Ashrafi has been recommended to me repeatedly over the years. It’s just stuck in such an awkward location, especially now with all the construction going on and the near impossibility of find parking during the day, that I never got around to visiting it. Evenings are better. So, this time I dropped someone off at … Continue reading Ashrafi – Garhoud
Wagamama is finally getting the recognition it so rightly deserves. This recently opened fifth branch is located right at the corner of the fountain entrance of Dubai Mall, placing it in the middle of some of Dubai’s best-known F&B franchises. I was lucky enough to visit the first, Bloomsbury outlet in London in the early … Continue reading Wagamama – Dubai Mall, Downtown Dubai
Hatam is a mid-price ranged, mall-based Persian/Iranian food franchise. This, My City Centre Al Barsha outlet in Al Barsha South, is the smallest branch I have been to. Although it has a table on either side as you enter, it’s obviously designed for take away and home delivery. There are tables outside, but these are … Continue reading Hatam – Al-Barsha South
Qedreh W Mansaf is an al-Quoz catering kitchen specialising in Levantine cuisine. There is NO SEATING AVAILABLE for dine-in, it is a strictly take away or home delivery establishment. I am not the biggest fan of catering kitchens, preferring restaurants instead BUT my son, visiting from the UK, was insistent we try this place out. … Continue reading Qedreh W Mansaf – Al Quoz
Bagels and More is a tiny bagel bakery in Arjan, Barsha South. Located in the unfinished Diamond Business Centre 2 building, you literally have to drive through a live construction site to reach it. Dine-in is absolutely NOT recommended. Thankfully they have a number of delivery bikes and van standing by… I tried one of … Continue reading Bagels and More – Arjan, Al-Barsha South
City Burger Express is a mini version of an Indian cafeteria franchise of the same name (minus the express). It is very much a merger of western and eastern fast / street food where burgers and paratha wraps are served side by side. This small branch is located in the Aswaq Mall, beside the (Aswaq) … Continue reading City Burger Express – Al-Barsha South
Raidan is a mandi restaurant on the Sharjah fringe of Dubai in Al Nahda. It’s an expansive eatery with traditional floor seating extending on either side of the entrance, and table-chairs in the middle. As customary, there’s is also a dedicated family area. The restaurant is bright and airy and doesn’t suffer from the overbearing … Continue reading Raidan Mandi Restaurant – Al Nahda
Uchkuduk, one of my favourite Uzbek restaurants in Dubai, has moved from the Trident Grand Tower on Al Sufouh Road to the Indigo Building in Al Manara, right next door to the Infinity showroom on Sheikh Zayad Road. It is located inside the Bab Tuma restaurant, a novel cost-saving exercise. So, find Bab Tuma and … Continue reading Uchkuduk – Al Quoz
This branch of Paul, located on the Ground Level of Mall of the Emirates, is so busy it’s almost comical. In fact, it’s probably the busiest outlet at MOE bar one, Din Tai Fung. In typical European fashion, tables have been spaced so close together that it’s an (embarrassingly) tight squeeze getting between them. That … Continue reading PAUL Bakery & Restaurant – MOE, al-Barsha
The venerable Red Lion has risen. The original, at the (also) original Met, was a pub my friends and I would visit quite often. There was another outlet we would visit there which, in the interests of matrimonial harmony, I shall not mention by name. But it was at The Red Lion where the boys … Continue reading The Red Lion – Al Safa
