in the butter chicken sauce.
Oh, wow! That flavouring, that tastes like, in the UK, if you've ever eaten some crisps called Monster Munch, it tastes like the pickle version of that, the pickle (laughs), I think it's pickle flavor. It tastes like a bag of Monster Munch, but it's nice, it's delicious. Just reminds me of that. (moans satisfactorily) Nice and smooth and creamy as well. Guess that'll be from the butter that's in it.
I guess that's why it's called butter chicken. There's probably half a slab of butter in there. Wow, very nice.
(Dale moans satisfactorily) And this one here, I'm pretty sure was the dal, black dal, I think, black lentils. So probably for this one, I'm probably gonna want to eat this with the rice. Okay, guys, it is still a little bit hot, but I'm going in with the hands. Mix that up with the rice. (moans satisfactorily) Nice and mild, mild-spiced dal.
I'm gonna try with, I think this is garlic naan, this one. Oh, it's nice and soft, nice and light. I think that'll go well together with this dal and rice. Just mop this up. (Dale moans satisfactorily) - [Waitress] How is your food sir? Oh, it's very nice, yeah. Hopefully, I can get through all this.
- [Waitress] Is there anything else I can do for you? - Maybe you can remind me what these ones are, 'cause my memory's like a fish. - [Waitress] So sorry, this is spinach with a water chestnut. - Spinach with water chestnut. Ah, okay. - [Waitress] Here you have your lamb curry, which is martaban ka meat.
- Okay. - [Waitress] And here you have your prawn curry. - And it's Alleppey, an Alleppey curry. - Alleppey curry. - Ah, okay.
- [Waitress] Prawn Alleppey curry. - Okay, fantastic. - Please enjoy. - Okay, so this naan, the garlic, it kinda just adds another level to the whole flavour, and yeah, think it's a good combination, the garlic naan, the dal, and the rice together. Let's just take a wee bit off here. I don't want to eat too much of the bread.
I want to make sure I finish all this delicious stuff. It would be a shame if I filled myself up with all that bread that's right there and then I couldn't finish this, my Alleppey curry and my lamb and spinach. Gotta get strong like Popeye. Okay, spinach time. I was gonna eat it on its own, but my spoon has rice stuck to it, so I'm just gonna have to mix a little bit of rice in there.
Looks like there's some peas in there as well. I see some green peas. Just dump that on the plate and have a go. Yeah, there's some green peas in there, and it's water chestnut.
That's what these chunks are as well. So I'll take one pea and one water chestnut. No spice to that at all.
You wouldn't think you were eating anything that was Indian cuisine, actually. There's nothing to tell you it's Indian cuisine. You know how spinach tastes kinda grassy? It doesn't taste like that, it's more smooth. It's more of a smooth taste, more of a kinda spinach pate they've made.
And then the water chestnut doesn't have much flavour either so, I don't know, it's quite bland, but I don't mean that in a bad way. It's just bland compared to all this spicy stuff, but it's nice enough. Let's go for the lamb curry. How many chunks of lamb do we have in here? I think it's like the chicken, there's three big chunks. And the curry, I don't know what kinda curry it is.
I asked her, like, three times already. I'm embarrassed to ask her a fourth time, what kinda curry it is, so I'm just gonna taste it and see what it's all about. Let's see, this lamb. It's a nice lean part of lamb meat.
You see there how white the meat is, so it must be from a very muscle-y part of the lamb. Yeah, it's nice and tender. You can just see, it just breaks up in my hand.
Oh, wow. Not spicy, more like a British kinda gravy, I reckon. (Dale moans satisfactorily) Ah, now I'm feeling just a little bit of spice.
To me, that's like having a lamb roast on a Sunday in the UK. The gravy's just got an extra bit of spice to it. (moans satisfactorily) Lovely. And finally, we've got the prawn curry, an Alleppey prawn curry it is. Now, I didn't get a chance to go to Alleppey.
Oh, I just dumped the full lot on my plate. I've got a feeling this one's gonna be nice. I didn't get a chance to go to Alleppey when I was in Kerala.
Apparently, that's where the good backwater tours are, houseboats and all that. I did a pretty substandard backwater tour, leaving from somewhere near Kochi, and all the Keralites told me I got ripped off. That wasn't the good one. Let's see if this is the good one, the good Alleppey curry, or not.
There's five prawns in there. Not as big as that massive prawn I had for the starter, but five standard-size prawns in this very watery, it's very watery gravy, this. Looks nice and light. Just as well because I've dumped the whole lot on my plate.
(moans satisfactorily) Oh, wow! This curry is amazing. It is so creamy. I think I'm tasting a lot of coconut in there. It's reminding me a lot of the Thai food. This is like coconut, creamy. Maybe it's made from coconut cream, but it's just so creamy, so coconut-y, and just a little bit spicy. It's absolutely delicious, and the prawns as well.
They're just, like, really tender, and meaty. (moans satisfactorily) Okay. Time for me to just dig in to all this and get demolished, guys. Here you go, Alappuzha prawn curry. Get in my belly.
(Dale moans satisfactorily) Ah, it's so nice, this Alleppey curry. It's my favourite out of all of these. I feel like I've still got a lot of sauce. I've eaten all the prawns. I've still got a lot of sauce right there.
I feel like mopping it up with all that bread, but then I'm gonna be too stuffed to eat all this, so as tempting as it is, I'm gonna just skip the rest of this sauce and go for the rest of the meat, like this lamb. Oh, look at that, it's glistening, glistening. Tender lamb.
