Loosen up a little

AER specializes in Italian, Japanese and Mediterranean cuisine. Located in DIFC; this place is for people who want to have fun and some food as well. The restaurant is beautiful with dreamy chandeliers and comfortable velvet couches with indoor and outdoor seating available. The restaurant has a full bar available as well.

Salad:

I started off with the AER wellness salad that instantly became my favorite because of the fresh beetroot and tangy orange along with chickpeas, sunflower seeds and salted maple butter dressing to bind it all together. This salad is a must have from my end because of its sheer simplicity.

Cold appetizer:

I ordered Bruschetta- Tunna and green apple, Tomato caponata, cheese and exotic mushroom. Loved all three of them. My favorite was the mushroom and cheese one, so creamy and light.

Then I tried their Sicilian Arancini and my lord! these were packed with creamy cheese. Loved every bit of these. Totally recommend you try them.

Mains:

For Mains, I tried the wagyu steak which is usually amazing by itself without much effort due to the buttery flavor of wagyu meat but I feel I should have asked the chef to keep my steak medium rare as well done was over cooked for me.

Pasta:

First world problems- To order pasta or risotto? I ended up having Pasta Al Funghi that’s loaded with wild mushrooms and looked absolutely smashing but unfortunately lacked basic flavor and some hint of spices like black pepper or nutmeg.

Desserts:

I couldn’t decide between chocolate molten cake and turtle cheesecake so I ordered both. The chocolate molten cake was pretty good, but I wish it didn’t had crumbs in it that tasted a bit odd.

But the turtle cheesecake was perfection! so soft that my spoon glided in there and the flavor was super indulging! I highly recommend you try this one.

Thank you Team AER for having me over. Your service and ambiance is top notch.

November 6, 2019 0

Feel the vibe with A Cappella

A restaurant’s atmosphere sets the stage. It’s about more than just a dining room away from home. Food takes the spotlight as guests become its audience. Factors such as music, lighting, artwork and spacing combine to create comfort, intimacy and even romance.

A cappella is just the right restaurant to visit with your special one. Located in Pointe the Palm; the restaurant offers a variety of mocktails and fine dining options. The staff is extremely courteous, they look after you with undivided attention and make the entire dining experience worthwhile.

I started off the culinary journey with pani puri that comes in a theatrical presentation with smoke blowing from everywhere around and you can witness laboratory inspired funnels carrying chutneys and tiny pani puris lined on the sides. It definitely looked awesome. I believe the stuffing inside paani puri could have been improved.

This place is a goldmine for people who enjoy alcoholic cocktails but since I stay away from all kinds of intoxicants, the staff made sure I don’t miss out on the experience so they served me a non-alcoholic lychee mocktail that was super tasty and pretty.

Then I had amazing beef sliders, the beef patty was juicy and not overly spiced but the caramelized onion at the bottom of patty were the real deal. The entire slider was outstanding. I also tried the cheese slider that was actually made with a cheese patty and it was brilliant! I am definitely ordering beef and cheese sliders separately the next time.

Then came the show stopper lamb chops, they were glazed with slightly sweet yet charred spices. The lamb was soft and convenient to eat with a knife and fork in such fancy setting. Right after this I witnessed bhuna murgh approaching my table and my eyes were wide open with excitement because usually you expect finger food in such settings but this was beyond my expectations. The chicken looked amazingly charred from the corners and was cooked perfectly.

After all of these delicious meals, I was served mac and cheese and this one is honestly the best I have had so far. There was fried garlic chopped into crumbs and garnished on top which provided extra flavor to the dish and the cheese inside wasn’t just liquefied cheese that usually tastes weird. It was pure cheese that melted with the macaroni.

Finally, it was time for desserts (my favorite part of the dining experience). We were served Tiramisu and a chocolate pecan globe. Even though the chocolate pecan was sinfully indulgent, my winner was tiramisu. It was gentle and the mascrapone cheese was added in just the right amounts for a smooth texture.

Thank you for such an amazing night Team A cappella! I would recommend my readers to visit this restaurant on a Friday as they have bollywood nights and I am sure they will be super!

September 2, 2019 0

Famous Dave’s serving passion

You know when there’s “famous” in the name of a restaurant, you gotta figure that out and see what is all that about. Hence, my visit to The Famous Dave’s in Festival City Mall located on level 1 with views of the gorgeous waterfront and LED show; you are bound to fall in love with the restaurant. What I love the most is their staff’s courtesy and the way they make you feel like home/family, they were so friendly that even my bossy toddler gave one of the staff a hi-five.

