When the dust has settled at the end of the Dubai Food Festival, we can guarantee you’ll be left wanting more. Now in its third year, the 2017 event began yesterday and runs until March 11 at various venues all over the city.
While most wallets should certainly accommodate any requests placed on them over the 17-day-long event, stomachs are an entirely different matter. You may succeed in pushing yourself away from the table through sheer force of will, but you’re unlikely to be able to taste every morsel you’ve got your beady eye on. To say there’s a lot on offer is an understatement: you’ll be able to find everything from Emirati classics to hipster street fare, Michelin-starred chefs and home-grown whiz kids, luxury treats, beachside barbecues and even cooking lessons to keep you going all year!
So gird your loins, ditch the diet and prepare for battle. With a cunning plan and some clever moves, you could have plenty to savour in the weeks ahead. Here’s our list of the most Instagram-worthy highlights.
BEACH BLAST
1. You like to be beside the seaside? Simply head on over to the Etisalat Beach Canteen (EBC), one of the festival’s biggest draws and guaranteed fun for the entire family at pocket-friendly prices. Four times the size of last year, and at a new location on the beach just behind Sunset Mall, it’s got pop-up restaurants, cooking and table-setting tuitions, farmers’ markets, sports, kids’ activities and an arty chill-out zone. It’s also the main box office for all ticketed events. Visitdubai.com
2. Bang in the middle of the EBC is the Al Islami Kitchen. An interactive stage featuring events with international celebrity chefs such as Heinz Beck and Jason Atherton, as well as the true Queen of the Arabian Kitchen, Manal Al Alalem and Emirati hotshot Chef Bader, it’s also got plenty of contests, workshops and whathaveyous. We’re going to YouTuber Chef Bella Pearson’s how-to make a brilliant bento box that’ll be the envy of your lunchmates at 11.30am next weekend (March 3 and 4). Alislamikitchen.com
TELLY TUMMIES
3. Mall rats might prefer to head over to the oddly named Darnival, running today and tomorrow at Dubai Festival City. Regional TV foodies from a host of stations will show off special recipes and answer questions. Highlights? Mohammad Orfali, Leila Fathallah, Salma Suleiman, Karim Haidar, and Darine El Khatib at Fatafeat Kitchen, and Emmy winner Dr Partha Nandi of DLife channel dispensing health advice. Darnival.com
RESTAURANT REBATES
4. From today to next Saturday (March 4), 15 of the city’s poshest restaurants are rolling out three-course limited-edition set menus for Dh199 per head. Even if drinks cost extra Dubai Restaurant Week is all about Michelin-worthy fare at realistic prices. Gordon Ramsay’s Bread Street Kitchen (Pea soup with curried lobster), Atul Kochhar’s Rang Mahal (herb-grilled prawns), Pier Chic (Atlantic trout), Gaucho (Ancho or Argentinian rib-eye), Okku (Wasabi ice-cream), The Rib Room (seared scallops) and Namu, the buzzing-hot Japanese-Korean concept (glorious sashimi) at the Westin Dubai are all on the list. Each offers two seatings per night. (We’re heading to Mayta, but more on that later.) Book fast, because some restaurants are already sold out. Roundmenu.com/dubai-restaurant-week
5. Two celebrity chefs will personally pose for selfies with diners this week. Tomorrow (February 25), Peruvian supernova Jaime Pesaque serve up Lomo Saltado (wok beef tenderloin) and his famous Tres Leches vanilla cake at Mayta in The Capital Club at DIFC. Sheffield lad Jason Atherton will press the flesh at his Marina Social venue on Sunday (February 26). You’ll want to try his hand-chopped beef tartare. Roundmenu.com/dubai-restaurant-week
SINGULAR SENSATIONS
6. This being Dubai, everyone’s doing a special one-off experience. Even if grape’s your passion, you’ll probably learn something from Alessio Pavan, the ambassador of Cielo e Terre Group, over a four-course food and beverage menu at Bazxar (Dh375 per person). He’ll be talking about grapes from Italy’s Veneto region. Bazxar.com
7. Think you’re the Bear Grylls type? Calm down and head to Senara restaurant on the Palm Jumeirah tomorrow (February 25), which is taking wannabe adventurers on a deep-sea fishing trip to learn about the UAE’s marine life and catch their dinner. Back on shore, they’ll take in the sunset while the chef cooks your food. Senararestaurants.com
8. Got family visiting? Mark Wednesday (March 1) on your calendar now for an authentic Arabian affair at Bab Al Shams. With 14 live cooking stations (serving both kabsa and koshary), an Emirati heritage museum and plenty of traditional entertainment, there’s enough for several photo albums at this dinner in the desert, Dubai-style. Meydanhotels.com
STREET SOCIALS
9. Food truck fanatics, this weekend is all about you. Street food wagons from the UK, US and Singapore congregate at Burj Park today and tomorrow as part of the second Eat The World DXB event. Die, die, must try: Bjorn Shen’s Chiang Mai curry noodles, the popiah from Kway Guan Huat Joo Chiat and Detroit boy Maxcel Hardy’s shrimp po’boys with homemade pickles. Entry is Dh40 online and Dh50 at the door. Eattheworlddxb.com
10. Or hop over to Street Nights in Bay Avenue to catch British celebrity TV chef Gizzi Erskine and BBoys from around the globe on Thursday night (March 2), while sampling even more street food.
