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

The Era of Milk cakes

I would be lying if I deny the fact that my frequent appreciation for milk cakes is what keeps me away from becoming a size zero model. I am so glad that milk cakes have made their way into the dessert industry and recently we can see so many variations in terms of flavors available when ordering one. The most famous ones I have come across are saffron, pistachio and rose while a few are going the extra mile with karak and faluda milk cakes on the menu.

I visited London dairy bistro to enjoy their milk cakes on the occasion of Eid. They had three flavors to choose from; pistachio, rose and plain milk cake. So I went for rose and pistachio. For some strange reason the pistachio milk cake was 10 aed pricier than the rose one. I personally loved the flavors and loved the rose milk cake more than pistachio perhaps it was more rich and slightly more sweeter than the latter.

Honestly, there are only a few desserts that fail to impress me but I wouldn’t recommend you this place for milk cakes because I have had better in the same price. Luxuriously Satisfying desserts at The Living Room

But I want you to try these out and let me know what you think. 🙂

August 18, 2019 0

Expect the best from Manoushe street

Known for their mouth watering Levantine cuisine from healthy breakfasts to nutritious wraps and pizzas along with old time Lebanese favorites Manakeesh & kaak; all in a street corner bakery set up. This time I tried their delivery service from the Mizhar outlet located in aswaq mall. The delivery was efficient and everything was packed neatly especially the dessert jar and salad bowl.

I tried the Long life quinoa salad which comprised of beetroot, perfectly cooked quinoa, pomegranate, flax seeds, leafy greens with an amazing blueberry balsamic dressing that binds it all together in a fantastic way.

Since I am an absolute fan of flavored green teas, I was ecstatic to see chun mei green tea on their menu and so I tried it. This one was ginger, honey and lemon grass blended nicely with brewed green tea. I found it a bit on the stronger side, so I suggest you drink it cold because it tastes way better that way. The kick you get from ginger here is super intense.

Pepperoni pizza was the first one I butchered, it is always no brainer to order this one as its a sure shot to impress you and the guests, the pepperoni was fresh and juicy while the cheesy bread made a wonderful base.

Zaatar manakeesh was ever so fresh, in addition to this; it was garnished with fresh herbs and diced tomatoes to enhance the flavor.

The street style Burek was my favorite, this one was beefyshroom. Strips of beef, onions, bell peppers are all tucked in a crusty dough with 3 kinds of cheese and then baked. Just grab this as soon as it arrives because its best enjoyed hot.

The dessert was lotus cheesecake labelled as “addictive lotus cheesecake” on the menu. I have zero doubts about this dessert being addictive since the caramelized lotus melts in mouth with velvety soft creame cheese. Please don’t leave without trying this one!

July 22, 2019

Levantish is where taste meets the myth

Levant’ish is an amazing restaurant in Al Qusais that serves Lebanese, turkish, syrian cuisine. Their kebabs, hummus, Shawarma, Lentil soup, Tabbouleh, Fattoush, Babaganush, Lamb Chops,Moutabel and labneh are the highlights of menu. They have indoor and outdoor seating and a baby seat is also available.

I specifically went to this place to enjoy breakfast. I ordered the Levant’ish breakfast platter which comprised of foul, labneh, mix manakeesh, choice of omelette served with juice, tea or coffee. Along with this I also ordered Fatteh Laban and sujuk omelette with shakshouka. Yep! I always order more when eating for breakfast.

I did not like foul as it had a lot of sour punch to it and did not taste fresh. The manakeesh though were amazing. We got cheese manakeesh and zaatar manakeesh, both were super. They served us fresh labneh where we shamelessly dipped our breads in. Instead of omelette, we were served fried eggs (2) and they were cooked well with steady whites and runny yolks.

My favorite item on the breakfast table was undoubtedly sujuk omelette. It had crumbled lamb kebab in there with the egg and together everything tasted divine. Fatteh Laban was quite spectacular too with warm chickpeas and toasted crumbs all layered together like a casserole topped with pomegranate seeds.

However, the shakshouka was a bit disappointing as I was expecting traditional Turkish shakshouka with eggs on top and tomato sauce everywhere else. The eggs were scrambled in the tomato sauce and the flavors weren’t that distinct either.

July 8, 2019 0

Breakfast woes

I am that lazy person who does not feel like getting up early on weekends and dressing up to go out for breakfast but I managed to somehow do that with an empty stomach. Me and my friend were roaming in sahara when we bumped into this nice coffee house called Icons coffee couture where they had a lovely vibe going on so we ordered Intercontinental breakfast platter which comprises of two fried eggs, two hashbrowns, labneh, grilled tomato with cheese, ricotta, fresh bread, orange juice and a hot beverage of choice.

So glad that the orange juice was fresh and had fair quantity of pulp in there. And the basket with buns and breads was awesome. The bread was so soft and so were the buns. Loved these! But the breakfast platter itself was a let down. The sunny side up eggs were over cooked and the hashbrowns were dry.

Loved the glasses in which they served juice and tea. I got green tea instead of coffee and it was nice. The staff was friendly and the service was quick. They overcharged my friend while swiping her credit card but then she contacted them and they quickly resolved her issue and reimbursed her the extra deducted money. Thank you very much for that.

July 4, 2019 0

How much is too much chocolate?