Oh! (Dale moans satisfactorily) Cheers. Butter chicken, cheers. (Dale moans satisfactorily) I am starting to sweat a bit, so that means the spice is getting to me. Time to involve some of the raita into this meal. (Dale moans satisfactorily) That really balanced these things out.
Can you clear the rest? I'm not gonna finish this. I wanna leave room for the dessert. - [Waitress] (laughs) Certainly. Please. - How does this work? Okay, so you pour it over my hands? Ah, like this! - [Waitress] Make them clean.
Okay, so I don't have to stand up or anything. I can be lazy. Okay, thank you so much. - You're welcome. - It's very nice of you, thank you. Okay. Now, a lot of you guys are gonna be angry at me for not finishing my food.
"Please don't waste food. "It's not our culture to waste food." But guys, it's just too much food, sorry. (laughs) I need to leave room for the desserts that are coming, so. I've eaten all the most important parts.
All the meat, that's done. I've just left a bit of spinach and a bit of dal, really, and then it's just the sauces, it's just the gravies. It's just kinda the gravies that I've left. Yeah, so I haven't left that much.
Okay, all the bread, yeah. (laughs) I'm just explaining how wasteful I'm being, but it's okay. There's nothing much I can do.
I can't make myself sick. Okay, so there's three things coming for dessert, right? - Yes, sir, it's matka phirni, khajoor anjeer halwa, and gulab jamun. - Gulab jamun, ah, okay, yeah. Okay, so you see, guys, I gotta leave room in this Scottish belly for that. Do most people finish this, or? - Yeah. - They do finish it? - Of course.
Oh, wow, I feel like a lightweight now. I did have breakfast two hours before coming here, though. That's my excuse. - That's why, maybe. - Yeah.
I actually came here expecting just to only eat one thing, like I was gonna eat, like, a chicken tikka, or something. And then I was like, mm. I seen that set menu and it looked appealing. - [Waitress] How was the drink? - The drink, this one's really nice. It's really super sweet, right? - Thank you. - Super, super sweet.
- Told you it was gonna be sweet. Just like the staff here, super, super sweet. (waitress laughs) Ah, this is the matka phirni, right? - [Waitress] Yes.
- [Dale] And this, my gulab jamun. - [Waitress] Yes. - [Dale] And this looks like... - [Waitress] Angoori ras malai.
- [Dale] Ras malai, ah. - [Waitress] And that's your fig and date halwa. - [Dale] Ah, okay, good, thank you. - Please enjoy. - Thank you so much, okay. So this is, halwa is just sweets.
So that's just, like, made from figs and dates. I didn't know I was getting this. There was only three things on the menu, these three, so this is a little extra surprise. Luckily, I left room in the belly.
So this is a ras malai. I've had that before, actually. The first time I went to India, I had ras malai. Think it's made with cottage cheese, and it's like a really saffron, kinda like milk solution that it's in, so that's nice. And this matka phirni, I ate at Chor Bazaar in Delhi on the street. That was the one that was 20 rupees, and it was delicious. I called it like an Indian rice pudding at the time.
It's made with rice. And the gulab jamun. Lovely. I will start with the ras malai.
There are four of them, but they're very wee, and a wee spoon to eat the wee ras malai with. Oh, there's five of them, actually. Let's just get one of these wee balls in my mouth. Don't you dare. Oh, wow. Just dissolves in the mouth. They're very airy.
There's a lot of air in there. Although they look very thick balls. (laughs) They're quite light.
(moans satisfactorily) Nice. That saffron milk is delicious as well. A nice dairy treat. And for the second sweet dairy treat is the matka phirni, the Indian rice pudding, and this one, covered in chopped almonds and pistachios.
(moans satisfactorily) It really does just taste like a rice pudding with saffron. And now for the gulab jamun. Now, this is served warm. I can feel it is warm.
That's how they're supposed to be served. It's just a ball made from milk, ghee, and I think flour as well, and it's soaked in syrup, like absolutely soaked in syrup. So let's get this big ball in my mouth. (Dale moans satisfactorily) Again, just like the ras malai, just kinda dissolves. Very little chewing, very little chewing needed.
People say I don't chew my food enough, but when you come to places like this, where everything's nice and tender, you don't have to. You don't have to chew that much. Okay, and I've got one thing left, which is the sweet, It's, the halwa she said. So halwa's sweet, and this one's made from figs and dates.
Oh, wow, I don't like that. I think it's the taste of the figs I don't like, the anjeer. I've had anjeer kulfi before, and I liked it, but I don't like the taste of that. That's not very nice. So what I'm gonna do is I'm just gonna finish the phirni and the ras malai.
I'm gonna leave that. Since I'm wasting food, guys, since I'm wasting food anyways, and I don't like this, this is gonna get wasted, but I'm gonna demolish this. Finish it off with some more sweetness, and that'll be me. Finito, superb.
- [Waitress] So you're full. - Yeah, I'm finished. This one, I didn't like, but I liked the rest of them.
