Dubai

I spent the weekend visiting my husband in Dubai. A great weekend but quite a distance to go for just three full days.

Whatever your view of the desert wonderland that is Dubai - pure heaven or absolute hell - it does offer fantastic weather and a wealth of culinary delights.

The weekend was spent, sunbathing, breaking my toe at the water park and eating a lot of food. For me there were two stand out food encounters:

1. Having landed at 2300 on Thursday I met Simon at the airport and we headed straight for a midnight feast at Aroos Damascus, a Syrian restaurant located in Deira. What a fantastic welcome back to Dubai this feast was: hummus, lamb shawarma, falafel, Arabic salad and chicken kebobs. My mouth waters at the memory.
2. For my last supper in Dubai we headed to Ravi. The restaurant, located on the colourful Satwa Road, serves Pakistani food and is rated #1 in Dubai by the lonely planet. I am certain many people who take this recommendation will have second thoughts at the sight of this rather rustic restaurant. I would urge you to take an outside table, absorb the atmosphere of the Satwa Road and order sparingly from the menu. We certainly enjoyed doing all three. The Mutton Green Masala was my personal highlight, it's must order along with the Daal. 

It's at this point I ask myself why both my culinary highlights in Dubai were feasts that cost less than approximately £5 per person. I don't believe I'm cheap it's merely that I enjoy eating in places where the food is genuine, the locals eat and (when in the middle east) somewhere that feels like I'm in the middle east.       

For anyone looking for something slightly less rustic in Dubai try Ashiana at the Sheraton Dubai Creek.