I’ve lived in the UAE for over a decade now, and in my time here I have made quite a few Filipino friends. Despite the large population of ‘Kabayan’ in our city, there seems to be a dearth of restaurants that serve up a good, authentic Filipino meal. The last time I dined Filipino was at Little Manila, and I still rave about their Boodle Fight!
We recently got invited to Skye & Walker for their ‘Fiesta Filipino’ dinner, and happily accepted. Skye & Walker is located on the ground floor of Marriot Executive Hotel Apartments, near Clock Tower Deira.
The interiors look very cafe-chic, modern and welcoming. On Thursday nights, the buffet here is authentically Filipino. The lineup includes a number of dishes I’ve tried and loved before, and many more that were completely new to me.
We started off with tangy-sweet glasses of chilled lemonade, and headed off to the salad counter. I absolutely loved the baked aubergine salad, and the sweet and creamy potato salad. I had two helpings of each, and then reminded myself to take it easy as there were many more interesting things to try here.
The buffet has a live Chicken Lumpia station. These are very similar to spring rolls, but the Filipino version is more generously stuffed with minced chicken. This was the Hubster’s favorite, and he must have had atleast three!
Other notable dishes included the very delicious Chicken Kare Kare (a coconut milk-based chicken and vegetable broth), the Ginataang Sitaw at Kalabasa (a sweet shrimp and vegetable medley, also doused in coconut milk), the Letchon Manok (flavorful roast chicken wings) and our absolute favorite, the Bistek Tagalog (a Filipino version of beef steak comprising of thinly sliced meat marinated in soya sauce and lemon).
They also had my favorite Filipino noodle dish, the Pancit Palabok. My dear friend Katherine shared her recipe for this dish on my blog a while ago, click here if you want to give it a go!
My little one discovered Mais Con Yelo here, a sweet corn and milk drink that tastes like the base of the ever-popular Filipino sundae, the Halo Halo. She absolutely loved it, and I need to see where I can get more of this for her.
The highlight of my Filipino dinner was the desserts. I love Filipino Cassava Cake, and the one here was deliciously dense with balanced sweetness and flavor, but my absolute favorite was the Biko. I’ve never had this before, and absolutely loved this sinfully rich, thickened rice pudding made with coconut milk.
Overall, we had a very memorable dinner at Skye & Walker, and this has made me want to go out there and discover more Filipino goodness. There were many new dishes we had never tried before, and none of them failed to impress. Perhaps I need to book a ticket to Manila soon?
Fiesta Filipino at Skye& Walker is a weekly buffet, and runs from 7 pm onwards every Thursday. The buffet costs AED 110 per head (and AED 55 for children).
Skye & Walker is located in the ground floor of Marriott Executive Apartments (Dubai Creek, Rigga Al Buteen, Street – Dubai). Give them a call on 04 213 1000 for more details.
The Tezzy Files 