- Why? - Yeah, I don't know. Like, the fig taste, maybe it's just me. I just don't like the fig taste. - You know why? 'Cause it's healthy. - 'Cause it's healthy, I know! (waitress laughs) Let's see what the damage is. Okay, 485. (waitress laughs)
Let's see what the damage is. Okay, 485. Can I pay by card? Is that okay? Okay, I left you a little tip as well. - [Waitress] Thank you. - Okay, see you next time. - Bye, thanks for coming. - Thank you, goodbye. (groans) Oh, your man is stuffed! (Dale exhales dramatically) Well, after eating a meal fit for a maharaja, I kinda just feel like sleeping all day (laughs) on this comfy bed that is also fit for a maharaja, but can't be a lazy bum, can I? I'm changed into my swimming trunks and the plan is to go out to, is it out to the swimming pool? Is it downstairs? I guess it would be up on the roof, wouldn't it? Yeah, I wanna burn off some calories, and then maybe I'll have some space then to eat some of this stuff, to eat my own face made of chocolate.
And actually, there's a wee welcome note that I didn't read. Let's see what this says. "Dear Mr. Philip,
"a warm welcome to Taj Dubai." Actually, this person has got a name similar to mine, Ranjit Phillipose. Very nice, keep it in the family. Maybe that's what it is. I'm one of them, I'm one of them. Okay, I guess it's gonna be on the top, or is it? No, the pool's down. It's three, I think. Pool here.
That's not too bad, is it? It's just a wee swimming pool, but it does look quite nice. Just a few people chilling. Hello. Doesn't look that deep.
Doesn't really look like one for swimming in. Looks like more of one for just kinda lounging around, you know? But I'm gonna get in here and have a little dip. Maybe this guy can sort me out with a towel. And another section down there. I think that's for dining. Where are you from, my friend? - [Pool Attendant] I'm from Uganda, sir.
- [Dale] Afghanistan, you said? - Uganda. - Uganda, okay. You look more like Uganda than Afghanistan, I think, yeah. - More like Uganda. - Yeah, more. (birds chirping) (water splashing) Well, it's not very deep at all. I'm kneeling right now. So, yeah, I don't know if I can do any proper swimming in here.
I think it is just set up for kinda chilling. You see here? There's like a pool bar, these kinda stools here for people to sit and consume drinks. And yeah, that's how deep I am, so hmm. I would have preferred a pool that I could do some real swimming in, not that I'm a real swimmer, or anything, but we'll give it a go anyway.
(water splashing) It is possible to swim. Actually, it's pretty good because it's not really set up as a swimming pool, nobody's swimming, so it means that nobody's in my way when I'm doing lengths or anything. So it's pretty good, and it's shielded, shaded from the sun, as you can see here. That big building there, that, that, that. It's just surrounded by buildings, apart from on that side. Maybe in the morning, or something, it gets lit up, and then the rest of the time, it's, like, shaded.
So nice, nice for a pale Scotsman. (water splashing) I've just noticed, I didn't see it for this, but down here, there's another wee smaller pool that nobody's using at all. I can have this whole area just to myself, just for yer man.
Doesn't look like it's closed off or anything. Maybe this is the kiddy pool. Is it even possible to swim in this? Let me see.
Oh, no I doubt it. It's below my knees. (laughs) It's below my knees. I guess this is just another bit for chilling, and I guess that's all alcohol over there, so it's probably to do these Dubai style brunches, where you pay a set amount on a Friday or a Saturday, and you can drink as much as you want, so this is probably what this area is used for. You can see all the liquors there. This massive bottle of Goose. Aye. Quite a selection, innit? And nobody here to stop me.
Nobody here to stop me taking any of it. (laughs) Yer man doesn't drink. And there is a ray of sunlight coming from over there, so if you came here and you wanted to sunbathe, you would probably have to choose exactly that chair there, that one right there. Otherwise, you're screwed, you're humped. (sighs) Fortunately, sunbathing is not something I like to do.
(metal crunching) Ah, good. Just cracked open this rose, oh, it's pink, pink-coloured, this rose Badam, and I'm gonna try one of these. Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, which one should I try? Should it be the chocolate Dale or should it be Pistachio Delight? Fig and Nut Roll, I didn't like the fig that I had in that restaurant, so I guess it's gonna be this, the Coconut Ladoo.
Now, I've had ladoo before, and ladoo is, it's just basically flour, sugar, and ghee, this one with some coconut, and a wee pistachio on top. (Dale moans satisfactorily) It is nice. It tastes like a Bounty. If you ever had a Bounty bar, you know that one, it's desiccated coconut covered in chocolate.
Tastes like that, and this Badam drink... (moans satisfactorily) Tastes like a falooda, just like I thought, and there are little bits of almonds in it as well. It's a nice texture, I like that. Not a lot of people like bits in their drink.
You know how sometimes you buy orange juice, you can buy it with bits or without bits, and some people like it with bits? Well, I'm the type of person that likes my orange juice with bits, and I like this Badam drink with bits of almonds. Very nice. (moans satisfactorily) Anyway, when I checked in, I asked the staff if they could possibly give me a tour of some of the suites, like a penthouse suite, or think they had one called the Maharaja Suite that was like $3,000 a night. So I asked them if they could give me a tour and they said yes, but then the restaurant was closing for lunch, so I decided to do that instead. But it's like six p.m. now. It's about to get dark. This is all about to get lit up, which I will show you when it does light up.
And I think I'm gonna go down to reception and see if that lady is still working and can possibly give me a tour of the suites. Oh, suites. Having a lotta sweets today, aren't we? You are a Emirati man? - [Hotel Guide] No, sir, I am Egyptian. - [Dale] Egypt, oh, okay.
