Babaji, Dubai

Babaji is a concept straight from London with its first international debut here in Dubai, a brand conceived by restaurateur Alan Yau. The menu focuses on the Turkish ‘Pide’ amongst other delectable dishes from the Ottoman Empire.

Babaji is located right in the center of City Walk and it was buzzing with people. They had an actual queue of people waiting to be seated at all time!

Interiors

The place has Turkish tiles all over with simple wooden tables and chairs. The open kitchen overlooks the dining area. The Pide oven is in the center and you can see a lot of people admiring the way it’s prepared.

The dessert and live kunafa station were still under construction when we visited.

Drinks

We ordered some mocktails – Guava collins and Quiet Storm. Both the drinks were unique and had coconut base rather than sugar syrups. We enjoyed it!

Appetizer

We ordered a homemade hummus which came with some fresh hot Turkish bread. The other appetizer was Cacik – Yogurt with garlic and cucumber. We also got some Lentil soup which was pretty good.

Pide

Babaji has quite a variety of Pide. We got Afyon with beef sujuk, kasar cheese, red chili, and parsley.  It was quite small for the given price!

Main course

We got a Topkapi Chicken – Corn-fed chicken stuffed with pilaf and pine nuts. It was beyond delicious and I’d highly recommend it!

Chicken Beyti was minced chicken kebabs with Turkish red chili and bulgur rice. The kebabs were juicy and were a treat with the bulgur.

Manti – rib eye beef ravioli with yogurt, Turkish chili flakes, and butter. It was utterly delicious but a tiny portion. Probably not enough for even one person!

Desserts

We tried the Warm chocolate, cherry, and pistachio brownie which came with a side of Turkish vanilla ice cream.  They cherry was a great touch to the brownie and it was gone in 60 second.

The other dessert was Sultac – a rice pudding with hazelnut.  Very average and should not be eaten after the brownie as it’s light on sugar.

A lot of hits and misses at Babaji. Mostly hits but keep in mind the serving sizes are small and prices are high! The service was great even though it was a full house. Do try the Topkapi Chicken, recommended!