Eating as a Group in Ajman: Big Tables, Full Karahis, No Catering

Large tables are most of what we do in the evening, and they are also where people most often order badly — half portions multiplied out, not enough bread, and four mutton karahis ordered at once on a kitchen that cooks them one pan at a time.

Here is how to do it properly, including the part where we tell you what we cannot do.

First, what we cannot do

Said at the top rather than buried, because it decides whether to read on.

No event catering. No deghs. No whole bakra. No bulk cooking for weddings or labour camps.

We are a dine in restaurant. Everything on the menu is cooked to order, for a table here or for collection at the counter. If what you need is a hundred portions delivered to a hall, that is a different kind of business and you should book one.

And we do not deliver, in any quantity, to anywhere.

What we can do is seat a large group, cook full size portions to order, and stage a big order so it arrives together. That is the rest of this page.

Booking

Up to seven people: just come. No booking, no deposit, no arrangement.

Eight or more: call 050 720 8707 earlier the same day. Two reasons, and the second is the real one:

1. A table gets put together for you.
2. The kitchen knows roughly when you are arriving, which matters because the slow dishes have to be started before you sit down.

An hour of notice is plenty. The same morning is better. You do not need to order in advance — just say how many and roughly when.

Order full size, not several halves

The most common mistake, and it costs money.

	Half	Full	Full feeds
Zafran chicken karahi	15	30	3 to 4
Chicken Peshawari	18	32	3 to 4
Chicken white, no chilli heat	18	32	3 to 4
Zafran mutton karahi	30	60	3 to 4
Mutton Charsi	32	62	3 to 4
Mutton Shinwari	34	64	3 to 4
Chargha	18	35	3

A full karahi is exactly twice a half and feeds more than two halves do, because a bigger pan holds heat better and reduces more evenly. For a table of eight, two full karahis beat four halves.

The chargha at AED 35 is the best value on the table. A whole bird, steamed in spice for about an hour and then fried to order, and it genuinely feeds three. For a group of nine, three chargha at AED 105 is a serious amount of food. More on chargha.

Two tables, costed

Eight people, AED 206 — about AED 26 a head:

	AED
Full Zafran chicken karahi	30
Full mutton Shinwari karahi	64
Chargha, full bird	35
Tandoori boti	22
Chicken tikka x 2	20
Daal of the day, large	8
Vegetable of the day, large	8
Sixteen tandoori roti	16
Eight karak chai	8

Ten people, AED 290 — about AED 29 a head:

	AED
Full Zafran chicken karahi	30
Full Zafran mutton karahi	60
Chargha, full bird x 2	70
Reshmi kabab	22
Tandoori boti	22
Chicken biryani, large x 2	40
Daal, large	8
Twenty tandoori roti	20
Four lassi	20

AED 25 to AED 40 a head is the honest range for a group eating properly.

Three things that catch groups out

1. Bread adds up quietly. At AED 1 a roti nobody thinks about it, and then a table of ten gets through twenty-five of them. That is fine — it is AED 25 — but order it in rounds rather than all at once, because bread out of a tandoor has about ten minutes before it stops being worth eating. More on the bread.

2. Mutton karahis cannot all start at once. Each one is cooked in its own pan and takes thirty minutes or more. Three full mutton karahis will not arrive together unless the kitchen was told in advance. Call ahead, or order two mutton and one chicken so the timings stagger naturally.

3. Order one mild dish. Every large table has somebody who cannot take chilli, and the fix is a chicken white handi at AED 26 or a chicken pulao at AED 10 rather than asking for a karahi to be changed. More on what is actually hot.

Practical

Indoor and outdoor seating. From late November to mid March the outdoor tables are the better ones, and they suit a large group better than the indoor room does. More on the season.

Families welcome at every table. No separate section, no restrictions.

Free street parking directly outside, with more on the surrounding streets. Ground floor, step free from the pavement.

Cash and card both accepted. We answer in English, Urdu, Hindi and Arabic.

Friday afternoon, 1:30 to 3:30, is the busiest two hours of the week — a large group then needs more notice than usual. More on Fridays.

Finding us

Shop 8/1, ground floor, Amman Street, Ajman Industrial Area 2, beside Nesto Hypermarket. Open 7:30 am to midnight, every day, including Fridays and public holidays.

Call 050 720 8707 earlier in the day if you are eight or more. Each area of Ajman has its own page with the route in, and the full menu with every price is on this site.