We decided to sit indoors and started browsing the menu that had several options to choose from. While we were busy doing that, the server brought us a basket of fresh potato chips sprinkled with herbs and salt. He also briefed us about the kinds of sauces on the table and what each sauce is made of and how does it taste. I personally loved the Texas pit because it paired so well with the tacos but more on that later 😉

From the famous American steaks to the barbecued ribs, you can choose anything you like. I had my heart set on the crispy chicken tacos while my husband ordered the Dave’s fried chicken that comes with fries and pickles. The tacos were out of this world! They were literally good enough to sweep my feet off the floor. Crispy chicken with fresh lettuce, zesty lime chipotle and the salsa were just meant to be together, the cherry on cake was fresh jalapenos on top. I am definitely recommending the tacos. Even though these were perfect, I drenched them in the Texas pit and sweet and sour sauces and had a ball!

The fried chicken was pretty amazing as well. Loved the charred chicken skin that was just golden and all the juices ran on the inside, the flavors were subtle unless you order the hot one. The smoked beef was brilliant! Packed with bags of flavors, this is a sure shot to your heart. Portion size was perfect for 2;I would say but if you’ve had a long day, Go for it man!

August 18, 2019 0

Outrageously brilliant burgers

Roaming around in Dubai on a sandy evening, I happen to stumble upon Pickl in JLT area and it looked pretty awesome with neon colors in the dining area and a team that is all smiles as they serve the customers.

I asked their manager for recommendation and he asked if I like to have spicy chicken or not. I told him that I am all hearts for spicy burgers so he suggested that we understand the heat levels given on the menu which were: Plain fry, feel the heat and nashville hot chicken. I was dooling at the sound of nashville hot chicken but somehow opted for feel the heat. Absolutely loved the crispy fried chicken patty sprinkled with some amazing spices. I am definitely going for nashville the next time. Their secret to these amazing burgers is the special sauce they add inside and also serve alongside the burgers.

Also tried the chicken tenders that were literally tender and juicy. Loved the portion size and the pickles that come along. I highly recommend you visit Pickl and don’t just order home because these burgers are best enjoyed at the restaurant.

August 14, 2019 0

Brunch at Bakemart Gourmet

My husband loves having breakfast here but this time we decided to visit Barsha branch and also invited guests. Being terribly in love with the smell of their freshly baked breads and those gorgeous cakes you get to see when you enter, we roamed around the bread station until our guests arrived. They took so long that it was almost lunch time so we all ended up ordering mains.

We ordered corn tabbouleh as starter. It was loaded with parsley, corn, tomato, onion, couscous, mint leaves, spring onions all drenched in arabic dressing. This was served with khubuz.

We had their fillet steak and mushroom which comes with mashed potato, poached vegetables and dark mushroom sauce. Loved the flavors here but the steak itself was really over cooked. I did tell them that I like my steak well done but I didn’t say rubbery.

The other dish we tried was chicken scallop. Now this one was a stunner, loved every bit of the crispy fried chicken topped with herbs cheese and that demi glazed sauce was beautiful. This came with a handful of french fries.

The other dish we ordered was the chicken chasseur; it comes with sauteed vegetables and mashed potatoes and a mushroom sauce. The mushroom sauce here was way better than the one with chicken scallop. But the chicken itself was overcooked and disappointed us.

August 6, 2019 0

Pakistani chinese food in Sharjah

I know its a cardinal sin to admire Pakistani fusion of Chinese cuisine but I can’t help it. Growing up in Pakistan, I always enjoyed the Chinese food served there at various restaurants. Peking in Sharjah serves exactly those amazing dishes with a fairly average ambiance and several options to choose from in their menu. What caught my attention was the server’s dress code wearing a lovely kimono, she was efficient with the menu and even guided us about serving sizes.

I ordered american chopsuey, egg fried rice, chilli ginger chicken and chicken sizzling manchurian. The chilli ginger chicken was my favorite as it wasn’t loaded with chilli or garlic, the flavor of boneless chicken blended so well with all the other ingredients.

I felt American chopsuey was a let down as the one I used to have back in Pakistan was served with a fried egg on top and I believe that’s how this dish is supposed to be served.

Chicken sizzling manchurian was nicely done, it sizzled all the way. The flavors were pretty good except for the quantity of chilli in there that I felt could have been a tad bit higher. Nevertheless, it was good and I recommend you try this one along with the ginger chilli chicken.

The fried rice were average. Nothing special about them. May I suggest the chefs to tweak these with some burnt garlic to give that amazing authentic fried rice flavor 🙂

I apologize for having no pictures to put up with this blog post as I was starving at the restaurant and gobbled up the dishes pretty quickly.

