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Welcome to EATING places here on DoinDubai

Dubai loves eating and why not? Enjoying food is a great pleasure. Dubai has been the focus of many new restaurant openings, attracting celebrity chefs from all over the world. However there is a huge range of smaller, less well known restaurants that you must try. The “melting pot” of Dubai’s nationalities has brought with it some authentic international cuisines. But how to choose where to eat? Well that depends on how fat you and your wallet are feeling ! Browse restaurant reviews here or go to the eating out menu bar and select the category of food you feel like today. If you have a restaurant that you’d like to feature on DoinDubai get in touch via the Contact form link in the footer of the website.

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JONES THE GROCER SHEIKH ZAYED ROAD

Jones the Grocer started out in the UAE in November 2009 in Abu Dhabi, and opened here in Dubai this summer, 2011. It’s easy to miss located on the Sheikh Zayed Road in a modular box like brown building but despite that there have been queues for tables for this new Dubai cafe. I’ve been three times, once in early August just to check out the grocery provisions in the shop, the restaurant wasn’t open as it was Ramadan and then again recently for lunch on Sunday and an early dinner with family on a Friday.

By far the best options are any of the authentic international cheeses straight from their mini fromagerie, you are permitted to taste and then select what you like. Have your cheese with some of their fresh brown bread and excellent coffee. But if you prefer crackers or biscuits to bread you may be disappointed. At least we were when we politely asked if we could have something other than ice cream mini wafers with our cheese plate, there was no alternative.

The fish and chips option is also popular and I enjoyed my portion of vegetable lasagne served in a small earthenware dish, do ask for your salad dressing on the side though. It’s great that the café uses ingredients like pumpkin widely in their salads and soups but my pumpkin soup was too floury  and not tasty enough for me to order it again.

Service is sincere but there were a couple of slight mix ups the night we went and the staff apologised they didn’t have enough people to serve so were somewhat rushed off their feet. I liked the idea of a couple of communal tables and we ended up exchanging pleasantries with the English family next to us. But maybe this café will provide a chance to mix with some local Emiratis as it is extremely popular with them so far, so it’s probably a good idea to dress sensibly especially if you visit for dinner on a Friday evening.

Do leave me a comment and let me know what you thought of this new Dubai café from Australia via Abu Dhabi. And if you know about Jones from Australia, do tell me how the Dubai branch compares to your experience back home.

 

Thanks !

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Great new Ayurvedic cafe in Dubai: B A L A N C E

UPDATE (10th August  2011)  BEST IFTAR MEAL IN DUBAI…

This amazingly good cafe is currently serving a special IFTAR MENU,  that has to be tried, there are 3 options, fairly similar ranging in price from Dhs 48 toDhs 65, courses include fresh fruit, tasty, oil free hummous and spinach dips, lamb and chicken kebabs perfectly seasoned, light and tasty coconut and lentil soups, aromatic chicken broth, lamb and vegetarian biriyanis that would give most established Indian eateries a run for their money and very well made lemon tarts and traditional rice kheer. All the food is beautifully presented and tastes fresh, wholesome and tasty, best Iftar around in my view, try it and see, do leave us a comment to let us know what you thought, thanks Monica. 

balance cafe - Copy

Balance the newly opened Ayurvedic Café/Restaurant at Oasis Centre on Sheikh Zayed Road is well worth trying out whatever your tastes in food.  This super cafe replaced the Gourmet Café Deli outlet that there was there previously and I can’t wait till they open more branches. Food is cooked according to Ayurvedic principles incorporating salty, sweet, sour, pungent, bitter and astringent. Each dish is carefully prepared with high quality ingredients all of which seemed to go easy on the salt and the oil.  I had a red rice dosa with a side of carrot and tofu vegetable garnished with curry leaves, my dish came with the traditional accompaniments of tangy sambar daal and tomato and coconut chutnies. We also had a miso soup and Japanese Salad and Tandoori chicken roll, all of which were excellent but I think my dosa was best. The restaurant also has a series of cookery classes run in it’s very smart training kitchen, see below for details of What’s Cooking

We took home some fresh seeded brown bread (no slicing machine yet) and some savoury gram flour rotis (missi roti) to have later that day. The food here is tasty, wholesome, satisfying, good for you and very reasonably priced. Carry on being thrifty by detouring at Tchibo, the German general store for some things for your house, a brilliant set of kitchen knives for Dhs 18.00, a single cotton duvet and pillow case for a child’s room at Dhs 44.00 and much more, make this a definite stop for Christmas decorations too, although stock keeps changing all the time. To complete your thrift session, go to Daiso, the Japanese equivalent of the one pound shop but with higher quality merchandise ! 

Of course gluten and wheat free versions of dishes are also available at the Balance Cafe.

Tell me what you ate at the Balance Café at the Oasis Centre, would love to know in the comments box below…

UPDATED MAY 2012

The Balance Cafe run a series of cookery classes at it’s training kitchen at Balance Cafe on the 3rd floor at the Oasis Centre Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai. They have run Thai, Italian and Indian classes with well known chefs but I think classes may be over for summer now, please call The Cooking School on 04 515 4051 to check and book for the next set of classes. It was Dhs 250 per session making a variety of dishes.

