Meet up with an old friend today. He has not been well on and off over the past few weeks and since he’s feeling better today we decided to meet up at Marina Square for a chat. After a long chat, we had a hard time deciding where we should have dinner. We wanted to do it at Black Angus at One Full Of Shit Fullerton but we noticed some boards have been put up blocking the sea view so I proposed we might as well go down to Pahang Street and dine at El Sheikh instead as I sort of missed the delicious mixed kebab I had last week.

My friend then suggested that I should also try out Amirah’s Grill. So, we walked over to the bus stop outside Fullerton Hotel and took bus 196 to the bus stop in front of the Concourse along Nicoll Highway and walked over because both buses 100 and 107 refused to show up. (They did show up, after we boarded onto 196. Bleah!).

Surprising, both El Sheikh and Amirah’s were quite ‘deserted’ today. But even the entire SunTec – Marina – Raffles City hall area was empty today anyway, probably because many people were either down at the Natas Fair over at the Expo or have left the country on vacation to avoid the National Day week vacation rush.

So, my friend and I was all alone in Amirah’s. Great environment and interesting music – I was told they are in Arab – which I had no clue what was being sung. The decoration is probably Islamic and Middle Eastern, if I am not mistaken. There are also paintings depicting ancient Egyptians and the Pharaohs. Unfortunately, I took only one picture of a part of the restaurant with my Nokia 7390 camera phone because I suck at taking photos. The quality isn’t so good because I didn’t use the flash as I didn’t ask any permission to take photos

Again, I ordered the Mixed Kebab – the Turkish one. My idea is that the mixed dish always have all the meat in the same dish so you can sample them all, and if you liked one of the meat very much, the next round you come by you can always order just the kebab with that meat alone. Similarly, if one of the meat is not good, then you can always give it a miss. And if all three is good – as in this case – then you don’t end up missing something good.

While all three of the meat from the dish is good, the beef was fantastic. It’s been a long time since I have eaten beef so tender. The last round I had beef that good was back in Shanghai having Kobe beef there. But unlike El Sheikh (just next door) where the sauce comes separately, Amirah had them poured onto all the meat already. In both cases, the sauce goes well with all the meat. The portion is smaller compared to El Sheikh, and I actually liked it because I could no longer eat as much as I used to when I was younger. I strongly recommend this dish to you.

Inside Amirah’s

The Turkish Mixed Kebab

Moroccan Mint Tea (Cold)

For drinks, I ordered a cold Moroccan Mint Tea. It was quite soothing and refreshing and certainly value for money because every single sip I take, the mint flavor is present. I was presently surprised that the mint leaves put there aren’t just for show, unlike a lot of our so-called iced lemon tea with a slice of lemon and you had to use your straw to poke the slice to squeeze every last drop of lemon juice out it to even taste something.

Total damage, $51.10, and that include another plate of roasted potato because we finished our carbohydrates faster than we liked. I would say it’s certainly value for money as I believe it would have cost us 20 – 25% more – and probably not as satisfying – if we had taken our dinner at Black Angus. (Do not be mistaken, it is not that Black Angus isn’t good on its own!)

Do give Amirah’s Grill a visit when you have time. In fact, we are going to check out some of the eateries at Haji Lane in the near future.