Not only did I visit the Aga Khan for cultural enlightenment today, I also had lunch with my parents at the newly opened Diwan Restaurant in the museum. It was quite busy and we were warned that we might not be able to get in without reservations but luckily the hostess found us a quiet corner table.
Nicely appointed with large windows and a view of the park, the interior of the restaurant is decorated with beams of old wooden archways and aged mirrors. A little imperfectly integrated perhaps, but our enthusiastic waiter tells us that the place looks marvellous in the evening. He was very nice and helpful, and we find out that he is Ethiopian-Italian and has studied both architecture and nursing!
The menu of Diwan is culled from multiple cuisines, from Middle Eastern and Indian to North African and Mediterranean, but we are told that it will change every two months to focus on one country at a time. As the restaurant is still newly opened, the menu has only been around for three weeks. Specialty drinks such as Turkish coffee and Moroccan tea will be added soon.
My parents and I shared our dishes. We ordered the mezze platter, eggplant appetizer, lamb pasta parcels, and prawn omelette roll. The mezze platter was quite nice, with a good amount of olives and figs, herb-filled pita bread, three different meats, and an artichoke salad. The lamb pasta was also pretty good, even though I don’t really like lamb, but it could probably do with a few more parcels, as the serving was a bit small. The eggplant and omelette dishes didn’t really stand out. We ended the meal with tall cups of coffee. Everything was quite nicely presented and not outrageously over-priced at all.
Overall, I would say that the food and atmosphere were okay-to-good, but the service was excellent.