Nepal Kitchen House

Posted by Kanga.

We’ve been meaning to eat at the Nepal Kitchen House for a while. We noticed the small sign while driving by. On another day, we ventured into the building to check out what kind of business it was. It turned out to be a restaurant. (One can’t always tell by a business’s title what it actually sells.) A few more times we drove by on our way home from some other restaurant and said “oh, we should have tried the Nepal Kitchen House.”

This is aloo jeera fry (cubed potatoes with cumin seeds and parsley) and chicken rice (lentil soup, rice, chicken in a sauce).

These are vegetable momos (dumplings).

These are chicken momos (dumplings).

Our meal began and ended with tea. This feast was 42 AED ($11.50 USD).

I’d like to know more about the building that the restaurant is in. The building still has several businesses in it, but it has fallen into disrepair. It may have been the first “mall” in Fujairah. There is an inner court with two escalators going up just one floor that clearly no longer work. The columns are covered in beautiful tile work. It must have been impressive in its day.

Pizza, Oh How I Miss You

Posted by Kanga.

In addition to Mexican food, it is also hard to find good pizza here. This is our latest attempt – Pizza Express.

Yes, those are green peas on a pizza. Six, six olives!

The crust was thin, soggy and floppy. The toppings were thin, too. It tasted okay, but was nothing to rave about.

An Anniversary Not Forgotten

Posted by Kanga.

Earlier this week DaddyBird said “What are we doing Thursday?” I stupidly said “Is there a reason we should do something Thursday?” Oh, yeah. That pesky wedding anniversary has come around again. Needless to say I am not the romantic in this relationship. This was an improvement over last year when we both missed our 10th anniversary remembering it a week after the fact.

So, what did we do on our anniversary? Well, we started by driving around town to find the Afghani restaurant that I had previously seen, but couldn’t remember exactly where it was. This led to stopping to photograph stray cats and dogs around dumpsters. There were eight around one dumpster, including kittens. Unfortunately, we can’t take them all home and pamper them. (If I were independently wealthy, I would have a cat sanctuary.)

We did eventually find the restaurant.

We had a really delicious dinner of mutton bukhari (the rice dish – there are two large pieces of lamb/goat meat under that rice), grilled meat (I didn’t get the name of that dish), hummos, chana dahl (lentils in a tomato sauce) and lovely bread. The red substance in the small dishes is a cold soup or thin sauce made of tomatoes and spices. It was a lot like salsa. Very tasty. It was clear that they had used fresh, ripe tomatoes. The hummos was also very fresh tasting. On the whole, yummy! The entire meal cost us 41 AED ($11.00 USD)

Then it was onto the main attraction – The Avengers movie. I find it hard to describe just how good this movie is. All superlatives seem insufficient. As we walked out, DaddyBird asked if we could see it again – immediately. I insisted on waiting until the next day. It is action packed and witty. Perfect.

The evening was not over, yet, however. We finished with a trip to Baskin Robbins because DaddyBird was in the mood for a milkshake and it is hard to find a good milkshake here. I went for the banana split.

There you have it. An anniversary well celebrated.

The Stables

Posted by Kanga.

We stopped into The Stables for an afternoon snack.

The second story is a lovely pub decorated in a horse riding motif.

Including booths like horse stalls.

Being Saturday afternoon, there was football (soccer) on the big screen.

DaddyBird was happy to discover that the onion rings were actually made of sliced onions. (There are too many fake onion rings in this town.)

I had an apple rhubarb crumble.

Even the dishes were sad when it was gone.

The prices were quite reasonable. Two beers, onion rings and apple rhubarb crumble came to 70 AED ($19.00 USD)

Al Fanar Restaurant

Posted by Kanga.

Last Tuesday we met friends, old and new, for dinner at Al Fanar Restaurant at Festival City. This is a new restaurant that serves traditional Emirati food.

First came the appetizers – robyan mashwi (prawns), koftat samak, balalit (sweet noodles with omelet) and lovely flat bread.

(I wasn’t going to post this picture, but I figure if you stick your tongue out while someone is taking a picture, all bets are off.)