July 16, 2019 0

Jordanian cafe in downtown Dubai

Tche Tche premier is a quite fun place to spend a weekend evening at. They have separate area for smokers (outside) while inside for non-smokers. There’s even a play area for kids inside and so many LED screens to watch game on. The interiors are simple and neat, what stands out most is their superb service that won’t let you down. Our server “Nadine” guided best for their best dishes and cocktails.

We started off with the sea food sampler that priced at 70 aed and is loaded with crunchy calamari, crispy panko shrimps, mozzarella sticks and lots of french fries with dip. I absolutely loved this, especially the panko shrimps that were crisp and delicious. However my favorite part of this was the fact that it came in such big portion size that can be shared among two and the masala that was garnished on the fries :p

Then we had Chicken Escallop Funghi which is basically a chicken steak topped with melted mozzarella cheese paired with mashed potatoes and grilled vegetables. Loved the creamy mushroom sauce that accompanied this, it was spot on! Priced at 60 aed.

For sandwich we ordered the chicken zinger but it felt more like a crispy chicken sandwich as it had turkey slices in there as well. Nonetheless, the taste was amazing. The sandwich turned out pretty awesome. It was priced 45 aed

We also tried their house pizza that was priced at 48 aed and comprised of tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, grilled chicken, cherry tomatoes, parmesan cheese and beef bites. I know what you’re thinking, that these all would make one hell of a pizza but there was something missing for me. I would say may be the spice quotient could have been a bit better. But if you like low food then this will be an instant hit for you.

We were so full with all the scrumptious delicacies that we skipped dessert but wait! their cocktails satisfied our sweet tooth because they were literally yum! I felt they were more like milk shakes, I had the summer cocktail (mango, banana, strawberry, vanilla icecream, avocado and mango) priced 32 aed and TCHE’s (strawberry, banana and vanilla icecream) priced 32 aed as well. Loved the way these cocktails were presented.

Thank you for having us Team Tche Tche premier. Your service was absolutely wonderful, special thanks to Chef Sayed from Jordan who served us amazing dishes. Thank you.

April 30, 2019 0

Game changer hot dogs and so much more at Holy Fries

I happen to visit Miami vibes in Al-Khawaneej for the dubai food festival and found Holy fries there. The food truck looks clean and the delicious fries and hot dogs along with burger are on the display so you can choose accordingly.

I tried the fries with pink mushroom sauce and instantly fell in love with them because of the siracha hints in there that compliment the creamy sauce with crispy fries. Even though the fries were slathered in the mushroom sauce, they were crispy and nicely coated with mild spices.

Also had the potato wedges in white mushroom sauce, the sauce was commendable. Its creaminess was splendid. The portion size was a lot and I would recommend you share between two unless you’re a fries monster 😀 like myself.

The most interesting fact here is that they make every thing from scratch including their sausages that aren’t frozen and the mushrooms aren’t canned. So much so the spices are also bought from spice souk and are pure.

Along with these delicious treats, I sipped on the rosey delight with saffron, I must tell you that it was beautiful in terms of flavor and you can not miss this on your visit. Hurry up! the food fest ends 9th March and so does their food truck.

March 6, 2019 0

Ramen experts- Wagamama

I remember walking past Wagamama in London and looking at the long queue outside waiting to be seated in rainy 6 degrees. And in that moment I thought to myself that their food must be legit.
I recently received an invite to Wagamama in university city sharjah for a review and this name surely rang a bell in my head. I instantly said yes and went for the review. Its a lovely place with simple interiors, open kitchen and an outside seating area too.
Before I jump on the description of what I ordered and how it was, I want you to know that their service was top notch!

So, I ordered their steamed chicken and tomato buns that were cloudy soft to touch and were loaded with dynamite sauce, crispy fried chicken and thin slices of fresh tomatoes. I was left wanting for more, so much so that I think I’m going to order more of these the next time I visit. I found them brilliant! (quite, literally!)

Then I laid my hands on the best ramen I have ever had. (I swear!) The winner here was the ramen broth; complex and comforting. If you’re having a bad day, suffering from cold or anything. This ramen speaks to your taste buds on levels you don’t know exist before. The spring onions and red onions make so much sense and the lemon wedge on top equals to the cherry on this cake.

I also had the oh-so-famous Firecracker chicken to see what the fuss was all about and hey! the buzz is real. This dish is going to awestruck you in real ways. Now I know that this dish generally has a whole lot of spiciness in it but what me made me even more excited was the fact that there were other flavors in there too that weren’t overpowered by the high chilli quotient. Sweet, spicy, tangy- all of these were perfectly balanced.