Egypt, I see you're wearing a kandura. - [Hotel Guide] Yeah. - [Dale] In Egypt, they wear kandura, or? - [Hotel Guide] No, in (indistinct), in other Egypt, there's, like, side in Egypt, like select city, Asyut, Luxor, Aswan wearing this kandura.
But Cairo, Alexandria, Sharm El Sheikh all wearing, like- - [Dale] The Western clothes, yeah. I've only been to Cairo and Sharm El Sheikh. That's why I did not see like this. - [Hotel Guide] Yeah, but when you go to Luxor, you found loads of people already are wearing this kind of- - I want to go to Luxor.
- [Hotel Guide] Yeah. - [Dale] Okay, so here we go, Maharaja Suite. Let's have a look. Okay, so these are maharajas, I think, right? - [Hotel Guide] Yes, sir. - [Dale] The original rajahs.
And let's have a look. Oh, wow! Look at this bed, this massive four-poster bed. Wow! Incredible. Look at this. And the sofa, it's a velvet sofa, right? That's purple velvet.
Wow! Incredible. A huge bathroom, with a bathtub right next to the window that has the view of the Burj Khalifa. Wow! That's amazing. That'll be so good to lie in the bath when this is all lit up tonight, which will be in, like, one hour or something, all the lights come on these big buildings. And also has shower. Okay, more nice decorations.
- [Hotel Guide] This the luggage room here. - [Dale] Oh, it's just the luggage room. Oh, okay. This is a very nice room. I will close the door. Oh, I'm thinking that's the whole room, but there's more of it, there's more of it. Of course, it's a suite. Oh, wow!
So this is the living room. Wow! I mean... Yeah, so you could be staying here and having guests over. And a nice working desk as well, right there. A dining room. - [Hotel Guide] Yes, sir.
- [Dale] Oh, it has a kitchen! Oh, wow! The people, they cook their own food or they have a chef comes and cooks the food? - [Hotel Guide] And also separate the door. You can directly go outside from here. - [Dale] Ah, so this is for staff or something, like a chef will come and cook for the guests and serve them here. Wow.
- [Hotel Guide] Here's a terrace. - [Dale] Wow, they have a terrace! Oh, my word! Wow, look at all this space! They even have, like, sun loungers, this kinda chair. Incredible! Over here, lake. And you've got basically 180-degree panoramic view of Dubai. Right from there, the Burj Khalifa, Dubai Mall down there. Then all the rest of it.
Wow, this is incredible. It looks like it's space for a massive family, but there's only one bed, right? - Yes, sir. - [Dale] Okay, so it's for, like, a couple. - [Hotel Guide] It's for good couple, and also, if you want to do like a party- - [Dale] Yeah, ah, okay. So people use this for a party. Ah, okay, I understand. That makes sense. Incredible. Wow.
It's really incredible. So every floor has one suite? - Yes, sir, every corner have one suite, and all the suite have one bedroom, except the Presidential Suite, which has two bedroom, which is an entire floor. - [Dale] Ah, okay, so one family will stay in this Presidential Suite, or something? - Yes, one family, 'cause it's one room with two beds, and one room with a king bed. - [Dale] And the Presidential Suite, what is the most time someone has stayed there? Has anyone ever rented it for, like, one month, or? - Yes, we have guests who stayed for a month, but very few. - [Dale] Yeah, 'cause it's so expensive, right? How much does it cost for one night in the Presidential Suite? - For one night, the cheapest went for 15,000 dirhams per night, and the highest was, like, during the New Year's time, the peak season, went to 23 to 28,000 dirhams. - [Dale] Ah, okay, so that's, like, about $8,000 or something at the highest? - Yes. - About $8,000, wow.
And this one, the- - This is the Maharaja- - [Dale] Maharajah, how much is it normally? - For the Maharaja Suite, it's approximately, in dirhams, like, the lowest rate, it goes to 7,000 dirhams, which is approximately- - $2,000, yeah. - $2,000. And the highest, up to max, it goes to 10 or 11. - [Dale] Ah, okay, for New Year and- - Eid. - Eid, maybe Eid as well.
- Eid, New Year's Eve. - Yeah, okay. - It depends on the demand more. - [Dale] Ah, okay. - Yes, you're welcome sir.
Okay. - Okay. - [Dale] So this is the Presidential Suite we're going to see? - [Hotel Employee] This is the Grand Suite. The Presidential Suite actually is currently occupied.
- [Dale] Oh, it's occupied, ah, okay. Good, good for you, 'cause you're making revenue. That's good, I'm happy for you.
I'm sad that I don't get to see it, but I'm happy. So the Grand Suite costs less than the Maharaja Suite? - Costs less than Maharaja Suite. - [Dale] Ah, and the Grand Suite, how much does it cost? - For the Grand and Luxury Suite, it's approximately 3,000 dirhams. - [Dale] 3,000 dirhams, ah, okay. So maybe like $900. - Approximately. - Yeah, approximate, yeah.
Okay. - [Hotel Employee] So all our suites, it's mostly, they're either occupied for families or guests who were coming for special occasions. - [Dale] Ah, okay, honeymoons and things like this. So what is this little room? - [Hotel Employee] This is one bedroom with the- - [Dale] Oh, this is the bedroom, oh, okay. So it's a nice modern style, this one, right? So the Maharaja's like traditional Indian style, and the Grand is like modern.
