Last Thursday saw us in Al Ain. For my day job, I put on the marketing hat for a retail giant here in the UAE, and we will be opening our very first store in Remal Mall this month.

Remal Mall is the newest addition to the mall scene in Al Ain, and is strategically located in the populated residential area of Al Sanaiya. So far only 30% of the mall is operational, and the management plan to have it up in full swing by the end of this year.

The mall has a distinctively Arabesque architecture, and after my meeting with the management, I discovered the perfect place to sit down and relax: the food-court on the topmost floor leads to the roof of the mall, and has a number of cushy seats for idly enjoying the evening breeze. I can envision this space being taken over by a shisha lounge in the near future!

After a long, sunny drive up to Al Ain I succumbed to junk food for lunch. We discovered ‘Sterling Fast Food’ in the food-court. Their chicken burger was nothing fancy; a pan-fried chicken patty with a mound of soggy lettuce and tomato sandwiched into a sesame bun. However, given it was just AED 5, this is a super cheap meal!

I also ordered some onion rings, and was pleasantly surprised to see the quantity we got for AED 10. This box had a dozen of crisp, yummy onion rings and it was the perfect snack to have lounging on Remal Mall’s terrace.

Thought I’d share a few of my clicks on the terrace with you 🙂

By the time the clock hit 8, we decided to have a quick bite for diner before heading back to Dubai. For dinner, we decided to dine at La Brioche.

I’ve had coffee dates at La Brioche, but never stayed on for mains. This was my first proper meal at La Brioche French Cafe et Patisserie.

I love the Parisian look and feel of La Brioche, and the pastel color scheme that translates into the menu design is simply tres chic.

We started off with a complimentary basket of brown bread and butter. The butter was served at the perfect temperature as it spread like silk onto the warm, crusty slices of bread.

Given we were dining French, I insisted we order a bowl of French Onion Soup. We asked for one serving divided into two bowls, and I was quite happy with the generous helping we got.

The soup itself was soulfully onion, but I would have liked more of that stringy French cheese.

For the main’s my colleague had the Grilled Premium Australian Grain Fed Strip Loin Steak. 

Being a big eater, he was a little disappointed that the side order of sauteed potatoes and spinach was more of a garnish than a filler, but what really peeved him off was the fact that his steak was more than well-done when he specifically asked for medium-rare. In his opinion, this was a waste of a good piece of prime meat, and he didn’t care much for the green peppercorn sauce on the side either.

I went for the Grilled Salmon. 

Again, my meal was also a little over-done, and the salmon was quite dry for my liking. The creamy red pimento and lemongrass sauce was delicious, and I would have liked to see more of it on the plate.

Overall, we were quite disappointed with our mains at La Brioche. Then Bruno the Bear came to the rescue. This crumby digestive-like biscuit coated in chocolate was a sweet ending to an otherwise mediocre meal.

I think I’ll stick to coffees and sweet treats next time I visit La Brioche!

My day job will be taking me more often to Al Ain, and I am looking forward to more foodie discoveries in this Emirate. Stay tuned!