So happy I ordered the wagamama iced tea (strawberry & mango) as it paired very well with the firecracker chicken.

I urge you to put this place on your bucket lists as it is definitely worth a visit!

February 21, 2019 0

A lot more than just Hot dogs

If you keep up with my blog, you’ll remember the delicious hot dog spread I shared few days back. I visited the same place but a different location this time to check out their burgers and desserts.

First of all, the one in Kite beach was just a food truck whereas this one is a full fledged restaurant with a proper seating area including outdoor seating as well with quirky interiors. And an open kitchen to watch all the live action. The staff is amazing and friendly, but the service needs improvement.

I ordered the burger box but because they use a different menu in the restaurant as compared to the one on zomato. The staff was confused and they served me a hot dog box, I returned that one and requested for a single burger so I may taste it. As I have already reviewed the hot dogs.

Hot dog box

The burger was delicious, it had double beef patty with grilled cheese, lettuce and tomato. The flavors were pretty awesome, only the fact that the beef was a little tough was disappointing, rest was great.

Beef Burger

Also, had the onion rings, they were crispy and hot! loved em’

For dessert, I ordered the chocolate fondant which comes with a scoop of vanilla icecream. The classic combination of hot chocolate fondant and chilled vanilla icecream is always a hit and you may never go wrong with this one!

I would recommend you visit their kite beach branch, somehow I prefer the food truck over the restaurant.

January 31, 2019 0

Donut burger- Hit or Miss?

Recently, Hardees launched their donut burger priced at 16 Aed/. which is only available at the Dubai mall branch. I remember being ecstatically nervous to try it since the moment I heard this news. So, I grabbed my nol card and took the first metro towards Burj Khalifa station, throughout the way I imagined myself devouring soft donut and juicy beef patty… sigh!

Upon reaching Hardees, I ordered my burger with plain fries and water. I was given a paper and pen to put down my review of the burger, once I am done eating. The moment I touched it, my fingers felt sticky and I noticed the donut was glazed. Anyway, I took my first bite and my eyes went wide open in shock. I told my husband “omg! its sweet” and he couldn’t understand what I said because my mouth was full of the bite. I munched and swallowed quickly and told him again. This time loud and clear; “This burger is sweet” The donut was a sugar glazed donut, it wasn’t just shaped as a donut. It was an actual donut with a beef patty and cheese inside. I didn’t know what to feel in that very moment. Anyway, I continued eating the beef patty and cheese separately while the donut in the end.

I request you to re-launch this burger minus the sugar in donut. Keep it savory and watch the crowd go wild!.

January 27, 2019 0

Stay for the fun at Chowking

If you’re having one of those days when you just don’t feel like having the ordinary usual meals, you gotta visit chowking for the innovative chinese dishes and so much variety on the menu in such affordable price and amazing service. Their team makes sure that you’re having a wonderful dining experience.

I happen to visit this restaurant several times for their fried chicken, I am in love with how they do it. It remains crispy, juicy and salty (in a good way) but this time I tried a lot of other dishes on the menu. Started off with an intensely strong iced tea that was really nice and also tried their milk ice tea that had tea jelly on top. (brownie points for creativity) Loved it!

Appetizers:

I had the dimsum platter which was composed of 4 pcs. vegetable spring rolls, 4pcs. dimsums including beef and chicken ones and 4pcs. fried chicken balls. My favorite were the crispy spring rolls that came with a sweet chilli sauce to dip in. Surprisingly, I loved the dimsums as well, its rare that I like dimsums anywhere but these guys nailed them!

Then I had their vegetarian sweet and sour soup which was quite strong and didn’t work with my palate so I didn’t liked it that much but the veg. sweet corn soup was delicious. It even had steamed broccoli in it.

Main courses:

Started off with veg. hakka noodles that looked beautiful in the skillet topped with some crushed fried onions. Where my fellow bloggers thought it was bland and needed spices, I found it pretty nice and comforting.

Followed by this, was my favorite main course served here that was the prawn thai curry. It was a perfect blend of spicy curry and prawns cooked with bell peppers, I suggest you have it with the fried rice to enjoy fully.

I highly recommend you their cauliflower manchurian as it was amazing, cauliflower was roasted to perfection and the manchurian sauce paired so well with it.

Then, I moved on to the sweet and sour fish which I loved, the fish was soft and tender while the sauce was a little too sweet for me.

Thank you for such an amazing evening Team Chowking. Loved having your hearty meals. Can’t wait to drop by again soon.

January 24, 2019 0