Yalumba’s Friday Brunch (Let’s Pop & Roll)

When we walked into Yalumba for brunch last Friday, I saw a few tables decorated with balloons and festive streamers. ‘What a lovely day to celebrate a birthday’ I thought. And then as I walked on further, I realized the party vibes were spread throughout the venue. Everyone had balloons and streamers, and fun party props! This looked like just the place to be to start off the weekend on party mode!

Yalumba Brunch bubbly brunch review by the tezzy files Dubai food blogger Le Meridien Airport Road Garhoud Australian restaurant (1)

Yalumba is an eclectic Australian restaurant located on the Ground Floor of Le Meridien Hotel (Airport Road, Dubai). We tried out Yalumba’s Bubbly Brunch, which runs from 12.30 pm to 3.30 pm every Friday, and starts from AED 499 per person inclusive of house beverages and champagne. 

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Sharjah Food Festival #SSF16

The Sharjah Food Festival ended this weekend. The festival is spread across three areas within Sharjah; Al Majaz Waterfront, Al Qasba and Al Montazah. We spent an idle Friday evening at Al Majaz Waterfront courtesy Zomato, and had a great time.

Sharjah Food Festival 2016 SFF16 Al Majaz Waterfront (8)

The Sharjah Food Festival has stalls from many well-known brands, and is also a great introduction to a few I have not heard of earlier. 

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Eataly: An Italian Mega-Store for Foodie Fanatics

Oscar Farinetti opened the very first Eataly store in Turin (Italy) in 2007. Today this ‘mega-store’ has a presence across 6 different countries, and their extensive range of Italian produce can also be bought and delivered worldwide on their online store.

Eataly is an Italian restaurant, but most of the restaurant’s expansive space is taken up by Eataly’s ‘mega-store’. The brand sells everything you could possibly need to whip up an authentic Italian meal!

I am a regular at their Dubai Mall branch. I find it to be the perfect spot for a mug of Italian mocha and a fancy sweet treat. Last week, I got invited to Eataly’s newest branch at Dubai Festival City. Till then, I thought Eataly was a cafe-cum-Italian food store. I now know they have a full fledged menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner 🙂

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Black Rice: The Forbidden Food (A Guest Post by Sharmin Pasha)

Black Rice is an exotic, healthful alternative to ordinary white rice. It is high in fiber, and has a beautifully nutty aftertaste. You might have noticed the Black Rice Pudding I had at Thiptara in my Instagram feed, it gave the traditional Thai Sticky Rice & Mango Pudding a delicious upgrade!

I discussed this with my sister in-law, Sharmin Pasha (you met her earlier here). Sharmin is the creator of the very popular Facebook page Assamese Cuisine and Recipes. This is a page dedicated to the indigenous cooking styles of Assam, the North Eastern state of India from where my family and I originate.

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I was under the impression Black Rice is only used in Thai cooking. Sharmin tells me it is just as popular in the North Eastern regions of India, even beyond Assam. Today’s article is a guest post by Sharmin Pasha. Read on about the fascinating attributes of Black Rice, the ‘forbidden food’, and try out Sharmin’s Black Rice recipes (two are traditional Assamese recipes that would be perfect for the upcoming Assamese Bihu festival. The other is an innovative take on the traditional Thai Mango & Sticky Rice Pudding, and the fourth is a traditional Manipuri Black Rice Bread to enjoy with a piping hot cup of tea!).

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Lunching at Radisson Blu (Lemon Pepper Restaurant)

Have you been to the Radisson Blu branch in Business Bay? I was meeting a friend over lunch, and ended up driving to their all too familiar Deira branch. I wasn’t even aware they had a branch in Business Bay! Talk about being unobservant… especially considering I blog about food!

Radisson Blu’s Business Bay branch is located on Al Asayal Street, just a stone throw away from Downtown Dubai and Dubai Mall itself. It is the only international hotel chain in this corner of Dubai. The Business Bay branch looks and feels more brighter and airy than its older Deira counterpart. The lobby features fun and funky shades of lime green, and has a good deal of natural light streaming in.

We were having lunch at Radisson Blu’s Lemon Pepper restaurant. They have an impressive spread for as low as AED 89 per head.

Radisson Blu Lemon Pepper Brunch AED 89 review
Image taken from the Radisson Blu website.
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Introducing Puja Yoga (Finding the Divinity Within)

I got e-introduced to Sue Flamm by my yoga-loving friend Nouf. Based in Spain, Sue has been practicing yoga for over four decades, and launched the Puja Yoga initiative which offers yoga teacher training, retreats, workshops and classes at an international level.sue flmm puja yoga

Sue has worked as a yoga practitioner in Dublin, Belgium, Holland, the United states and Valencia Spain and will be going to spread more on Puja Yoga in Dublin and Barcelona this fall.

Given the popularity of yoga in the UAE, I’m sure it won’t be long before Sue has a fan following in our region as well!

Sue is a full-time yoga practitioner, and author to a yoga manual entitled ‘Restorative Yoga with Assists‘ (available on Amazon). Although Sue is her official name, she likes to go by her yoga alias, Puja 🙂 Read on for more details on Puja Yoga from Puja herself!

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Gosh Primer Plus+ Illuminating Skin Perfector Review

I recently got introduced to Gosh, a high-quality cruelty-free and paraban-free beauty brand from Denmark. I was treated to a Gosh makeover at the Lifestyle store in Dubai Mall (click here if you missed out on the post), and came home with quite a few of their amazing, very reasonably priced products.

gosh cosmetics review on the tezzy files blog and makeup makeover dubai mall lifestyle thetezzyfiles dubai beauty blog lifestyle blogger (15)

One of the products I have been using on a regular basis is the Gosh Primer Plus+ Illuminating Skin Perfector, a long name for a product with an impressively long list of benefits 🙂

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Thiptara: HypnoThai Brunch with Exclusive Dubai Fountain Views

The Friday before last, I had the pleasure of attending yet another fabulous #ZomatoMeetup . This time round, we met up at Thiptara, an exclusive fine-dining Thai restaurant tucked away in the nook of The Palace, Downtown Dubai.

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When somebody says ‘Thai’, the foodie in me gets super excited. Thai food is by far one of my most favorite cuisines in the world! It also means I am quite a cynic when it comes to trying out a new Thai place. We cook Thai at home, have eaten Thai all around the globe, and quite honestly, have morphed into major Thai food snobs!

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