What’s even better than warm, freshly baked cookies? Warm, freshly baked cookies that have been beautifully boxed up just for me by a very talented friend! Agriculturalist turned recipe blogger Fahmim Arif reminisces about the beautifully crumbly, textured Nankhatai, a buttery cookie that is ever so popular in the East Indian state of Assam (India) where we both originate.

Orange Blossom Nankhatai baked, stylized & shot by the lovely Fahmim Arif from mymagicingredient.com

Fahmim discovered orange blossom when she landed here in the UAE, and recreated her favorite cookies with a dash of flavor from her adopted home. Read on for her recipe.

14th Feb is just 4 days away! Where are you heading this Valentine’s? If its variety you seek, Nassima Royal Hotel is an ideal dining destination to consider. We were invited for the Valentine’s Day preview at their all-day buffet dining restaurant Celsius, yet the wonderful team had more in store for us than a lavish spread.

In true V-Day spirit, we were teamed together with our better halves to have a go at cake icing. Heart-shaped Red Velvet cakes were placed on every work station, and the Chef helped us slice it horizontally, and pipe in the icing. We tried our hand at rosette swirls, and I think our cake had more cream than cake!

Honored to be the featured Food Blogger in Ahlan Masala! magazine for the 5th week in a row 🙂

What would you pay for a generously large 300 gram serving of prime beef, served with seasonal vegetables, fries and even a soft-drink of your choice? I was recently invited for the Steak Promotion at Al Bustan Centre & Residences, and was absolutely gobsmacked by the great value dinner we had there. All this for a mere AED 40 per serving!

One of my all-time favorite comfort foods has to be Avo on Toast. I love smashed avocado on a slice of rye, sprinkled with salt and pepper. On other occasions, I add a poached egg to make the meal all the more substantial, but never have I had it the way they do it in Pantry Cafe.

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Pantry Cafe has long been my recluse from a crazy, stressed out day at work. It’s just a few minute’s drive from the office, and has the perfect chic cafe ambiance for catching up with the girlfriends.

We sip on their healthful smoothies and juxtapose the superfood overload with crisp, golden fries. They also do a wicked Soy Latte here that I’d highly recommend. However, my all-time favorite item off the Pantry Cafe menu has to be their Avocado on Toast.

How blessed are we with the current weather! As a family, we are making the most of it by spending as much time outdoors as possible. Last Friday I received an invite to try out Inn the Park, a brand new dining concept located right inside Al Khazzan Park. The idea of combining a tasting session with a day out in the sunshine sounded highly appealing, and what’s even better was the fact that we didn’t have to pack up a picnic hamper either!

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Al Khazzan is a very small park by Dubai standards, but is pretty easy to locate given it is bang opposite CityWalk.  Inn the Park is just a mere 2 weeks old, and the restaurant doesn’t even have a signage up as yet.

Tucked away in a quiet corner of Jumeirah Beach Road is Beach Park Plaza, perhaps the least frequented of malls on this strip. A chance tasting invitation saw us there last week, and I now come to you with the perfect excuse to visit Beach Park Plaza for yourself: Chop Suey!

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Named after the ever-popular American Chinese stir-fried noodle dish, Chop Suey is the brainchild of husband and wife duo Bassam and Diana. The restaurant has been in operation for over 2 years, and has a regular steam of visitors from the vicinity, as well as a long list of frequent delivery orders that covers the Business Bay, Sheikh Zayed Road, Al Barsha, Media City and Meydan Heights areas.