- It's like modern. - Modern elegant style. That's nice. This is a classy, classy TV stand here. Do they all have the view of the Burj Khalifa, yeah? Ah, they're all on this side. - [Hotel Employee] Yeah, bedroom, living room, and bathroom- - [Dale] Yeah. This is all on this side for the suites. Ah, and this also has the bath next to the window.
Ah, okay, very nice. And through here, a little writing desk. Ah, okay, and the walk-in wardrobe.
Okay, for somebody with lots of clothes, okay. Amazing. Oh, wow, that's a nice office desk right there. Oh, wow, look at this area.
So this again, if you have guests- - Exactly. - You can have someone serving drinks. - Yes, sir. - [Dale] There's drinks in there? - No. (laughs) - No, okay. You have to bring your own drinks? Ah, okay.
Wow. Check it out. Amazing. Living room, and the living room, you get- - [Hotel Employee] The view of the Burj. - [Dale] View of the Burj and a view of this side as well.
Wow, so huge. Incredible. Very nice. Okay, sir, thank you so much for showing me the suites.
- You're welcome. - They're very nice. Wow. Have you had any major celebrities stay here, like David Beckham, or? (laughs) Anyone we know, or is it like you have to keep their privacy, like you cannot tell me? - [Hotel Employee] Yeah, we had celebrities staying, but I cannot disclose- - Ah, okay. Some hotels, you know, in Europe, they have like a list, they have, like, plaques, they have, like, a list of all the celebrities that have stayed there, like music bands and everything. I stayed in one in Copenhagen, and they had, like, they would say, like, AC/DC, Elton John. They would keep a list of all the- - [Hotel Employee] But we have our company policy is- - [Dale] Oh, for privacy for the Taj, ah, okay.
I understand, that's good. Okay. - [Hotel Employee] But recently, we had the cricket team. It wasn't so secret.
- [Dale] Ah, okay, the India cricket team? - [Hotel Employee] Yes, Chennai Super Kings. (indistinct) - [Dale] They choose the Taj because it's an Indian hotel. - [Hotel Employee] Yes. - [Dale] So they don't choose Oberoi? They choose the Taj? Is it like a competition between Taj and Oberoi? Is it like a big competition, the two luxury brands, right? - (laughs) Exactly. - Oh, okay. Okay, this is my floor. Thank you so much, sir.
Thank you so much. - Thank you, sir. (indistinct) - Okay, brilliant. Those were nice, weren't they? Fantastic.
Wow. Well, after checking out those suites, I think it's time for some sweets of my own, some that don't cost, like, $2,000, some that are free, in fact. What should I try? Should I try the baklava, or should I try the dates? I'm very partial to dates, and these ones are filled with all sorts of stuff. There's pistachio, something pink, something white, I don't know. (knocking on door) What's that? Bloody knock on the door. I've got the do not disturb sign on. What the heck?
I'm pretty sure I put the do not disturb sign on. I did, I put the bloody do not disturb sign on there, right there. What is the meaning of this? What is this? - [Luke] Room service. (laughs) - [Dale] Room service, Coke Zero! How did you know? - You don't know the ordeal I went through to get that to you here. - [Dale] Really? How, what happened? - Well, I bought a Coca-Cola, and plus I had Coke Zero, Coca-Cola, put them in my bag, and it smashed against my GoPro and my battery and it just went everywhere, and I'm like (mumbles). - [Dale] Seriously? Did you get it on film, though? - No. - No, 'cause they actually
smashed against your GoPro. Thanks very much. Now I've got an extra can of Coke Zero. Everybody's giving me Coke Zero today! You know what happened when I checked in? - Coke Zero! - There was two cans of Coke Zero right there, and the guy says, "Compliments from concierge." - Concierge. - [Dale] How thoughtful was that? - Nice crib you got here. - How thoughtful.
Check it out. We're almost getting the Dubai skyline view lit up. There's a lot of glare here. I'll put the camera right up against the window. Might have to turn the lights off in the room to see this, but the buildings are starting to get lit up, I guess, about another hour or something.
Yeah, so me and Luke, we're gonna go do stuff for his vlog. - Yes! - So you need to watch his vlog if you want to see what we're doing after this, but when I come back, guys, I will show you this all lit up. I've been talking about sweets. Do you fancy any sweets?
Do you fancy a chocolate with my face on it, by any chance? - Yes, I was hoping- - [Dale] Go eat me, eat me! - I was hoping you were gonna- - Eat me, eat me! - That sounds so- - [Dale] Eat me, eat me, bro! - I can actually eat this? - [Dale] Yeah, eat it, go, it's chocolate. He's gonna eat me eating biryani. Go for it, go for it, go for it. You just ate me. (laughs) - You taste really good.
- I'll have the other one then. In fact, no, I'm pretty stuffed. I was gonna actually try some of this before you came, one of the dates. I was gonna try this one with the pink stuff in it. I don't know what it is. I guess it's something else rose.
I've been eating a lot of stuff with rose in it today. - Your head tastes pretty good. Hey, this is actually pretty good chocolate. - Mm, no, this is some kinda, (moans satisfactorily) it's some kinda pink chocolate. No, it is rose, there's rose in it.
It's like rose chocolate. It's rose chocolate stuffed inside the date. Fantastic. - I'm gonna have my biryani. - I've had so much sweetness today, man. Okay, got everything I need. I got my microphone thing, spare battery.
