Dubai Food Blog

Diwali at Antique Bazaar (Four Points by Sheraton, Bur Dubai)

Diwali, the auspicious Indian ‘Festival of Lights’ celebrated by Hindus the world over, is scheduled for the 30th of this month. This festival signifies the victory of light over darkness, good over evil, knowledge over ignorance, and hope over despair (Wikipedia). It is by far, one of the grandest celebrations on India’s social calendar.

However, you don’t have to book a ticket to India to celebrate… From 29th through to 31st October, Antique Bazaar (at Four Points by Sheraton – Bur Dubai) has created a tantalizing lineup of traditional Diwali treats, complete with live Bollywood entertainment to boot!

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Friday Garden Brunch at Kempinski Hotel Ajman

We are slowly but surely heading into alfresco dining weather, and what better way to spend an idle Friday afternoon than brunching in a garden setting, complete with views of the sea?

I had the pleasure of being invited for the First Year Anniversary of Kempinski Ajman’s Friday Garden Brunch last week, and had a lovely time mingling with like-minded foodies and sampling the elaborate spread, complete with stunning outdoor views and entertainment for little ones.

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Bulbuli Aunty’s Chocolate Velvet Cream Recipe

When visiting my husband’s hometown of Shillong, the very picturesque hill-station capital of Meghalaya (India), we always look forward to visiting our very talented aunt, Mrs. Nurara Hazarika. Fondly known as Bulbuli Aunty, her talents in the kitchen have turned her love for cooking and baking into a very profitable business.

Bulbuli Aunty’s dinner parties are always an elaborate feast, with a delicious array of dishes from all corners of the globe. Over the years, she has a steady flow of novice cooks, signing up for her cooking classes and these have now expanded beyond the borders of Shillong.

Today, she has very generously shared a special cake recipe with us. Simple as it looks stunning, Bulbuli Aunty’s Chocolate Velvet Cream Recipe is sure to impress even the most cynical of dinner guests!

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Aseelah: Emirati Cuisine Revamped

Aseelah is Dubai’s newest Emirati fine-dining restaurant, and is located in one of the city’s oldest hotel establishments; Radisson Blue – Deira, Dubai. With dazzling gilded interiors paying homage to the intricate architecture of the region, the restaurant is a spacious, welcoming abode for diners who are eager to get a taste of both traditional and contemporary Emirati cuisine.

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My family and I dined at Aseelah a couple of weeks ago, and I have to say I was blown away by the talent of Chef Rabeh Adel Amer. My palette preference lean towards spicy, robust combinations, and I have often found regional dishes to be a little bland for my liking. Not the case here at all! 

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Clinton Street Baking Company Revisited

If you are looking out for an All-American style diner, Clinton Street Baking Company is the real deal. Conceptualized and created by a husband-wife duo in New York, the restaurant’s iconic blueberry pancakes have won the accolade of ‘best in the city’ by New York Magazine, twice in a row! However, they are not just about baking… I raved about their life-changing 15-hour smoked beef ribs here before, and I was recently invited back, a gap of nearly a year since my last visit.

The interiors haven’t changed much, but the lighting has been dimmed down for a more cozier ambiance for the evenings. The only downside with this is that my photography skills were greatly challenged with the lack of light!

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An Amicable Chat With Asha Bhosle: Bollywood Legend, Restaurateur, Chef

You don’t have to be Indian to know Asha Bhosle. With a career in Bollywood spanning over six decades, generations have grown up humming her melodious tunes. Her contribution to Indian music is legendary, but what many people may not be aware of is her flare for the kitchen.

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Despite a very busy career, Asha Bhosle finds respite in creating new dishes for her family and her elite circle of friends in the Bollywood fraternity.

Seeing how much her dishes were being appreciated, Asha Bhosle decided it was time the world got a taste of her cooking too and this is how Asha’s, her chain of Indian fine-dining restaurants have spread across the globe.

Today I have the immense pleasure of sharing an excerpt of my interview with the legend herself; Asha Bhosle! She has even been kind enough to share her recipe for Muscat Gosht with us. Read on for more.

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Manhattan Fish Market: The Big Fish from The Big Apple has finally landed in Dubai

Manhattan Fish Market is Dubai’s newest seafood chain to be imported from the United States. The restaurant concept may be new to our city, but it already has a huge fan following from across the globe, with more than 67 chains spread across Asia and the Middle East, including Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Oman, India, Bangladesh and Qatar.

Inspired by the fish markets of Fulton Street that served up the freshest catch of the day right under Manhattan’s iconic Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Fish Market is a restaurant concept with over 180 years of history in the making!

Dubai’s very first branch is located in Festival City Mall, and I had the pleasure of trying out quite a few of their iconic, ‘fin-tastic’ dishes last week.

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Cocoa Kitchen: A Hint of Cocoa in Every Bite

Still wide-eyed with awe after our tour around the absolutely fascinating chocolate sculptures at Boutique Le Chocolat, we were invited in for a very hearty lineup of lunch at the adjacent Cocoa Kitchen.

Yet another innovative catering concept by the MERAAS group, the restaurant revolves around one simple mono-ingredient in every dish: cocoa. You find it here in every single course; from savory starters and mains, cocoa is not just reserved for dessert.

Walking into Cocoa Kitchen is like entering a secluded world of its own. The amber lighting enhances the cocoa vibes of the place, and the interior decor take inspiration from an old chocolate factory, complete with exposed industrial piping and an open-view kitchen right at the front.

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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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