Hello everyone,
Caroline Oldham
This week I am taking you all back to the desert with me and going to share some top tips from my time in Dubai. I lived in Dubai for 5 years from 23 to 28 years old, I have very good memories and some not so good memories from there but it is all about making you the person you become. I haven't been back from 2 years since I located back to the UK so I was excited yet also had a strange feeling going back.
The one thing that was even more than it was when I lived there was the construction, the palm was where I used to live and it is where we stay when we visit however with the new Mall being built and even more apartments towering up, I felt a bit sad of how ruined Dubai is starting to look, however saying that I still love it and had a really great time catching up with friends. There were many new restaurants since I left and we went back to some of our favourite places too:
Restaurant Hangout's in Dubai
Eggspectation is a new restaurant since I lived in Dubai and is located on the new JBR The Walk which has lots of restaurants to choose from. I was obsessed with having breakfast here, so many things to choose from delicious smoothies and lots of healthy omelette's and dishes. I loved the healthy green juices they did here and they will adapt food to how you like it and you can substitute for gluten free toast if it is available. As my lactose intolerance has subsided recently I took advantage and I had an omelette with feta sided with some fruit. Really lovely, fresh and healthy breakfast here.
We went to Abu Dhabi for the night and stayed in the St Regis, the hotel was lovely although a little bit too busy for our liking, it is great if you have kids though but if you are a couple and want some down time I wouldn't recommend it. They did though have an amazing steakhouse which we loved and would actually go back too. First of all, they had incredible mocktails which we both loved and they had such different ingredients and flavours, when they bought over the gluten free bread, they had 3 different styles to choose from which all you coeliacs know is just unheard of! For main course we had chateaubriand with some sides, lovely well cooked meat to medium just how we like it, accompanied by some healthy salads it was absolutely delicious. They were so careful with everything I ate and made sure that I knew if there was something that could not be made without gluten so we were really impressed.
Zaroob is one of my favourite places to eat in Dubai, it is cheap, cheerful and great middle eastern restaurant to enjoy some local food. You need to be clear with your food requirements as it is a fast paced restaurant but I have never had any problems with eating there. My favourite dishes is the meat with hummus and pine nuts, together with a fattoush salad (minus the crispy bread on top), these two dishes compliment each other so well. fattoush is my favourite salad of all time, it is leaves, tomatoes, cucumbers, pomegranate with a pomegranate dressing, it is sweet yet sharp and just delicious!
Cheesecake Factory is another of my favourite places to eat in Dubai, I wish they had one in the UK but they don't yet! They have a few scattered around Dubai but I can tell you no matter how big they you will struggle to get a table in any of these venues. The people in Dubai just love it and I can see why, the food portions are huge for a start, the food isn't overpriced compared to most places in Dubai and the food is really good, as well as being child friendly which helps for a lot of people.
I like many things here but when I go I always have the strawberry smoothie and the made to order guacamole without fail! Served with gluten free corn chips and salsa, you can choose the heat strength and it is perfect for dipping with friends. I also love most of their salads and they will cater it to your diet so it really is a great place to eat.
In light of my Middle Eastern theme I will share with you one of my favourite dishes hummus http://blog.biteappy.com/blog/raw-vegan-hummus/
Until next time.
Tagged in Caroline Oldham