Should I take my Coke Zero? No, don't be too much of an addict. Yeah, so yeah, I'm trying to fit everything in my pockets so that I don't need a bag. So you can see, two bulging pockets, but yeah, just less hassle. You don't have a bag, do you? Why don't you have a bag? - I used to have a bag, but it got saturated in Coke.
(Luke speaking indistinctly) - [Dale] Oh, is that the same, you were telling me about the Coke Zero? - Yeah, I had it, and then I was like, all right, you know, I gotta bring you a present. So I was like, I'll bring you a Coca-Cola, then I'll have a Coke Zero for me. Then I got stitched up, put them in my bag when I bought them at the bottom of the mini mart, and then chucked in my bag. It burst- - It burst? - Like, on my portable charger, burst.
- [Dale] Oh, my God. - I didn't know immediately, it was, like, very faint. And then I'm walking out the hotel and then I just start feeling it dripping- - [Dale] Dripping down your arse? Oh, seriously? - Down my arse, down the back of my leg, and I'm like, you mother (audio distorted).
- So I need to really appreciate this Coke Zero. I've left, like, half of it. I've left, like, half of it. I need to appreciate this.
- So I had to get all my portable chargers, everything, my GoPro charger, iPhone charger, like, (audio distorted) scramble it back up to the ninth floor of this hotel, get changed. That's why I was like an hour late. (laughs) - [Dale] Oh, wow, well- - So be grateful. - I appreciate it, cheers. (laughs) Oh, wow, okay, let's get outta here. - [Luke] Let's do it.
- Well, it is about four hours later, and I am back in my lovely hotel room after being out and about in Dubai with Mr. Luke. So if you want to find out what we got up to, you're just gonna have to look at his channel, and then you'll see. What you're about to see is yer man get in this bathtub. Gonna fill that right to the top. I think there's some kinda Molton Brown shower gel or bath gel or something. Hopefully, we can get it all nice and bubbly.
And I'm gonna turn the lights off and enjoy the sparkling lights from the buildings outside. Unfortunately, right now, you got a lot of glare from this window. You see, it's almost like a mirror when the lights are on in the room. It's almost like a mirror there.
You can see yer man, you can see the bed, the lights, everything, more than you can actually see the buildings and the Burj Khalifa and everything like that, Dubai Fountain. So yeah, the plan is turn off the lights, fill up the bath, and just have a nice relaxing end to my first night in Taj Dubai. (water running) Oh, my God. Oh, yeah! Oh. (Dale moans satisfactorily) Good morning from sunny and sandy Dubai. There's a bit of a sandstorm going on.
I've just noticed that over there, that round thing. I don't know if you can see it right in the distance. I'm pretty sure that's the new cricket stadium. I'm just having a look around. They seem to be building something right there, and that looks like that's probably gonna block the view of the Burj Khalifa for this hotel. It looks like it, doesn't it, if it's about that height? Oh, I guess you can never really block the Burj Khalifa.
There's always gonna be a bit of it sticking out. But anyway, it's 10:30 a.m. The buffet breakfast closes at 11:00, so better make our way there. (elevator chimes) Third floor.
Treehouse, that's where we're having breakfast. Let's check out the gym. Not too bad. Hello, is this for the breakfast? - [Ranish] Yes, sir, can I have your room number? - [Dale] 3105. - 3105. - I'm not too late, right?
- [Ranish] No, no. - [Dale] You're still serving food for how long, another 15 minutes or? - Yes, sir. - Okay, I can just go? - [Ranish] So I will escort you to the table, sir. - [Dale] Say again.
- [Ranish] I will show you the table. - [Dale] Ah, okay. - Mr. Philip? - Yes. - Please. - Okay. - Morning! - Good morning! - [Dale] Is it Indian buffet or it's international? - The cold items in this area, you have your fruit platter, you have your breads, everything, you'll get it over here. - Okay. - The hot food,
you can order from the table, sir. - [Dale] Oh, okay, so it's not like self-serve for the hot stuff. - [Ranish] No, you will order.
We'll bring it from the kitchen. - [Dale] Ah, okay, a la carte style. - Yeah. - Okay, good.
- (indistinct) Table next to the window? - [Dale] Oh, fantastic, that's brilliant. Could I have that one? I know I will take up five seats for myself. It's no problem? Okay, thank you.
Thank you, sir. Oh, this is the menu? - That's the menu, sir. - So I can order anything. - [Ranish] That's the hot food, which we have to order from you, and we tell the kitchen. - [Dale] And the cold food, I can get myself. Okay, fantastic. - The chef will be
assisting you with that. - [Dale] Can I have tea, please? English breakfast. - [Ranish] Yes, sugar and milk on the side? - [Dale] Yes, milk, please. Thank you, sir, thank you, okay.
Looks like we've got a choice of Arabic food, Indian. Ah, so I thought maybe it would be Indian, Arabic, and Western, but you've got a choice here. It's like either Indian or Arabic. So yeah, there's paratha, there's idli, dosa, all the usual, upma, all the usual Indian breakfast foods.
Maybe I should ask for one of each, one of each. I don't know if that's gonna be too much. How big are the portions, 'cause I was gonna order a few things? Are they big? - [Ranish] No, problem, sir, I'll make it, like small.
- [Dale] Oh, that's good. Is it possible to have one of each thing, but small? - [Ranish] Yeah, sure. Which one would you prefer to have? - [Dale] All of them. (laughs)
- [Ranish] It's a selection of paratha. You'll have a- - [Dale] Oh, so you can just give me one paratha, or something, oh, okay. Potato paratha stuffed. Yeah, the aloo one. No, in fact, give me the cauliflower one.
