rahul moshi interview dubai uae1I had the pleasure of meeting Rahul Sajnani when I was invited for a tasting at Moshi, and felt this young, debonair fusion-chef deserved a blog post on his own! How many of us have the courage to make a profession out of our kitchen experimentations? Rahul found his calling at university, when his unusual flavor combinations won over his roomies in the UK. Back home in Dubai, he is on a mission to convert as many people as possible into sushi-loving Moshians!

Moshi has enjoyed unprecedented success in less than a year of operation, but all this media buzz has not gone into Rahul’s head. A firm believer in giving back to the community, Rahul has initiated a philanthropic stance at Moshi where 5% of the proceeds of every Moshi bill goes into feeding Dubai construction workers.

We’ve all heard about Shea Butter. It’s one of those hyped up beauty ingredients that get highlighted on hydrating potions all the time. But what if you could get your hands on raw, natural shea butter all on its own sans any chemical mix-ups?

I got my hands on a jar of this lovely beauty product by Mother Nature from the African stall at Global Village last year, and have been looking for a local supplier ever since. Then I get sent this generously large glass jar from Shea Butter DXB and I am over the moon!

Shea Butter Beauty Benefits and How to Use Includes a Recipe for a Deeply Hydrating Night Cream Dubai Beauty Blogger Natural Organic Beauty (1)

My little cherub turned 5 yesterday, a whole half-decade! My cuddly little bundle is now a hyper little child with a strongly opinionated mind of her own. She’s graduated from Barney to Dora, and is currently fixated by the Frozen sisters.

She therefore insisted her birthday cake had to be a ‘Frozen’ one, preferably with the ‘cooler’ sister Elsa on it (pun intended!). Just like the sister duo Elsa and Ana have a huge fan following with little girls the world over, the Bhatia sisters Sneha and Ravisha have been creating headlines in the Dubai bakery scene.

Fondly known as the ‘Suga Sisters’, Sneha and Ravisha conceptualized and created Sugaholic way back in May 2010. It all started off with their love for baking, and the brand was created for a bake-sale to generate funds for children’s education in India. Their bakery creations were far more successful than expected. An unprecedented number of orders came flooding in, and Sneha and Ravisha finally took a leap of faith and left their high-flying banking careers to launch their brand, Sugaholic. Read more on the Suga Sisters here.

McGettigan’s, the Irish gastro sports pub established way back in the 1960’s, has already made its mark in the UAE. Their branches have a cosy Irish charm which makes McGettigan’s rather unique in the UAE setting. I was not aware they have a branch in Fujairah, so when I got a brunch invite for a #ZomatoMeetup there last Friday, I jumped at the chance.

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We rarely see the morning sun on Fridays, and crawl out of bed just past noon. Last Friday was different. We had to be at McGettigan’s Fujairah by 12.30 sharp, and hit the road by 10 am. The drive to Fujairah is a scenic treat. With a kaleidoscope of rocky mountains and brick-red sand dunes on either side, and a free road with speeds of up to 120 km, a trip to Fujairah on a Friday morning makes for the perfect weekend road-trip.

The Filipino community take up a large percentage of the expat population in the UAE, and it is heartening to see we finally have a little piece of the Philippines right in the commercial nook of Deira, Dubai catering for the authentic cuisines our Filipino brethren have been missing from back home. Little Manila is not a restaurant; it is a whole food-court of well-loved foodie brands hailing from the Philippines. I had the pleasure of attending their opening in September (read all about it here), and then I got invited for a ‘Boodle Fight’!

I have a rather tragic tale to tell. I was sent this absolutely gorgeous bag full of beauty tools from The Vintage Cosmetic Company courtesy Boots Middle East, and got click-happy as soon as I got them out of the bag.

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Then…horror of horrors…I lost the camera’s memory card! And here’s the thing; I had already thrown away most of the packaging, and packed up the lovely tools nice and compact into my beauty drawer.

“Are we really going to drive that far just to have hotdogs?!” This was my husband whining for the umpteenth time as we took yet another turn that got us lost into the urban jungle of Dubai Marina.

The Hotdog Stand is relatively easy to find with the help of our trusty GPS (the coordinates are 25.069795, 55.133140), but when we found no parking in the vicinity, we ended up on the highway towards Abu Dhabi!

When we finally got to the restaurant, flustered and half an hour late, the staff tell us they have parking! You just need to honk at the front or call them on 800 HOTDOG, and they will have you sorted. Lesson learnt; always ask about the parking facilities when trying out a new restaurant!

My beautiful young friend Darshana is visiting from Australia this month. How time flies! I saw her last as a frisky little toddler, and here she is, on the threshold of womanhood. Britney Spears’ “I’m Not a Girl” blares loud and clear in my head.

 

As true-blue foodies, we are always on the lookout for really good, tasty grub. A friend of mine recommended Orient Grill. Tucked away in the residential nook of Abu Shagara (Sharjah), she said it may not be as fancy-schmancy as some of the places we dine at, but vouched that the restaurant does a great job with Indo-Chinese cuisine. I checked out Oriental Grill on Zomato, and saw the restaurant had an average rating of 4.1 out of 5, and decided to look it up.

When it comes to ice-creams, Scoopi Café has upped the game from child’s play to designer dreams. Living in Dubai, you get used to everything big, bling and exorbitant, and just when we thought we’ve seen and heard it all, Scoopi Cafe’s founder and owner, Zubin Doshi creates headlines with Scoopi’s Black Diamond Ice-Cream.

scoopi black diamond the worlds most expensive ice cream
Image taken from the City Dubai website

 

Priced at AED 2,999 a scoop, this has to be the world’s most expensive ice-cream indulgence! The Black Diamond has an exotic Madagascar vanilla ice-cream base. It is infused with the world’s most expensive Iranian saffron and ‘black diamond’ black truffles, and garnished with 23 carat edible gold. If that wasn’t enough, this dreamy, elite blend is aptly served in a designer Versace bowl along with a matching designer spoon which the buyer can take home as a keepsake.