We had a brief rest between courses.

Then came the main courses – samak magli, saloona samak badaweyah, thereed, and machboos dajaj.

Of course, there were several rounds of tea.

Then came dessert – khanfaroush, asidat bobar, khobar khameer, and leqaimat.

The food, service, and atmosphere were all wonderful. Highly recommended.

The Search for a Burger in a Foreign Land

Posted by Kanga.

It took three years, but I’ve developed a yearning for a good American burger. It’s not impossible to find here, but they are few and far between. Yes, there are Burger Kings, MacDonald’s, and even Hardy’s here, but I am talking about a REAL burger.

The top candidates, so far, are, Biggles (Dubai):

Small in circumference, but it was a handmade patty, not a thin, flat pre-made one. And, it comes with a cute beany.

Ace’s (Fujairah):

The problem with this one is the giant bun, which proudly touted in the menu. I start by moving the patty to the side of the bun and then cutting off the excess bread, downsizing the bun to a more appropriate circumference.

Also a contender is Gourmet Burger Kitchen (Dubai), but I do not have a picture. They have good sized burgers with savory patties and put lots of interesting toppings on them.

To be avoided are the Shake Shack burgers (Dubai). They are tasty, but small and WAY over priced.

We recently had burgers at the Harbor Club (Fujairah) which were classic in toppings and the meat was savory. There was a large portion of good fries as well.

Our most recent discovery is Burgerfuel (Dubai).

They claim to have engineered “the ultimate burger” and they are close. This is the “BF monster” which includes cheddar cheese, slices of beet (or beetroot as they call it here), mango, avocado, beef bacon, tomato, lettuce, & pickles. You had me with beet, mango and avocado. One of my favorite veggies and two of my favorite fruits. Put some asparagus on there and I might be devoted for life. The one weak point of this burger was that the beef patty was not as savory as it should be. It needs either salt & pepper or to be flame broiled, maybe both. (This large burger costs about the same as the Shake Shack tiny burger = better deal)

None, however, have conquered the Carolina Alehouse Burger. Oh, how we pine for thee.

Curry House

Posted by Kanga.

We recently had dinner at the Curry House (in Fujairah) an Indian, Arabian, Chinese restaurant. This combination is advantageous for us, because DaddyBird can have his food spicy and I can order non-spicy dishes.

1970′s decor is alive and well.

Condiments for the international menu include soy sauce, chili pepper sauce and ketchup. Ketchup (or catsup) seems to be the global condiment. We find it everywhere. I think sushi restaurants are the only places we haven’t been offered ketchup.

I had garlic chicken, chappati (flat bread) and salted lassi (yogurt drink) and DaddyBird had three spicy dishes with plain appam (pan bread) and tea. All this cost us 66 AED ($18.00 US)

When we ordered, the waiter asked about spiciness and we were able to explain that my dishes should not be spicy at all and DaddyBird’s should be very spicy. We will definitely be going back regularly.

Live Entertainment

Posted by Kanga.

The Oriental Restaurant has added live entertainment.

Two of the softest, cutest puppies ever.

By the time we left it was nap time.

A Gem Tucked into an Alley

Posted by Kanga.

It may be a little challenging to find, but is well worth the effort. Oriental Restaurant in Fujairah is fantastic.

Beef noodles and fried rice.

Chicken in special sauce.

Prawns sambal.

The food is very delicious and reasonably priced. We’ve already been back a second time. This is definitely a “tweetup” worthy place.

Good Friends and Good Food

Posted by Kanga.

Last week, our beautiful friends Devina and Shruti came to Fujairah. We met up at Delhi Darbar Restaurant for breakfast.

The challenge for me at any Indian restaurant is finding something that has no, and I mean NO, chili peppers. DaddyBird prefers food the spicier the better. The bowl at the lower right is vegetable korma and was supposed to be mild, but it was a no go for me. I managed with paratha (bread), green salad, and an omelette. I could see and avoid the peppers in the omelette. Despite my chili aversion, the food was lovely and ridiculously cheap. Four people ate their fill for 53 AED ($14.50).