Review: Hashmi Barbeque Restaurant does true justice to 45 years of legacy

We get the long lines in waiting…

Hashmi Barbeque Restaurant is the true picture of a family owned, family run establishment. The owners, three brothers, are on the floor themselves, walkie talkies dangling from their hips as they navigate the dinner time rush. On this night, the restaurant is full, and something tells me this is no novelty – the servers rush about with purpose, as if they already know what do and have done it countless times already. Even the diners stride in with the confidence of age-old regulars – some with designer bags and some with cheap, dusty sandals.

Hashmi came from a family in Kenya, opened in the city centre of Nairobi in 1978 and in Dubai in 2020, but you’ll find in their joint nationalities and races of boggling variety. It has a sort of equalising atmosphere – we all kneel to the same height in front of just great food, made plain and simple. The fare in question is charcoal grilled meats, which they are the masters of, spiced Indian style. The seekh kababs and the lamb chops and the smoked murg tikkas.

The ambiance

The decor is nothing special – it has the fittings and sparkly wallpaper of an old joint that went through a recent makeover. It also seems as if two separate spaces have been merged into one, perhaps to accommodate the growing notoriety.

We’re handed a menu. The chatter is loud. Somewhere, a baby wails.

The cooks are working away behind a glass screen, as fires roar in their faces and the smell of spiced smoke wafts to your vicinity.

The food

Upon our server’s recommendations, we order the chooza chicken (Dhs85), the mutton kebabs (Dhs35), the lamb chops (Dhs85), the mutton khima chapati (Dhs35) and a plate of pillipilli chips, complete with three different types of chutneys, yogurt dip, plain naan and butter naan. It’s a feast.

The chicken is a signature, grilled to tender-on-the-inside and crispy-on-the-outside perfection. The prominent flavour is that of spicy smoke, built by a combination of a yogurt and lemon marinade, subtle and buttery as the taste develops with an actual kick towards the end. The mutton kebabs are more meaty in flavour – you can tell the ingredients used in this dish are kept to a minimum, but you taste some garlic, some onion, some green chilli there. They melt in your mouth as you take a bite.

The lamb chops are our personal favourites, fatty, heavy and infinitely flavourful, with a taste of char and Kashmiri chilli and a welcome freshness. Nothing is grey or slate-y. The chips are the most interesting – the flavour confuses me. Sometimes I think about salt and sometimes of the cheese dust popcorn at your nearby VOX cinemas, but they’re delicious and moreish nontheless.

After we’re done with our meal, we stop to thank one of the brothers, a smiling man who accepts our wishes warmly and asks us to come again. I realise this is why this name has been alive for 45 years. Great food and great people who make that food.

What’s On Verdict: No abs, only kebabs and only from Hashmi.

Hashmi Barbeque Restaurant, Al Barsha, Dubai, Tues to Thurs, 12.30pm to 3pm, 6pm to 11pm, Fri, 5pm to 11pm, Sat and Sun, 12.30pm to 11pm, Tel: (0) 4 546 5666, @hashmibarbeque.dxb