QE 2 PORT RASHID MARINA
On the waterfront - literally
DINNER REVIEW - IFTAR
We're about to set sail from the Rashid Marina to Mainland Britain! We've come on board to look around the luxury ocean cruise liner the QE2. The history of the ship is fascinating and it's worth booking a tour.
Highlights for us were the Queen Mary apartments complete with a sun lounge and a private deck area. They've even had a marriage proposal (accepted of course) on this deck! The newest and most modern eating area is definitely The Lido restaurant as shown below. The poshest restaurant though would be the Queen's Grill!
We experienced the QE2 iftar in a tent accessed directly from the Lido restaurant. It's not possible to see the sea from the tent though.
The iftar had a large variety of salads, but there was quite a limited choice of mains for vegetarians. The traditional ouzi normally made with just lamb also contained beef which I've not experienced before. The iftar tent was surprisingly full, but I think many people had a combination ticket of the tour and the iftar. As we were on the iconic QE2 we had expected a grander, more luxurious ambience as well as a wider choice of dishes for this iftar.
Cost AED 250 for iftar and AED 175 for Suhoor. But if you book a tour for AED 150, you can redeem AED 100 on food and beverage.
MOOMBAI AND CO Sheikh Zayed Road at the H hotel
A special Mango Memory Menu celebrating Alphonso season.
Great curry combo deal too.
LUNCH REVIEW
We were a bit skeptical about mango with everything at Moombai and Co but We LOVED every course of our lunch from the special mango memory menu! It's alphonso season again and that brand is synonymous with the highest quality mangoes around. 
The Mango Memory Menu itself is short, that's a good thing according to me, so we tried the very moreish crispy bhindi and tangy, but perfect mango chicken tikka to start with. The main course is a very good raw mango and coconut prawn curry which we all agreed was excellent. 
If you have room you should try (maybe share) the almost tropical mango lassi to drink, or if that's a bit heavy for you, then opt for the thirst quenching aam panna drink, that has a bit of kick to it. Everything is designed to share. I'd go back again to try this menu. Not sure how long mango season is on for so go soon. 
How would you describe a mango? to quote from the article from The Guardian.. 27th April 2012..."a cross between peach, nectarine, apricot and melon with notes of honey and citrus. But better..." If you shared a large aam panna drink, both starters, one main and one thick, creamy, glorious mango dessert you'd be looking at around AED 200 per head with rice, naan bread and still water. Worth going back for.
And if you fancy making that crispy bhindi at home then try our easy doindubai recipe here, great to eat with DoinDubai's favourite spicy red pepper dip recipe.
ALSO OPEN DURING RAMADAN are
CALI POKE - a new branch just opened in JLT Cluster J! Vegetarian or Seafood bowls of fresh goodness to eat in or take away. The eat in area is quite small, so I would opt to take out from here.
WOKYO - our favourite noodle bar also in JLT Cluster J for Japan. Every kind of noodle and broth you can think of, or customise your own. Don't forget they have a vegan ramen bowl as well. We love Zak and Nazlie and Wokyo, but I think I love their Singapore Laksa and cappucinos more than them! Lovely vibe at Wokyo, a very cool place to sit during the day if you're not fasting
We also think the DEMOISELLE Deal at lunch time is really cool..
A very pretty cafe in City Walk that will be serving a 3 course lunch for an extremely reasonable AED 53. You get a choice of hot soup to start then one of 3 choices for a hearty lunch and to finish you get a choice of an artisan coffee or fresh juice.
Here's Corrado who now works at Galvin telling us about the delightful decor at Demoiselle..
BOCA in DIFC is offering a pop up breakfast every morning. So expect some avocado on toast and the usual breakfast fare at this very cool, upmarket Mediterranean style cafe in Dubai's main financial district.
But if you're in the media city area, then I like the sound of the deal at CERTO at the Radisson Blu Media City. Certo is a very established Italian restaurant that had a brand new make over last year. The deal is AED 199 for 2 people sharing a range of Italian dishes or AED 299 to include a bottle of wine! That's a really delicious deal in my book, it's open for lunch and dinner of course..
FIND OUT FIRST following the DoinDubai Instagram page
Previous posts with lot's of good foodie ideas are here..
No grilled meats on this iftar plate! We're eating pure vegan food at Urth in Cluster J. We really liked both our soups - carrot and mint and spinach, beautifully presented too. The most interesting dish on this vegan iftar menu was the fattus hummus with vegan yoghurt made with a cashew cream base.
Warm, wholesome, real chick peas, perfect as a mini meal in itself with salad and bread. But you have more, the main courses are vegetarian stews served with rice and condiments. I would like to have tried the special Urth Style Sayadieh with fried onions, but that wasn't available on the day we tried.
You will LOVE the desserts.. we had and highly recommend the raw carrot cake and an apple spice cake with warm apple puree icing on top.
Open for those who would like to try the vegan iftar in the evenings, after fasting time is over, but also open during the day for those who aren't fasting. Very cool, laid back vibe. Last but not least point to note is there is a Ramadan Deal on - 2 iftars for the price of one till 28th of May, so for AED 120 you get 2 five course iftars! Well Done Urthlings!
For some vegan cooking at home this Ramadan try our brilliant cauliflower burger recipe..
