A Global Gastronomic Tour of Dubai--Palestinian Breakfast, Filipino and Lebanese Dessert, Middle Eastern Lunch; More Dubai Expo 2020 and Barbecue Dinner at Reuben’s:
Since today was the last full day we’d have in Dubai because our whirlwind tour of the UAE came to an end, we decided to make the very most of it. With my goods shipped off to India via air cargo, I could breathe easy. But we still had to make the time to go to a Covid testing center to get tested and, hopefully, receive reports on time to enable us to board our flight within 24 hours (tomorrow).
Palestinian Breakfast at Mama’esh:
Once we’d showered and got ourselves sorted to face the new day, Reuben suggested he take us for a Palestinian breakfast. Now either Llew nor I had ever partaken of one and being ever eager to try out new culinary experiences, we grabbed the idea. Accordingly, Reuben drove the two of us to a place called Mama’esh which had a really beautiful setting and ambience. We could sit outside, if we wished (and the weather was wonderful and would have made it very pleasant), or we could sit inside and enjoy the rustic atmosphere created by visible wood-fire ovens, clay and exposed brick walls and lots of pictures reminiscent of the Left Bank. We decided to take a neat corner table inside and enjoy the black boards with their multiplicity of handwritten instructions and daily-changing menu. We placed ourselves entirely in Reuben’s hands and told him to go ahead and order for us. And so we ended up eating something called an Authentic Palestinian Zaa’tar Manaesh—which was a long piece of bread-dough, baked and filled on the inside with a zaa’tar mixture—it looked a bit like the Central European kachapuri. He also got us a Chickpea Fatayer which was a saucy like dip filled with really tasty whole chickpeas. You dipped bread into it and ate it—delicious. And finally he got us a fatteh, another pizza-like bread topped with tomatoes, onions, cheese, etc. We washed it all down with glasses of Indian-style kadak chai—a very milky and very sweet chai concoction. We did not leave without a number of spice mixtures peculiar to the region: zaa’tar, sumac and dukkah—these spices and toppings can be placed on grilled toast and eaten with just olive oil as a flavoring (as is often done in the Middle East). It was truly a most unusual, but very memorable breakfast.
Next Stop--The American Hospital for a Covid Test:
Our next stop was uppermost on our list of priorities as we would not be able to board our flights tomorrow without clear Covid tests. Since Emirates required Llew to do one just 24 hours before boarding his flight, we pretty much had to keep the mission to the last-minute. When we arrived at the American Hospital which charged us 150 dirhams (or about $15) each, we found ourselves sitting in a very orderly fashion in a very clean and calm space and awaiting our turn. Our passport and other details were obtained, and, in a few minutes, we were directed to one of the stalls where the test was actually done through nose swabs. We requested the staff to expedite our reports as we were rather concerned they would not reach us in time. We need not have worried as both of us received our results by about 10.00 pm that evening.
More Global Gastronomy:
I thought that we would make our way back home right away, but Reuben had other gastronomic plans. It so happened that I had seen a huge hoarding advertising a Filipino restaurant in Dubai and I had mentioned that I had first eaten Filipino food in Manilla, on a visit to the Philippines, a few years ago. I also mentioned that my favorite Filipino dessert is called Halo-Halo and I had described it as containing a little bit of everything: ice-cream, condensed milk, tapioca pearls, frozen coconut, mixed fruit, sweet azuki beans, etc. Well, Reuben was kind enough to find a Filipino restaurant and, as a surprise to me, he drove us to the very place where Halo-Halo was advertised on bright posters at the entrance. And so we ended up immersing ourselves in the delights of this most unusual East Asian dessert that is basically unheard of in any other part of the world except the Philippines. Needless to say, we enjoyed it although the shaved ice that is supposed to be a big part of this dessert, was in too large chunks. But overall, it was very good indeed.
And then, again, just when I thought that the culinary tour was done, Reuben took us to another part of the city—in fact, to the old apartment building in which he had once lived and in which I had once stayed with his brother Rolen and his wife, Jolene. This building had a kunafa shop on the ground floor that supposedly sold very good kunafa. And so we ended up getting a big serving of it as a take-out order! It really had been a culinary tour of Dubai and we were so lucky to have Reuben as a guide to help us accomplish this.