I know I will be bashed for posting this by a lot of you but hey! this is entirely true and I don’t think I can order these dishes again because they had extremely high content of liquid chocolate and while I tried eating, the chocolate stuck to my throat and felt itchy and uncomfortable. Ugh!

So I was craving for a dessert when I bumped into freez near Mamzar. This dessert parlor has 8 outlets in Dubai and I had seen them while driving in a lot of different areas so I planned to try them out with super high expectations. I ordered the customized waffle with half lotus and half pistachio and a red velvet kinder cake. The waffle was unbearably sweet, it was just too much. And not because of lotus but the chocolate effect. What I don’t understand is the fact that dessert lovers think nutella is chocolate where it clearly isn’t. I wish they would have added dark chocolate that has a hint of bitterness to it so that the flavors were balanced.

The red velvet kinder cake on the other hand was not that bad. I can have it again but with one exception. Icecream! Please add icecream on top of this which will actually make it best!

July 4, 2019 0

Falafel Party from Operation Falafel

I always plan to eat here but never actually do that and it had been 4 years so I finally decided to order food home and see what the hype is about. I placed order through zomato and it got accepted but then I received a call from the restaurant that they are out of eggplant so they cant put it in my wrap 😦 that was just sad, so I agreed for a wrap without it. Although they delivered complimentary hummus to make up for it but hey! ain’t no hummus makes up for eggplant in my wrap.

Anyway, the falafel were pretty crispy and good. I just feel they were overpriced just because they had a chutney filling inside. Normally, you get a falafel for 50 fils or 1 aed from street restaurants but this one was 10 aed for 4 pcs because its “stuffed”. The menu reads that these falafels are stuffed with pine nuts, onions and shatta but all I could taste was shatta (hot sauce)

The wraps were fine nothing extraordinary about those. I would suggest the restaurant to increase their quality of food in terms of flavors and decrease the price a tad bit 🙂

May 23, 2019 0

The cake that broke my heart…

Magnolia bakery is the prettiest, chic bakery that you will ever come across in Dubai especially if we talk about the bakeries in malls. I’m sure you have had their banana pudding and I have to tell you that I literally dream of their salted caramel banana pudding because its absolutely delicious.

Recently, I was craving for a moist chocolate-y cake and so I headed over to Magnolia as they have beautiful cakes. After much thought I decided to go for the Devil’s food cake because it was made with dutch cocoa that creates a darker sort of chocolate and I am always ready for pure dark chocolate any day. A giant beautiful slice came on my table and I took lots of pictures and poked my fork in. I had a few bites and realized that it was dry 😦 and it needed some kind of moisture in the sponge. The buttercream frosting was perfect but the cake’s sponge itself was a little rough. The price was 28 Aed for one slice and I think its fair but I wish the cake was good.

This just broke my heart because I genuinely love desserts and cakes. So its pretty difficult for the cake monster inside me to be disappointed. I am still going to return and try another dessert from here and then update this blog 🙂

May 1, 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

Crave the taste- Projeto Acai

There’s a new trend at the breakfast table and everyone seems to be enjoying it. It’s the Acai bowl that’s in fashion. Generally, Acai is a berry that contains antioxidants, fiber and heart healthy fats as well as a lot of other nutrients. It has a versatile flavor that perfectly compliments other ingredients and is usually served with strawberries and other fruits and nuts.

Projeto Acai is a small place in Marina, Dubai where the colorful interiors represent thier menu. Such wide variety of poke bowls. acai bowls, salads, wraps and mocktails to choose from.

I ordered the Walnut and feta salad, it was prepared with such elegance that every bite of this salad was crunchy, zesty and full of flavors. It had dried raisins, caramelized walnuts and red cabbage with subtle hints of balsamic vinegar and feta cheese.

For the acai, I chose “Samba” which is their best seller. It has strawberries, mangoes, banana, granola and walnuts. It was a beautiful bowl of goodness that tasted perfect. I think I can give up on ice cream forever If I get this in exchange.

While choosing poke bowl, I opted for the “six pack salmon” because the description made a really pretty picture in my head and to my surprise, it was even more colorful. The base of this bowl was buckwheat noodles, wild salmon, edamame beans cucumber, mango, avocado and garnished with sesame seeds, spring onions and coriander sauce. The portion size was so generous, even though I chose the small sized bowl.

February 3, 2019 0

Take your Shake buds to another level

A newly opened place in Qusais serving game changer shakes, mocktails, faludas and so much more. Specializing in some amazing shakes, they are bound to sweep your feet off ground with original treats made from fresh fruits and no preserved or canned goods.

They have colorful interior with a small seating area. The frames are handmade with a hashtag of the artist to follow if you’re a fan. Needless to say, I instantly did so. I will be sharing the pictures and you can too do the same. (#mamaNUH)

I tried their dry fruits falooda that was literally full of dry fruits inside out! it was priced at 12 Aed/. which is super affordable for a glass full of such nutritious flavors. There were raisins, cashew nuts, almonds and pistachios in there to enhance the flavor of faluda.

Next, we had the fresca’s that was a blend of iced milk and fresh strawberries. It tasted beautiful and unlike usual shakes that are loaded with sugar, this was awesome.

Tried the mango juggernaut as well. Plenty of fresh mangoes over lots of thick creme. It was tasty!

Also had the Habibie’s choice with fresh figs and creame to take your shake buds to another level. It was pretty cool and blended to perfection. I would highly recommend you visit this place to indulge in some crazy shake madness.

February 1, 2019 0