It's gobi, gobi, yeah? - Yeah. - [Dale] Okay, I take and yeah, the idli. The dosa, I will have with aloo, I think. - Yeah, sure. - Yeah. - [Ranish] You want it on the side or inside? - [Dale] Inside the dosa would be nice. And then the uttapam and the upma.
I don't want to waste food, so make them very small. I just want to try the different ones. That's one, two, three, four, five different choices.
- [Ranish] No problem, sir. - [Dale] Thank you, Ranish. - [Ranish] Shall I get some juices for you? - [Dale] Yeah, please, watermelon, watermelon juice, please. - Sure. - Okay, fantastic,
and I will go explore the cold items. Thank you, my friend. Okay. Let's check out the cold items.
Hi, good morning, sir. - Hi, good morning. How are you? - How are you? I'm great, how are you? (man speaking indistinctly) Fantastic. Let's check out what we've got here. All sorts of cheeses and salads and stuff. Good morning, how are you? - Good morning, sir, how are you? - [Dale] Good, great.
See what else. Bread and toast. - [Woman] Thank you. - [Dale] Okay, looks like this is gonna be dessert. I'll save this for dessert, little doughnuts. Tiny little portions, that's good.
Means you can try a bunch of different things. That's what I like, variety. Okay, oh, they have yogurt and stuff. Maybe I'll start with~
Oh, that looks really nice, the muesli. Can you help me? Okay, great. Bowl of muesli would be nice.
- [Buffet Attendant] You want to top it up with some berries or fruit? - Yeah, something sweet, like raisins, or what do you have? - Some nuts- - Oh, like sultanas? - Or some granola on top. - [Dale] Oh, okay, a little bit of granola and some of these raisins, please. - Enjoy your breakfast- - Wow, that looks amazing. Thank you very much. Thank you, sir. - Enjoy your breakfast. - Thank you.
Wow, looks like a nice start to the breakfast, doesn't it? Oh-ho! Fantastic. Here we go. Oh, my tea is ready.
Oh, lovely. Oh, a selection of fruits as well. Oh, that looks amazing.
Thank you, thank you very much. Gonna try this muesli with granola and sultanas. (moans satisfactorily) It's made with full-fat milk, tastes delicious.
A bit of crunch from the granola. Okay, this is my dosa? I've got a lotta food now. Okay, let's put this one here, the dosa.
And this is? - (indistinct) Uttapam. - It's the uttapam, ah, okay. Fantastic. (laughs) I don't know what to do. Okay, put this one here. Okay, thank you so much, thank you. Okay, I've got a lot of food.
I've got a feeling I'm gonna be getting a row from some of you guys for wasting food, but I just wanted to try a lot of what they had on offer, and all of the Indian stuff, there was only five things, so I wanted to try all of them. I asked the guy to make them as small as possible. (Dale moans satisfactorily) This is lovely, actually. The oats are all soft in the milk, and then you've got the crunchy granola on top, and then the sweetness from the raisins.
Absolutely delicious. (moans satisfactorily) Oh, wow. (laughs) - [Ranish] That's idli. - This is the idli, oh. - [Ranish] That's your cauliflower paratha. - [Dale] Okay, that's the cauliflower paratha.
This is my idli. This is the uttapam. That's my dosa with aloo masala. - [Ranish] That's your upma. - That's the upma. - Yeah.
- [Dale] Ah, okay, and we've got all the chutneys. It's coconut chutney and- - Tomato- - Tomato chutney for all of them, and this one's sambar, right? - Yeah, that's a sambar. - With the uttapam. Okay, so sambar with the dosa as well. Okay, fantastic. That's a lot of food.
- [Ranish] I'm sure you'd have tried this in the Kerala as well. - [Dale] Yeah, yeah, I have tried. I think I've tried all of this stuff before, so yeah. It's all nice, it's all good, all good breakfast food. - [Ranish] We're making the small dosa, smaller size. - [Dale] It's very thin, right, so it's- - [Ranish] Yeah, it is.
The more thinner, it's a little more tastier. - [Dale] Yeah, it looks like it's a huge portion, but it's very, very thin. - We made a small one. - He's from South India. - Yeah, he's from Kerala. - Yeah, he's from Kerala, and there's a lot of stuff that's just, like, Indian- - This is very typical breakfast. Ah, okay. - Very typical South Indian breakfast.
- [Dale] But it's typical that they will only eat one or two of these things, not five. (laughs) - But it's like a hearty, comfort breakfast in the morning. - [Dale] Yeah, just like high on carbs for energy for the day, right? - Yes, yes, yes. - [Dale] Ah, okay.
Looks amazing. - Enjoy your breakfast. - Oh, thank you so much. The muesli granola's delicious, but let's get started on the Indian breakfast treats. Now, we got the dosa here. It looks huge, but it's very thin, very, very thin, almost like paper, and just a small aloo filling in there, so I should be able to demolish this one pretty fast. And I think coconut chutney is my favourite, it always was when I was traveling in India, so I'm probably gonna take it with a coconut chutney.
All the things came with coconut chutney and tomato chutney, and two of them come with sambar as well. So yeah, sambar's kinda like, almost like a vegetable soup, but spicy. Okay, I've gone straight for the middle of the dosa, which has all the aloo filling. I'm actually just gonna pour some of this on top, some of the coconut chutney. A little bit more. Ah, there we go, full of filling, full of coconut chutney, and...