Back Home to Pack and Get Ready for Early Morning Departure:
Reuben then drove us home and we spent the next couple of hours getting our bags packed, ready and organized for our early-morning departure. Llew was taking a few of my things back home to the States with him. I was still juggling my weight issues until the very last minute.
When we were done, Reuben suggested he take us out for another tasty treat—chicken shwarma from a food truck that was parked very close to his home. As we had not yet eaten Chicken Shwarma on our trip, we decided that we could not leave the Middle East without giving it a try. And so he drove us to the food truck where we ordered our shwarmas on pita bread. They came with tsaskiki, the cucumber-yoghurt salad that is a usual accompaniment for this dish. They were very filling indeed and we really did enjoy our lunch. With all the eating we did on that last day (and the days before), you can just imagine how much weight we put on! Still, we were not willing to give up on the rare treats of tasting regional and local delicacies that we would not get in other parts of the world.
Back home, we took a little bit of a rest and a lie-down before awaking to spend the evening at a venue to which we were keen to return—the Dubai Expo 2020:
Returning to the Dubai Expo 2020:
So you would think that we had received our fill of the Dubai Expo 2020 on the first leg of our travels having spent 11 hours of a single day there. Why then would we wish to return? Well, mainly because we had not seen the India and the UAE Pavilions and we were keen to see them.
While we had gone to the Expo venue by metro, the first time, this time Reuben drove us there in his car. It took just about 20 minutes and in no time, we got through Security and were inside. The place was a bit more crowded than it had been when we were there the first time.
Without wasting too much time, we went straight to the India Pavilion as we knew its location well—yes, we did take the shuttle bus once we were in the venue and after we had parked Reuben’s car.
The India Pavilion had really nothing to write home about. In fact, the only bit that I found really interesting and very well done was the floor that projected 20 seconds each of the varied classical and folk dances of India on massive I-Max screens that surrounded us fully. Everything else was boring as the information conveyed relied solely on posters, text written on walls, etc. There was no audio-visual interest to engage us. The ground floor was devoted to India’s space program with references to Aryabhata and other devices that have been launched into space for data collection as well as satellite facility. The emphasis was very much on India as a scientific power reaching out to join the big boys. I wish they had taken the trouble to present us with more documentaries, films, etc.
With not much time left, we went to the UAE Pavilion but again, were very disappointed to discover that it was closed to the public—so on two occasions when we attempted to get in, we were turned away! I could not believe that the host country would turn away visitors by scheduling its events in its Pavilion so poorly.
Our next and final stop was at the Al-Wasl Center to see the lights display on the dome that all the media folks had been raving about. Once again, we had a bout of bad luck as the place had just been taken over for a religious meeting that featured a long sermon in Arabic. We were told that it would go on for at least an hour during which time the lights show was suspended.
Of course, there was nothing then to do but to return to the car park and to our car and to get back home.
Wonderful Barbecue Dinner at Reuben’s:
Reuben had intended to barbecue for us on his grill out on his deck. But, grilling foods in that way would take far too long and since time was of the essence and we still hoped to get a bit of a nap before we awoke at 2.00 am to take our flight, he decided to grill in his indoor oven instead. And while we sat with our last round of drinks (wine, G&Ts and the like), he was busy at the grill. In course of time, the food was ready and we had a chance to taste his brilliantly-marinated meats—sheekh kebabs, chicken boti kebabs, etc. There were salads and hand bread to go with the meats. Everything was plentiful and delicious and it made for a memorable last meal with Reuben and Tabita. We simply could not believe that our stay in the Middle east had come to an end. The days had galloped past so quickly and we had packed them so full of activity that we simply did not realize their passing.
When all of this eating activity was over, we made our way upstairs to bed and set our alarms to awake at 2.00 am. to get to the airport at 3.00 am as my flight to India was departing at 6.00 am. We said our goodbyes and thank-yous to Tabita before she turned in for the night as we did not want to disturb her in the middle of the night.
And with that our wonderfully interesting travels in a developing part of the world came to an end. Dubai and Abu Dhabi have grown into tourist meccas and it is little wonder that people from all over the world are flocking there now to avail of their pleasures. Llew kept saying how different the place was from anything he remembered. He looked with awe upon the development and, as the skyline changes daily, we have little doubt that the next time we get there, everything will have changed again.
Until tomorrow, kuda hafiz…
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