The Balance Cafe cookery school is going from strength to strength so if you haven’t tried a class as yet, why not cook a storm this May, please see the leaflet above for their latest schedule : (please also note the new numbers)

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ROYAL CHINA DIFC DUBAI

Update December 2014: This restaurant is still very good and one of my favourite Chinese places in Dubai. The duck pancakes are the closest I have had to the ones in London! GO soon!

Royal_China_Dubai

What’s special about Royal China Dubai?

Royal China restaurant has finally arrived in Dubai ! For those of you who know it from London, Singapore or China,  Royal China’s dimsum are a regular feature of many weekend family lunches whatever the weather. And now Dubai can sample the very same dishes in the ever swish DIFC (Dubai International Financial Centre) an obvious choice for the location of yet another in crowd (Zuma, La Petite Maison) restaurant.

The Ambience at Royal China Dubai

The setting is definitely more lavish (think red and more red) than it’s understated China Club in Baker Street but then it is Dubai, and by 1pm on a Monday a few weeks after opening, it was entirely full.

What to drink at Royal China Dubai?

They opt for large glass mugs rather than delicate Chinese cups for tea, but the blossoming flower wouldn’t work in those small cups so a sensible choice.  At Dhs 15 per head the evolving flower tea was cheaper than most coffees in Dubai.

The Food at Royal China Dubai

The prawn and chive dimsums were excellent, just how they should be, fresh chopped up prawns and chives in a thin, steamed pastry skin. I liked the fluffy chicken buns and the spicy, Singapore noodle. In fact all the dim sums were good, we ordered whatever we felt like and ate till we were full. The baked fresh egg custard tarts really are worth trying even if you don’t regularly do puddings.

All in all 8 types of dim sums, Singapore noodles, ever flowing blossom tea and an egg custard tart each cost all 5 of us Dhs 90 per head including a 10% DIFC authority  fee.  So now business lunches on week days cost either Dhs 88 (soup and a main course) or Dhs 128 for soup, starter – like duck pancakes and a main course. 

Dim_Sum_in_Dubai

They also have good value set lunches starting from Dhs 200 for two if you prefer. Parking wasn’t that easy and they do not as yet have a redeemable valet stamp system so we paid another Dhs 50 for the car.

They now have valet parking and you get a stamp when you dine that entitles you to park for free. 

Link to their website : The Royal China  

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SOUTH INDIAN PRAWN CURRY

An Easy Prawn Curry recipe that works

People always ask me how to make a good Prawn Curry although everyone has their own versions with slight variations. I’ve experimented with a few recipes and have come up with a simple, authentic, tasty recipe that seems to be a hit with kids and friends from East and West. So try it and tell me what you think…

South Indian Prawn Curry

 

Luckily in Dubai we can easily and cheaply obtain staples for a lot of Indian cooking, things like ready chopped onions, fresh curry leaves, coriander and tamarind paste all cost a fraction of what they would in London, so get into using them regularly !

Here are the ingredients for Prawn Curry for 6 people

  • 1 kg of fresh medium-sized prawns washed and deveined or large packet of frozen shrimps which have been defrosted
  • Half a small box of ready chopped fresh onions, red or white (most local supermarkets)
  • 3- 4 garlic cloves (again ready peeled in a box)
  • 2 inches or so of fresh peeled ginger
  • 4-5 med fresh tomatoes cut in halves or quarters (get local ones, much cheaper and really tasty)
  • 1/4 tsp of salt, same amount of fresh black pepper and turmeric (spices)
  • Half a fresh deseeded red chilli chopped up
  • 1 tablespoon of tamarind paste dissolved in warm water (most supermarkets, any brand is fine, but try to get Indian as opposed to Thai variety)
  • Coconut milk (I use 1 tablespoon of powdered coconut from a box and add hot milk/water all in a small jug, but places like Lulu’s sell fresh grated coconut if you prefer)
  • 1tsp of dark brown sugar
  • Ideally you want some curry leaves and mustard seeds but again not essential
  • Fresh coriander to garnish

Method to make your Prawn Curry 

  • Put onions, tomatoes, garlic and ginger in a food processor and pulse till the mixture resembles a watery paste · Transfer mixture to a pan which has some vegetable oil already heated in it. (no hard and fast rules on amounts but try 1 dessertspoon per kilo roughly) any veg oil is fine, corn oil or sunflower seem to work well, do not use olive oil · Fry your paste and add in all the spices and chilli, fry a little more until the paste thickens and darkens in colour, I also add in half tsp of brown sugar at this point as well, · Then add the prawns, put lid on and cook slowly, about 10 mins or so) · Then add the tamarind paste dissolved in hot water, stir through
  • Finally pour in coconut milk and let the new mixture heat thoroughly · Add coriander to the curry before serving, or if you want it to be really South Indian, heat some oil in a small frying pan, throw in a small teaspoon of mustard seeds, let them sizzle till you get a nutty aroma, throw in a stem’s worth of fresh curry leaves and watch them curl and darken slightly, then pour this whole mixture over the curry, stir through. · Serve with rice, your favourite salad, plain yoghurt with chopped up cucumber ENJOY

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