(Dale moans satisfactorily) Wow, that is nice. They've made it not too spicy, just a little bit of spice in the aloo. I see some black peppers in there. See some black peppers in there.
Guess that's where the spice is coming from, but oh, very nice, especially with that coconut chutney. Never had a bad coconut chutney. There we go, again. (moans satisfactorily)
Oh, and this is the last bite. Oh, dropping it on the table, as per usual. This is the last, oh! (laughs) This is the last bite with the filling, and it's more coconut chutney than dosa. That's how much I love coconut chutney. (Dale moans satisfactorily) I forgot I was supposed to drink this before the start. I didn't ask for it, but he brought it.
He said it's like a morning shot. It's like to wake you up and give you energy. I think he said it was celery or something.
Doesn't sound too appealing, but I'm gonna take the shot. Oh. Tastes like a mixture of celery and lemon juice. Yeah, doesn't taste too nice, but it's healthy, so I'm glad for it. - [Man] How is everything? - Oh, it's very nice, yeah, the dosa was nice. It's like perfect portion size, just about that much filling, yeah.
And this one is the uttapam. I've had this in Delhi and it was really nice. It's like a rice flour pancake, and there's a lot of vegetable ingredients in there, a lot of onion goes into it as well, some chopped leaves, some chopped tomato. Looks nice, and this one, I think, is best taken with the sambar. So here's the sambar right here.
It's kinda like a vegetable broth, but spicy, so let's just dip it in like this. Ooh. (Dale moans satisfactorily) The rice pancake, it just soaks up the sambar, and it tastes delicious. Just like if you're eating' a vegetable soup in Britain, you would get some crusty bread or something and dip it in the soup. It's like that. It just soaks it up.
And it's a very, kinda, salty, savoury taste, and just a little bit spicy. Here we go, like that. (Dale moans satisfactorily) Okay, going for the second one, and I feel like this is quite a healthy breakfast, you know? It's just rice flour and chopped vegetables, and then you're dipping it in like a vegetable broth. So yeah, it's a healthy start to the day, more healthy than most Westerners have for their breakfast. Most Westerners would be eating, like, I don't know, pancakes with bacon, like wheat flour pancakes with bacon, or you know, a bowl of (indistinct) cornflakes with milk, something like that. This is a healthy start to the day. (moans satisfactorily)
And delicious, and delicious. It's not often that the delicious food is the healthy one, but here, it is. (Dale moans satisfactorily) Nice. Let's try a bit of this fruit.
Looks like dragon fruit on the end there, this one. It's really nice, it's like a really soft, sweet fruit. Barely have to chew it, it's nice. (Dale moans satisfactorily) Okay, I'm going for the idli now. Idli is a very simple food and easily digestible, so perfect for first thing in the morning.
And I'm gonna try this with the tomato chutney, just for variety. Ordinarily, I would just be hammering all the coconut chutneys, but I wanna try it. It just looks like a tomato soup, doesn't it? Tomato chutney, let's give this a go. (Dale moans satisfactorily) Oh, spicy, spicy. To me, it's almost like dipping white bread into like a Heinz tomato soup or something, except the soup is spicy.
That's the nearest thing I can compare it to. But again, I think this is made from rice as well, so a lot healthier than eating white bread. (moans satisfactorily) Nice. Ah, next, I'm gonna try this upma. Upma is made from semolina. Everything I've been eating is made from rice, and this one, a little bit different, made from semolina.
My instinct is to reach for the fork. (laughs) I'm gonna go at it with the hands, guys. So there you go. What does it say on the menu, actually? Have a description, dry-roasted semolina, and there's mustard and curry leaves in there as well, so there you go. I'm expecting this one to be spicy with the mustard and the curry leaves.
Let's try a bit first without, oh, it feels very dry. I think it's gonna need the sambar, not the sambar. They brought it only with coconut chutney. I guess that's what it goes with, the coconut chutney. See, as I'm grabbing it, it's just kinda, like, crumbling up like that.
It's not like the pancake-y type stuff. But yeah, I'm just gonna get right into the coconut chutney, make a right old mess. Get right in my hand and... (moans satisfactorily) Oh, yeah, it definitely needs that coconut chutney. I can feel it's kinda, like, dry, 'cause it's dry-roasted, right? And then it needs that to balance out the texture, the coconut chutney, but it's nice. Not as spicy as I thought it was gonna be.
None of this has been really spicy. You wouldn't want really, really spicy Indian food first thing in the morning for your breakfast. Just a little bit of spice to enhance the flavour is nice, and that's exactly what we've got right here. Let's get nice and messy. A load of coconut chutney with this. (moans satisfactorily)
Superb, superb. (moans satisfactorily) Oh, fantastic. This pickle, is it, this one? - That's the pickle. - And this one's what? - It's a sweet mango pickle, that's a spicy mango.
- Oh, so it's like a mango pickle. Oh, okay, it's more like a mango jam or something sweet. (Ranish speaking indistinctly) Ah, okay. (Ranish speaking indistinctly) Ah, okay, fantastic.
Okay, so the pickle, I've never been a fan of the pickle, but every time I've taken it, you guys have told me, "You're putting too much of it on." It should be taken like wasabi or something. You just put a little bit to enhance the flavour. Normally, I've taken like a big chunk, and then I've been like (groans), I don'
2021-07-18 18:45
