Category Archive: Restaurants

Boutique Le Chocolat: Artisan Chocolatier, Now Open on CityWalk

Who doesn’t love chocolate? This brown slab of calorie-laden goodness manages to make all things right. If you are like me, you can easily scoff down an entire bar in a sitting. But at Boutique Le Chocolat, chocolate is taken to a whole new level of seriousness.

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Proudly a home-grown concept created by the MERAAS group of companies, Boutique Le Chocolat boasts of housing 28 of the world’s most premium chocolate brands, with 60 more to come. And if you thought chocolate can only be dark, milk and white, I have news for you… they have a total of 700 different chocolate flavors, all under one roof! But this massive variety is only half the treat. At Boutique Le Chocolat, they take the ’boutique’ element of chocolate-making to new extremes!

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Sakura: An Authentic Japanese Experience

A week ago, my sister posted this absolutely stunning image of the cherry blossom trees, in full bloom at the International Pacific University in my hometown of Palmerston North, New Zealand.

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The annual Sakura Festival is one of the most anticipated events on the calendars of the Japanese migrant community of New Zealand. Being Down Under, the cherry blossoms come to bloom there in early September, but in Japan it takes place between March and May.

Sakura is Japanese for ‘cherry blossom’, and it is quite a coincidence that a week later, I find myself in a Japanese restaurant by the same name.

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Located in the very central Crowne Plaza Hotel on Sheikh Zayed Road, Sakura takes the Japanese culinary experience to another level with its dedicated Chashitsu room, an interactive sushi-making counter and a very fired-up lineup of authentic Teppanyaki barbecues, cooked and served right at the table with a great deal of pomp and pizzazz. 

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Tribes (The Dubai Mall): Unleash the Carnivore in You

Are you a hard-core meat eating fiend? Then you are in for a treat. Imagine the finest cuts of meat, served right at your table… and at a set price of AED 135 (for lunch) and AED 165 (for dinner) its an ‘all you can eat’ concept!

Come in with an empty stomach and wear your comfiest, stretchy-waist pants because Tribes Carnivore has opened up a brand new branch at the centrally located Dubai Mall itself! This new branch features an outdoor terrace boasting of stunning views of the Dubai Fountains and the mighty Burj Khalifa, and the interiors are stylishly exotic.

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Zafran Reloaded

I was invited to do a review on Zafran at Mirdiff City Center over a year ago, and have been raving about them ever since. This week, I had the pleasure of attending yet another bloggers’ meet-up organised by the lovely Monica Kapila from doindubai.com

Zafran is ‘saffron’ on an Arabesque tongue. Saffron, the most prized of spices, the sacred color of sadhus, and a shade that takes up a third of the Indian flag, is the inspiration behind this trendy contemporary Indian restaurant. The last time I was at Zafran, the interiors were a vibrantly bright shade of saffron, and the ambiance was made to look all the more exotic with carved elephants and ethnic prints.

The Zafran chain has now had a major facelift. The colour scheme has shifted to more somber hues of greys,off-white and hints of peacock blue. This new look is more in tune with the ‘contemporary bistro’ concept that the restaurant claims to be.

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Playing Judge at the Grandma’s Recipe Contest at Arabian Courtyard (My Master Chef Moment)

In our household, we are pretty addicted to Master Chef Australia. Hubby and I take great pleasure in putting bets on contestant rankings, and I’ve always been in awe with the judging skills and straight-up informative feed back Chefs Gary, George and Matt seem to be able to give at the drop of a hat.

We are foodies. I blog about food, yet actually being a judge at a cooking contest perturbs me. And then I had the honor of being invited onto the judging panel of the annual Grandma’s Recipe Contest in Arabian Courtyard & Spa this month! Absolutely honored, I decided to give it a go and put on my Master Chef hat 🙂

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Cafe Isan: Authentic Isan Thai Cuisine at JLT, Dubai

When asked what my favorite kind of cuisine is, Thai always tops the list. I love the delicate medley of exotic spices and the fiery heat of Thai chilies. Even at home, we eat predominantly Thai inspired dishes.

So imagine my excitement when I got invited to yet another Thai gem last week! Inaugurated earlier this year, Cafe Isan is tucked away in a quiet corner of JLT (Lakefront Icon 1 Building, Cluster M) right next to Chawlas 2. We have quite a few restaurants in the UAE that specialize in Thai cuisine, but what sets this newbie apart is that their recipes originate from the Isan region of Thailand.

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‘The Art of Brunch’ (Fountain Restaurant, Movenpick – Bur Dubai)

Fridays are brunch days. After a grueling week of work, its that day of the week when the entire household rises just before noon. By this hour, its too late for breakfast yet a little too early for lunch. Either do brunch at home (which usually consists of greasy plates of hash browns, runny eggs, sausage and a copious amount of red beans), or we head out for our cusp of a meal someplace new.

Brunching has made a permanent mark in the dining-out fabric of Dubai, and last weekend we were fortunate enough to be invited for ‘The Art of Brunch’ at none other than Movenpick Hotel, Bur Dubai. This establishment is one of Dubai’s oldest 5-star properties, and its old-world charm and very central location still attracts a varied mix of tourists all year round.

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Yet the majority of the guests at The Art of Brunch were local residents like us. We all like a chilled out Friday, and when we got there, the place was absolutely packed!

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An Elaborate Indian Dinner at 25 Degrees North (Bay Square, Dubai)

What have you been up to this long Eid weekend? We decided to hibernate on Day 1, dreading the holiday rush across the city. Surely every road, every mall and every restaurant must be overflowing with people now that everybody is back from the summer break?

Well I have great news for you! I’ve recently discovered the (not so secret) secret hang-out for foodies who, like me, detest the crowds. Ironically just a few parallel roads down from buzzing Dubai Mall itself, Bay Square is a hidden gem housing some of Dubai’s most affordable restaurants under one spacious complex itself.

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I was in Bay Square about a week ago, devouring really good Thai food at Fuchsia, and just a week later I was back yet again, this time for some amazingly affordable Indian at 25 Degrees North.

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Weekend Buffet at Silk Route (Arabian Courtyard & Spa)

“Silk Route was an ancient network of trade routes that for centuries were central to cultural interaction through regions of the Asian continent connecting the West and East from China to the Mediterranean Sea.” – Wikipedia.

These legendary routes, set ablaze by none other than Marco Polo himself, was probably the beginnings of the East blending into the West. Apart from the lucrative trade of besotted silks, the West got introduced to the magic of noodles (and the Italians unabashedly turned it into pasta!). It also took heady mix of spices from the subcontinent to far reaching places and local dishes. The story is fascinating! And what better name can an Asian restaurant ask for than to be christened Silk Route?

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Located in one of Dubai’s oldest hotels, Silk Route has built a reputation for its delicious fare of Chinese and Thai dishes, and if you are looking to go out for dinner with the family this long weekend, I have great news!

Weekend Bargain Dinner Alert! Every Thursday and Friday, Silk Route spreads out an elaborate ‘all you can eat’ buffet for as little as AED 99 per head (with soft-drinks) and AED 179 per head (with alcohol).

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Global Eats: Street Foods of Shillong (Meghalaya, India)

It’s been over a month since I got back from my whirlwind trip around North East India this summer. We spent most of the holidays in my husband’s hometown of Shillong (Meghalaya), and I am really missing the cooler weather, the lazy midday siestas and the food… oh the glorious street food!

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I believe the food offerings of a city are a direct reflection of the cultural norms of the region, and what better way to explore Shillong than to take to the streets and eat like the locals? Being a Shillong boy himself, my husband was my most trusty food-exploring guide.

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