Motafish Restaurant - Qusais

Name: Motafish Restaurant - Qusais
Address: 321 Damascus Street, Al Qusais, Dubai, AE
Telephone: +971521548305

Al Qusais

Restaurant Closed 0 521 548 305

Motafish Restaurant in Al Qusais focuses on Kerala-style seafood, with standout options such as the banana-leaf Seafood Bucket and paal kappa. Reviews also point to a polished, clean dining room, indoor and outdoor seating, and a menu that includes meat, vegetarian dishes and family-friendly meals.

Reputation Score

4.3

★★★★☆

432 ratings

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The Good Stuff

Showing 2 of 6

Seafood Bucket

The Seafood Bucket combines mixed seafood, rice, porotta, drinks and paysam, with reviewers finding it generous for sharing.

Paal Kappa

Paal kappa is repeatedly singled out: tapioca cooked in coconut milk with fish gravy and chutney, served in banana leaf.

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What to Eat at Motafish Restaurant - Qusais

These items at Motafish Restaurant - Qusais got the most positive mentions in user reviews. Check them out!

Food 3

Paal kappa Net +5

“The dishes we ordered all were too good. The paal kappa is my personal fav.”
Fish bucket Net +3

“Our target dish was fish bucket and we only ordered and had that, we weren’t disappointed at all, the customer service is amazing, the ambience is just great, washrooms are very clean. The taste was beyond our expectation, while we were dining we also had a little chat with the staff and they explained us about other dishes they serve and other branches that they have.”
Seafood bisque Net +2

“The soup was seafood bisque, and it was very nice.”

Honorable mentions (35)

Alleppey fish curry Net +1

“Started with tomyum soup and tried tiger prawns and alleppey fish curry. Worth the try. Tastes good.”
Appams Net +1

“Appam was great in reasonable price.”
Attinkal Net +1

“The main signature dish Attinkal is really to die for. It's great in taste and presented dramatically.”
Avial Net +1

“Sambhar, Avial, pachadi takes full marks for being near perfect.”
Beef chatti chore Net +1

“We tried fish meal thali and beef chatti chore and tawa fried prawns. Must say everything was yum with a reasonable price.”
Biriyani Net +1

“Ambience is very nice , Friendly and polite staffs specially Rajeev , excellent service , Food is awesome ,I can say best biriyani in town . Must try restaurant ♥️”
Black pomfret Net +1

“Then we tried out Prawns Tawa Fry, Black Pomfret (cut into a butterfly shape), with red spicy masala on 1 side and lemon garlic on the other which was perfectly char grilled.”
Chatti choru Net +1

“New favorite place for Authentic Kerala Cuisine. Paalkappa is a Must Try! We also tried their Chatti choru which was amazing! Amazing food, ambiance and friendly staffs. Will definitely recommend it to our family and friends.”
Chatti choru in beef Net +1

“The chatti choru in beef that I tried was delicious.”
Chicken biriyani Net +1

“- Chicken Biriyani, kizhi porotta, fish tawa fry, fried rice.. These were really good.”
Fish grill Net +1

“Amazing overall experience! 10/10 for the food , specially the fish grill and kerala porotta.”
Fish meal thali Net +1

“We tried fish meal thali and beef chatti chore and tawa fried prawns. Must say everything was yum with a reasonable price.”
Fish shappil Net +1

“💸🙌 fish shappil was good but chicken , mutton and beef wasn't good as expected, overall it was good loved the kappa and chamanthi 😍.”
Fish tawa fry Net +1

“- Chicken Biriyani, kizhi porotta, fish tawa fry, fried rice.. These were really good.”
Fried rice Net +1

“- Chicken Biriyani, kizhi porotta, fish tawa fry, fried rice.. These were really good.”
Grilled lemon and garlic fish Net +1

“Loved the Saffron Rice, was a great side dish for the grilled lemon and garlic fish.”
Kappa masala Net +1

“Best South Indian restaurant for seafood and also I loved their kappa masala.”
Kerala porotta Net +1

“Amazing overall experience! 10/10 for the food , specially the fish grill and kerala porotta.”
Kizhi porotta Net +1

“- Chicken Biriyani, kizhi porotta, fish tawa fry, fried rice.. These were really good.”
Mango kanji Net +1

“Mango Kanji and paal kappa combo are must try items . Loved it ♥️”
Mango pudding Net +1

“Lastly dessert, creamy delicious tender coconut pudding and mango pudding.”
Onam sadhya Net +1

“Finally MotaFish is open for dine-in .. in a new location. Just opened and we went for their Onam Sadhya ... everything was excellent. Now need to go again to try the non-veg menu items...”
Onam sandhya Net +1

“The Onam Sandhya food had traditional flavours, the spread was complete with over 25 items.”
Paal kappa combo Net +1

“Mango Kanji and paal kappa combo are must try items . Loved it ♥️”
Pachadi Net +1

“Sambhar, Avial, pachadi takes full marks for being near perfect.”
Pomfret fry Net +1