11. The action goes on with local concept Truckers DXB rolling into Marasi Business Bay for a three-day street party on March 9-11 with pulled beef burgers, real vindaloo, tacos and plenty more. Entry’s free (as it should be!) and there’s live music, DJs and a mechanical bull! Truckersdxb.ae
12. To order a side of film, walk the yellow carpet at Last Exit, which is laying on classic movies free from Hollywod, Arabia and more every weekend. Lastexit.ae
MALL MANIA
13. Trust Dubai’s malls to latch onto a good thing. Promos, contests, kids’ activities — even if you didn’t need another reason to head to a mall, think of it as a sort of intermediate course, particularly if contests are your bag. Boxpark is trying to appeal to both parents and kids, with the chance to win a holiday abroad and a workshop teaching the basics of growing vegetables at home. City Walk, meanwhile, is laying on a City Picnic over the fortnight, where shoppers can taste picnic bites from participating restaurants. Mall of Emirates wants shoppers to learn about world cooking to win prizes, while the contest at The Beach involves washing up. A Chinese food festival takes over Dragon Mart 2, while Ibn Battuta and Mercato malls are hosting food demos and performances (Pizza acrobats hit Mercato this weekend). Dubai Mall’s laying on roving musicians and a Chef’s Orchestra is taking to the stage at BurJuman. Check the mall websites for details.
BUFFET BLOW-OUT
14. Lovers of the all-you-can-eat buffet will want to save up for Taste of Dubai, one of the year’s biggest food weekends. Chefs at the 10th edition from March 9 to 11 include Michel Roux Jr, Eric Lanlard and the entertainingly effervescent Jenny Morris and Reza Mohammed. Among this year’s 24 restaurants are Lucky Voice Dubai, Catch, Ramusake and Carnival by Tresind, but the tiny portions doled out in recent years have us rethinking our visit. And oh yeah — riding the retro wave is Billy Ocean, who’s headlining opening night. When the Going Gets Tough and all that. Tasteofdubaifestival.com
HOT HIDEAWAYS
15. When some of our favourite casual eateries made last year’s list of Hidden Gems, we weren’t best pleased at being edged out by the hipsters. We’re grudgingly letting you in on this year’s top 10, picked by online poll. Our favourites? The Yakitate bakery in Al Ghurair Centre, the health-focused Acai Spot in Deira, and Iranian treasure Al Ostadi Special Kebab in Bur Dubai.
16. There are also 10 Emirati places this year, including Zaman Awal (classic Emirati) in Heritage Village, Aden Restaurant (for Mandi) in Baniyas, and Al Jalboot Restaurant (seafood) next to Dubai’s fishing harbour. Dubaihiddengems.com.
BREAKFAST BRILLIANCE
17. Finally, for those who work nights and always miss out on everything, DFF begins the action much earlier this year. Feast restaurant at the Sheraton Grand Hotel on Shaikh Zayed Road is laying on a variety of breakfast spreads at Dh69 from 8am to 11am every day. Breakfast like a king, as they say. Feastrestaurantdubai.com
