New Damascus

Posted by Kanga.

We’ve done it again – found another good restaurant.

We ventured out to try a “new to us” restaurant. As we drove up, we checked to see if the restaurant was busy and were a little concerned that there were only two tables occupied by customers. But, we checked the time, which was 8 pm, and realized that it wasn’t the local dinner time, yet.

There didn’t seem to be any menus to choose from, so we had to ask the waiter what they offered. We decided on mixed grills and asked about salad. He assured us they had salad. First came the soup which was tangy and had onions and liver in it.

Then came the salads – two rocca (arugula) salads, cabbage & tomato & cucumber salad, and tabouleh. Also, two small plates of hummus. The salads were perfect.

And then the mixed grill – chicken tikka, lamb tikka, kabab, lamb chop, and arayes (spice mincemeat-filled oven-baked flatbread sandwiches).

The waiter brought us tea to finish the meal without our having to ask. It is like he read our minds. The bill came to 62 AED ($17.00). New Damascus is located in Fujairah, just north of the souk.

Amman Street Food

Posted by Kanga.

We headed out for dinner. First was shwarma at Al Reef. (3.00 dinar $4.25 for four)

Followed by falafel sandwiches at Al Quds Falafel. (1.40 dinar $2 for two)

Followed by one of everything at Hamish Restaurant. (6 dinar $8.50 for full dinner for two)

China Sea

Posted by Kanga.

Recently friends introduced us to the China Sea Restaurant. We dropped in a second time.

Ordering was a little odd because the waiter said “huh?” after everything. “Sizzling shrimps, huh?” “Crispy duck, huh?” “Steamed broccoli, huh?”

It was all very tasty. Watching the cooks through glass windows adds action. It is one hoppin’ kitchen.

China Sea restaurant is located in Deira, Dubai, near the clock roundabout. Cash only. Five items, a pot of tea and large water = 209 AED ($55.00)

Xiao Wei Yang

Posted by Kanga.

In attending a friend’s birthday party, we got to try out a “new to us” restaurant. Xiao Wei Yang (apparently means “little lamb”) is a Chinese restaurant featuring hot pots. You can order a spicy pot, non-spicy pot, or a half-n-half pot plus raw ingredients which you then cook in the boiling pot.

There is a wide variety of ingredients – lamb, beef, chicken, shrimp, mushrooms, veggies, and more. It is fun and tasty.

Al Basha Restaurant

Posted by Kanga.

Well, once again, we have a new favorite restaurant. Al Basha Restaurant in the Fujairah Trade Centre Building.

We met with friends who live here in Fujairah for a belated birthday dinner, since they were not able to attend the one in Dubai. The food was lovely. Lamb chops, mixed grill (chicken tikka, kabab, arayes, etc.) green salad, and arugula salad.

We ordered a LOT of food, but between the five of us, we managed to eat most of it. I did save a little of the mixed grill for lunch the next day.

Once it was cleared away, we broke out our Guillotine card game and played two games. It was a blast.

A pleasant evening eating good food outdoors with good friends.

Sunset, Good Food, Good Friends

Posted by Kanga.

Thursday is the end of our week and the beginning of the weekend. We headed into Dubai to meet friends for dinner. It just happened to be sunset time. The high winds at this time of year kick up the dust and make for a pretty spectacular red glow along the horizon.

The wispy clouds were beautiful, like angel wings.

We met good friends for dinner at the China Sea restaurant. We ordered too much food and managed to eat most of it.

I am deeply impressed by our friends. They are good hearted, caring people, not just fun company.

Beanstro: All Day Breakfast

Posted by Kanga.

Even though Life is throwing us a few challenges, we still have to eat. We had previously seen this restaurant in the new Fujairah City Center Mall, but had just eaten at the time, so promised we would come back sometime. What’s the attraction? All day breakfast.

DaddyBird took advantage of the all day breakfast to have a steak and egg meal.

He supplemented this with mashed potatoes and gravy. The potatoes were real, not powdered (instant).

Quite tasty.

We felt quite at home, like being in a Portland, Oregon restaurant. Nice decor, good coffee and tea, and good variety on the menu.

Fujairah Food Tour

Posted by Kanga.

Friends from Dubai came to Fujairah for a food tour of our favorite restaurants. We began Thursday evening with Nepal Kitchen House.

