Intizar is a Chinese restaurant in International City that specialises in the cuisine of the Xinjiang province, an autonomous territory in northwest China and home to many ethnic minority groups, including the Turkic Uyghur people. Calling this restaurant Chinese is correct but misleading because there is no chicken chow mein served here, no kung pao … Continue reading Intizar – International City
Same name, same location but new owners, new interior, new menu and, as a consequence, a new lease of life – Al Leekh (which means fishing net in Arabic) is the closest thing to a South Iranian Khodemooni restaurant with something very unique to offer – seafood. New owners, kabab masters @al.fareejrestaurants, have spruced the … Continue reading Al Leekh – Qusais
I suppose it was fitting for Bahar, which means spring in Persian, to re-launch itself at Nowruz, the Persian New Year and beginning of the Spring Equinox. The new location is on the extreme opposite end of Jumeirah Road, just past the giant flag, in the Wasl Port Views complex. Its interior, while not nearly … Continue reading Bahar (new) – Wasl Ports View
Zanzibar is a value for money (=rough and ready) Indian-African restaurant in Ras Al Khor with a hint of hidden gem about it. I’m told it’s owned by a Tanzanian, hence the name and the African twist. So I was a little disappointed when I was told none of the fiery curries I have come … Continue reading Zanzibar – Ras Al Khor
Hala Sweets is an Iranian sweets shop in the Al Mizhar Mall in…um, Al Mizhar. Located opposite Al Farsi Iranian restaurant where I was having dinner, its interior won’t win any interior design awards. That said, it was clean and cool. The owner, a young Iranian lady (named Hala perhaps), sat outside surrounded by boxes … Continue reading Hala Sweets – Al Mizhar Mall
Deniz is an authentic Turkish restaurant in Dubai Marina which specialises (as its name implies) in Aegean cuisine. It is also famous for its breakfast. My friends and I went there late on a lazy weekend for what was supposed to be breakfast. But one look at its tempting menu and we ended up ordering … Continue reading Deniz Aegean Cuisine – Dubai Marina
The business lunch at Sucre DIFC promises much, not least some Latino flair, but also meats cooked the Argentine way (indirectly) on a ‘parilla’ (grill). I was instantly in love and at home with Sucre’s interior – rustic, earthy, chic-casual and very, very unpretentious…a breath of fresh air in super stuck up DIFC. Enhancing the … Continue reading Sucre – DIFC
TakaHisa is a newly opened, super-premium Japanese restaurant at Caesar’s Palace Bluewater. At the heart of the restaurant are two separate Sushi and Kobe beef Omakase counters, manned by Sushi master, Chef Takashi Namekata (Tomo) and Wagyu master, Chef Hisao Ueda (Kohantei) respectively. The restaurant’s website proudly proclaims that it “offers premium seafood coming from … Continue reading TakaHisa – Bluewater Island
The food at Barbar was so tasteless I thought I had Covid. Could this really be the same restaurant so many of my friends have been raving about? The same Barbar which is considered a “household name in Lebanon”? I actually sent back my mixed shawarma platter because, in addition to being tasteless, it was … Continue reading Barbar – Barsha
Tendain is a homegrown burger (concept and) restaurant which has already built up quite a hardcore following, especially within the local community. Located somewhat off the beaten track in Nad Al Sheba (that’s next door to Meydan), its interior couldn’t be more different to its obscure location – it’s an exercise in grey urban minimalism … Continue reading Tendain – Nad Al Shiba