“It's one of the better restaurants in the area with nice sit out area. In terms of food, it specializes in fish preparations and do order Pomfret fry...one of the best Pomfret dishes in this part of city. All in all a good value for money !!”
Prawns tawa fry Net +1

“Then we tried out Prawns Tawa Fry, Black Pomfret (cut into a butterfly shape), with red spicy masala on 1 side and lemon garlic on the other which was perfectly char grilled.”
Saffron rice Net +1

“Loved the Saffron Rice, was a great side dish for the grilled lemon and garlic fish.”
Sambhar Net +1

“Sambhar, Avial, pachadi takes full marks for being near perfect.”
Seafood mixed bucket Net +1

“What we tried from here is , they started serving Seafood Mixed Bucket..! Super amazinh ..! Must try and Recommended”
Table sea platter Net +1

“A must try is their Table sea platter served on a banana leaf.”
Tawa fried prawns Net +1

“We tried fish meal thali and beef chatti chore and tawa fried prawns. Must say everything was yum with a reasonable price.”
Tender coconut pudding Net +1

“Lastly dessert, creamy delicious tender coconut pudding and mango pudding.”
Tiger prawns Net +1

“Started with tomyum soup and tried tiger prawns and alleppey fish curry. Worth the try. Tastes good.”
Tomyum soup Net +1

“Started with tomyum soup and tried tiger prawns and alleppey fish curry. Worth the try. Tastes good.”

Drinks 3

Cocktail juice Net +1

“Drinks we had Passion Fruit Juice and Cocktail Juice. It was freshly made and tasty.”
Mango welcome drinks Net +1

“They also had Mango welcome drinks that was so good.”
Passion fruit juice Net +1

“Drinks we had Passion Fruit Juice and Cocktail Juice. It was freshly made and tasty.”

What to Avoid (3)

Food 3

King fish mango curry Net −1

“Not worthy to visit again as the king fish mango curry was readymade gravy with a little old ready cooked fish slices soaked in it comparatively high in price.”
Mango prawn curry Net −1

“For the main course we ordered the famous mango prawn curry, but this was disappointed as it did not taste anything like a mango prawn curry.”
Rabbit curry Net −1

“But 15/Apr/23, we ordered rabbit curry which is around 50aed cost and they given offer 20%, we extremely dissatisfied. The reason is l 1. The qty of meat is too low, only 2-3 small pieces were given”

Tips for a Better Visit

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Book Ahead. Confirm your reservation before a lunchtime visit; one group was told walk-ins were fine, then found booking was mandatory.

Request Mild. Tell the team your spice preference when ordering, since reviewers describe some dishes as spicy and say customisation is possible.

Plan the visit

Practical details

321 Damascus Street

Al Qusais Industrial Area, Dubai

0 521 548 305

Mon	11:30 AM – 12:30 AM
Tue	11:30 AM – 12:30 AM
Wed	11:30 AM – 12:30 AM
Thu	11:30 AM – 12:30 AM
Fri	11:30 AM – 12:30 AM
Sat	11:30 AM – 12:30 AM
Sun	11:30 AM – 12:30 AM

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Common Concerns

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Slow Service

One first visit involved reminding staff multiple times before the order arrived.

Inconsistent Dishes

The mango prawn curry was criticised for not tasting like the dish described, while another review found ready-made gravy and old fish slices.

Customer-reported prices

These are customer-reported mentions, not a current price list. Prices may have changed.

110 AED

Seafood Bucket

“This is their famous Seafood Bucket which is priced at 110 AED (enough for 2-4 people depending how hungry you are) includes:”

Google review · July 2022

around 50aed

rabbit curry

“But 15/Apr/23, we ordered rabbit curry which is around 50aed cost and they given offer 20%, we extremely dissatisfied”

Google review · April 2023

DXB
LOCAL

The Bottom Line

Motafish Restaurant is a Kerala-focused seafood restaurant in Al Qusais, worth considering if you want fish dishes, traditional kappa or a generous sharing meal. The Seafood Bucket is the headline order: mixed seafood cooked in curry over rice on a banana leaf, with porotta, drinks and paysam. Paal kappa is another recurring favourite, while chatti choru and Kerala-style fish curries give the menu a more homestyle direction.

The setting is one of the stronger parts of the experience. Reviews describe elegant interiors, calm music, clean washrooms and both indoor and outdoor seating. Families get big tables and kids’ meal options, and parking is reported nearby.

The restaurant also ran a well-packed, more-than-25-item Onam Sadya with on-time delivery, though that is a seasonal example rather than a daily offering. There are a few reasons to order thoughtfully. Spice can be intense, so mention your tolerance; the kitchen has reportedly adjusted dishes for this.

Ask whether curry comes with your fish, as one diner had to request it. Service was usually described as friendly, but one first visit involved repeated reminders. Booking is also worth confirming before lunch, and takeaway seafood packaging has received criticism after gravy spilled.