Category Archive: Food

Fiesta Filipino at Skye & Walker

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.

Skye and Walker Deira Fiesta Filipino review Dubai Food Blog UAE Blogger (7)

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Muchachas: Mexican Cantina Brunching (Holiday Inn Express, Business Bay)

Without a doubt, Mexican has to be one of my all-time favorite world cuisines (coming a close second after Thai ofcourse!). I discovered Muchachas many months ago as Holiday Inn Express is literally at the back-door of my workplace.

The bright turquoise interiors, complete with cacti, Mexican sombreros and cantina-style minimalist furnishings is all at once eclectic, exotic and welcoming, and my colleagues are a little weary of the number of times I praise them for their tacos. 

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Authentic Indian Fine-Dining at Bukhara (Globally Ranked Restaurant at Kempinski Ajman)

Declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, Bukhara is a historical city of Uzbekistan. For centuries, Bukhara has been a center for trade, arts, culture and religion, and fell on the Silk Road that connected it to the Indian subcontinent. This pathway brought the Moghuls to India, and was home to the great Mongolian emperor Genghis Khan. With this came a great deal of social and culinary influences such as clay oven baking, the art of skewered kebabs and rustic brass cookware.

Reliving the authenticity of this historical bond, Bukhara restaurant at Kempinski Ajman recreates the charm of a bygone era with a spacious interior elaborately decorated with unique, vintage curios, brass vessels and carved wood. Even the staff here are dressed to match the ambiance with elaborately embroidered suits and golden sandals.

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Turkish Feasting at Babaji (CityWalk, Dubai)

Citywalk Phase 2 has an eclectic vibe about it. Perhaps it’s the highly Instagrammed graffiti that adorn its surrounding walls, or the cobbled, open spaces, all at once European yet undisputedly Dubai that makes it so endearing. Despite the summer heat, the evenings are bustling with activity here. A group of children play hopscotch near the cascading fountain, young friends chat over coffee and haloed puffs of shisha. Yet above it all is the decadent scent of freshly baked bread and melting cheese.

Follow your nostrils, and you will find yourself in Babaji, Citywalk’s newest restaurant opening. A London import, and restauranteur Alan Yau’s very first international debut, Babaji is a wide and spacious, and has been brimming with diners from the time it opened this May. Word about their famous pide is out! Pide, the traditional Turkish cheese bread with assorted toppings, puts food-court pizza to shame.

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Scoopi Cafe: Dubai’s very own Liquid Nitrogen Ice-Cream Parlor

It’s been so hot and muggy, that all I’m dreaming of is ice-cold desserts. But who needs hot weather to reinforce a love for ice-cream? This is especially so when it comes to Scoopi Cafe. Located on bustling Beach Road (Jumeirah), the small and sleek black signboard is a ‘blink and you miss it’.

But what makes this wee café stand out is its record-breaking expensive scoop, the highly coveted Black Diamond. At AED 2,999 per golden handcrafted cup, this ice-cream concoction has gone down as the World’s Most Expensive Ice-Cream. This pricey scoop is very clever marketing if you ask me, and has made this wee café a stop-over for wallet-heavy locals and tourists alike.

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Pasta & Grape at Trattoria Toscana

“Everything you see I owe to spaghetti.” – Sophia Loren.

If one of the world’s most beautiful women credits her beauty to spaghetti, why haven’t we come up with a pasta diet yet? And so was my excuse last Saturday, as I indulged in not one but a total of 9 decadent pasta creations by artisanal Head Chef Antonio Lacovelli at Trattoria Toscana.

Trattoria Toscana Souk Madinat Jumeirah Dubai UAE Review Food Blog Blogger The Tezzy Files (3)

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Tanjore: Al Ain’s Oldest Indian Fine-Dining Restaurant (Danat Al Ain Resort)

We had a wonderful stay at Danat Al Ain Resort, and one of the culinary highlights of our weekend away was dining at Tanjore. Although we have an endless set of options when it comes to Indian restaurants in the UAE, what sets Tanjore apart is its very history.

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The restaurant has been on the premises for nearly 3 decades, even before InterContinental became Danat Al Ain. It is, infact, Al Ain’s very first Indian fine-dining establishment and has an interesting little story behind it.

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Weekend Away at Danat Al Ain Resort

I am insanely jealous of all the UAE residents who get to hibernate off to exotic locations across the globe just when the summer heat starts spiking up. With no holidays clocked up at work, I have to make do with the weekends. But hey! Living in the UAE, we are spoilt for choice with some of the best hotels and resorts.

 

Ringing in the end of July, my little fambam and I packed up the four-wheeler and headed to the greener pastures of Al Ain. I feel a sense of calm just driving into Al Ain. It must be the lush greenery and the absence of towering, tall buildings that city dwellers like me silently crave.

 

We were invited for a staycation at Danat Al Ain Resort. The Danat collection of properties expands across the UAE, and this includes the Tilal Liwa Hotel we had visited around this time last year. I for one love a property that reflects the cultural vibes of its adopted home country (unlike the very commercial run of the mill properties that look identical regardless of where you are). Every property under the Danat collection has been accentuated with a touch of Arabesque charm.

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Flow: Nutritious Dining with a Difference

From the outside, Flow appears to be yet another chic urban café, complete with a smorgasbord of enticing goodies at the front and deli-style fonts scribbled across its expansive white-washed walls.

Flow Emirates Towers Dubai UAE Food Review Healthy Organic Cafe Gluten Free Paleo Friendly Diet Dubai Blog UAE Blogger (10)

 

I set foot into the newest foodie venture at Emirates Towers on a hustling work day, and the place was packed with lunchers. The café has an affiliative vibe and is flooding with natural lighting, and the staff (despite the grueling rush-time) seemed genuinely sweet and enthused with what the menu had on offer.

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Weekend Away at Media One Hotel (…and 10 reasons why you should book a room here too)

If you’re following me on Instagram, you might have noticed my overflow of Insta Stories from last weekend. My wee family and I were invited over for a staycation at Media One Hotel, and I have to say this has to be one the most Instagram-worthy hotel stays I’ve been to in Dubai!

 

Media One Hotel had us click-happy for a number of reasons. First off, its so refreshingly different from the staycations I’ve been to in the recent past. Media One Hotel makes suave, ‘run of the mill’ sophisticated, uptight interiors look so cliche! This 4 star property can best be described as an artsy boutique concept and has, so far, been a well-kept secret among Media City coworkers. 

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