We started with the signature momos (steamed chicken dumplings).

Pictured above (upper right, clockwise) Aloo Jeera  (potatoes, cumin seeds, tumeric), Aloo Dum (potatoes, coriander, tumeric), Chicken tass (chicken, puffed rice, crispy onions), and Badam sandeko (peanuts, onions, tomatoes, chilies).

We also sampled vegetable rice and chicken rice – rice, lentil soup (daal) and curried vegetables/chicken.

After all that, we called it a night and headed off for a good night’s sleep before starting again with an 8 am breakfast of paratha (flat bread), chana (chick peas/garbanzo beans in a curry sauce) and tea at Al Khan Restaurant.

This breakfast cost 36 AED ($9.80) for 6 people ($1.63 each). They kept the bread coming and would have refilled our bowls, but we had to pace ourselves.

We headed to the corniche for a bit of sun. It didn’t take long to have gotten more than enough heat. It isn’t quite winter, yet. The temperature high that day was 97F.

“Second breakfast” was at Sizzling Restaurant which opened at 11 am. Doing this tour on a Friday was problematic due to Friday hours. Many businesses are closed, some until 4 pm. Any future food tours will have to be done on Saturday.

Sizzling Restaurant is one of three great Filipino restaurants in town. Breakfast entrées consist of fried egg, garlic rice and a variety of meats.

We ordered and shared three items – tapsilog (beef), adosilog (chicken), and tosilog (chicken).

Next, we attempted to explore the discount stores, but again ran into the Friday hours problem. Only one store was open.

We headed down to Kalba mangroves to look for turtles. The mangrove area has been closed since March due to plans to develop the area. We weren’t even allowed to walk out onto the bridge to get a better view of the turtles, but we still managed to see a few.

When we returned to Fujairah, it was a bit too early for the bull butting and too early for bread at the Afghani restaurant, so we were off to Oriental Restaurant for Singaporean/Malaysian food.

Pictured above is crispy shrimp omelet, egg plant sambal with shrimp, chicken and salted eggs, and mixed seafood soup.

Beef and kai lan is my personal favorite. Also pictured is hainanese chicken.

We returned to the bull arena in time for the last bout.

One last stop at a discount store ended our day around 8 pm. A long, busy, and tiring day. Great fun with great people.

If you would like to get Mita’s take on our tour, read this Mita56′s Blog: Fujairah Food Tour

American Breakfast Breakthrough

Posted by Kanga.

I’ve blogged previously about the difficulty of finding an American style breakfast in the UAE. ( Here ) IHOP (International House of Pancakes) recently opened in the Mall of the Emirates (Dubai).

If we were in America, IHOP would not be our first choice or any choice, in fact. IHOP has been around a long time (est. 1958) and quality of the food and service has decreased over the years. Because this restaurant is new and probably performing at it’s best in food quality and service, we gave it a try.

The place was buzzing with both customers and a large team of staff. I’ve been craving eggs benedict for months now, so deciding what to order was easy for me.

Over the years I have observed as DaddyBird would read the whole menu, considering all his options and then order country fried steak. After protesting that he doesn’t do that, he ordered country fried steak. I rest my case.

The food was quite good. The hollandaise sauce on the eggs benedict was very cheesy. Yum. A refillable coffee caraffe and a jug of grapefruit juice topped it all off. Service was very attentive and good.

Golden Fork

Posted by Kanga.

A new Golden Fork restaurant opened in Fujairah recently. Of course, we had to try it out.

Not knowing the size of items, we ordered too much food, starting with soup. I had the corn soup and DaddyBird had a seafood bisque.

Followed by vegetable spring rolls.

Then the rest arrived – grilled salmon, fried rice, and tapsilog (rice, fried egg, beef). The waitress was cute when DaddyBird ordered tapsilog. She didn’t think he understood what he was ordering because it is a Filipino dish and she didn’t expect a big white guy to order it. It wasn’t strange or spicy, so I am not sure what the potential problem might have been.

Golden Fork is a Filipino restaurant chain. Filipino food strikes me as a strange mix of the exotic and mundane. Seafood and white toast/peas/carrots. I suppose that from their perspective the seafood is the mundane and the white bread/peas/carrots are the exotic foods brought in by the colonizers.