Giangi's Kitchen

Food and Romance from Around the World: Dubai, UAE

Dubai

Our travels have taken us to Dubai and the surrounding area numerous times.  Each time we fell in love all over again with this diverse and multicultural area. 

Dubai is one of the world’s fastest-growing tourist destinations and we can see why.  The beaches are pristine and the sand is fine, soft, and white.  The sun is bright and warm. Every resort offers great hotels to stay with more amenities that you do not know what to do with.

All the hotels have extensive and delicious selections of restaurants. with food out of this world.

All this coupled with unforgettable shopping… a perfect place.

Dubai is part of the federation of seven emirates forming the United Arab Emirates and is located along the Arabian Peninsula, with Qatar to the west, Saudi Arabia to the south and west, and Oman to the North and East.

The cultural aspect of the city is beautiful. Modern architecture meets traditional.

Traditional, beautiful ladies wearing gorgeous burqa with gorgeous patterns studded with rhinestones, sequences or colored gems.  I was so impressed by the beauty and the elegance of some.

The Burj Al Arab Hotel

We spent one of our evenings at the Burj Al Arab Hotel.

Due to high security as well as keeping away onlookers, the hotel has a very strict policy,  access to the hotel is difficult.  Either you are a registered hotel guest, or you have dinner reservations to be able to enter the resort. Reservation in advance for dinner and cocktails are a must as you will need to check in with security and be escorted in.

Our evening started with Champagne Cocktails at the Skyview Bar. The bar is suspended 200 meters above sea level.  Looking at the hotel, the bar is the suspended extended oblong shape harm, not to be confused with the helicopter landing pad.

We were very fortunate to find a quaint table at the farthest extended point of the bar.  The view: spectacular, breathtaking. You could see as far away as you possibly could. 

Knowing that we were so high up and nothing under us, I have to say it was… well … thrilling.

We had dinner reservations right next to the bar at the Al Muntaha Restaurant

Nice restaurant with a live band.  Somehow, and this happens rarely, we were not pleased with the ambiance.  A crying child was not what we were looking for.

We spoke to the Maître D, and in less than a second, the hotel staff could not be more than kind to found us a table to another of their fine restaurants.  We were impressed, to say the least.  Not only they could not do enough for us, but they make sure we looked at all restaurants and chose where we wanted to have dinner. 

Once the restaurant was selected, the staff ensured we had the perfect table.  We decided to have dinner at the opposite end of the hotel.  Cocktails at the top floor bar, dinner at the bottom floor.

Dinner at the Al Mahara: An experience of a lifetime

The dining room of the Al Mahara restaurant is set up all around this beautiful aquarium with all sorts of exotic fish. Perfect for a romantic evening. 

As we are gourmand, we choose to go with a seven-course meal.  All fish of course. Each plate was paired with wine. My favorite were the Sea Scallops, King Crab and Foie Gras Raviolis, and of course the desserts. Our little dinner adventure lasted a good three hours. Unforgettable dinner and unforgettable night.

Right across from the Burj Al Arab Hotel, on the same resort complex, we stayed at the Jumeirah Beach Resort Hotel.

Very nice with impressive views of the Burj Al Arab Hotel, easy access to the beautiful white-sand beaches. We enjoyed a great evening at “The Uptown Bar” and had this great “the Z Martini” and chicken wings.  Odd combination, but we had the chicken wings with ginger sauce when we stayed there a previous time and just could not pass them up.

We enjoyed another view of the Burj Al Arab Hotel by taking a stroll along the beach and having cocktails and appetizers at the end of the pier.

We also so much enjoyed the hummus. The hummus is of a very smooth texture served with a dash of olive oil and lemon juice. All sorts of fresh fruits, dried fruits, and vegetables. Great dishes of all sorts.

Our travels to the Middle East also took us to Doha in Qatar as well as to Bahrain. While in Bahrain we spend an unforgettable evening with some dear friends of ours.  

I was only able to get two recipes that I am sharing with all of you.

Enjoy.

The Z Martini

From “The Uptown Bar” at the Jumeirah Beach in Dubai

45 ml Belvedere Vodka

15 ml Peach snap

30 ml Mango puree

60 ml Cranberry juice

Mix the Vodka with the snap and the juices. Shake well with ice. Strain and serve in a nice cold glass. Place a wedge of orange on the glass.

CHICKEN WINGS WITH GINGER MAYONNAISE

2 pounds chicken wings

Mashed garlic

Chili powder

Soy sauce

Lemon

Water

Pepper

Mix all the above ingredients and marinate for 24 hours.

Deep fry in small batches until golden.

For the Mayo- Ginger Sauce:

Mayonnaise

Ginger juice to taste

Mix all together and serve along side the wings.