Mejhana

Mejhana is the Arabic room at Ajman Saray, a luxury collection resort on the Corniche, and it is the restaurant to book when the rest of the resort is leaning international. The setting is quietly theatrical: traditional Majlis-style interiors with hand-worked chandeliers and lantern light, and a courtyard with table fans that opens up once the season cools. The cooking is Levantine at its core but reaches into Morocco and India, and the kitchen makes clear which dishes it takes most seriously. The mezze is the right way to begin - warm platters with manakish za'atar, lamb sambousek, and a tabbouleh and fattoush that punch above hotel-restaurant standard, alongside babaganoush and a hot bread brought out with olive oil and thyme. The Moroccan side of the menu is the crown: the chicken pastilla is worth the wait, the lamb tagine with preserved lemons and the chicken tagine with barkouk arrive light and deeply flavoured, and the couscous holds up. From the grill, mixed platters and lamb chops are consistent, and the fish soup, sea bass and king prawns with jasmine rice earn their place on the menu. The Indian section is quieter but has its fans: the butter chicken and tandoori lamb chops are regularly named. Portions skew generous to the point of being shareable, and meals close with complimentary baklava and a fresh fruit plate. Service is the steady star, with the chef often stepping out to talk through the menu and floor staff who remember returning guests. Honest caveats: pricing is resort level, bottled water is marked up aggressively, and the occasional dish lands flat - an over-sweet tagine, a mild roghan josh, a shish tawook that can arrive closer to boiled than grilled. The all-inclusive menu is also not always clearly signposted. For an authentic, well-paced Arabic dinner in Ajman - particularly on the courtyard in winter - Mejhana remains one of the more distinctive tables on the Corniche.