Culture in Dubai, Part (2)

As mentioned before, I feel that there is a lot of activity going on the cultural spectrum in Dubai - one just has to have the right eye and the will to make an effort.

Recently in December, we attended two music shows on subsequent days: the first one was of the Pakistani superstar - Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and the second one of Pt. Jasraj - the Indian classical music legend.

We enjoyed both the shows a lot but the two shows were the extreme ends of the spectrum when it came to organisation and class. Whereas Rahat's show was immensely entertaining but also fairly commercialised, not true to the qualities set by his forefathers in my opinion. He blizted through all his famous songs at jet-speed not giving the compositions time to settle into the minds of the audience. To add to that, there was a gross mis-communication from the organisers in printing the wrong time on the tickets which meant most people waited for the show to start for more than 3 hours! Also, is anyone else disappointed by the accoustics and quality of the venue at World Trade Centre?

On the other hand, Pt. Jasraj's performance was the show-case of Indian classical music with most of the audience there to appreciate his puritanical style. The performance was a treat to watch also because of the teacher-student style that he follows even on the stage. The audience received him very well and he sang his usual gems. Pt. Jasraj has never disappointed his audiences before and he did not this time either. Kudos to the organisers, for conceptualising this lovely series of concerts this year and can't wait for the schedule for next yea to be announced.

The maestro himself

The legend in action

Pantry Cafe, Safa Park

Recently I went to the Pantry Cafe near Safa Park, a modern looking urbane space ideal for breakfast/lunch on a weekend afternoon. The location is quite fitting being so close to the beautiful green oasis that is Safa Park in the centre of Dubai.

Outdoor Seating

A distant view of the outdoor seating area

A view of the outside from the inside

We ate a mix of savoury and sweet dishes i.e. a healthy waffle and a hot crepe dish that came in delicious red sauce. I was fairly impressed with the quality and taste. Definitely one to go back to for the food and the ambiance.

Breakfast Goodness

Unique way to serve a crepe - with Red sauce, yum for savoury lovers

Bread/Pastry selection, slurp

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The whole area- Al Wasl square is definitely a well kept secret for hangout/meal ideas in Dubai. Will be visiting and sharing my experience from lots of other interesting venues in the vicinity soon :)

Review: Jones the Grocer

Hello all,

Sorry for no updates in a long time but there have been many changes in my life (for the better) and things have taken time to settle down.

So, a flurry of long due posts should follow this one.

Here, I am talking about Jones the Grocer, a European minimalist eatery technically located on (visible from) Sheikh Zayed Road.

Though it does not have the most exciting array of options for vegetarians, I think it makes for quite an ideal setting to meet with friends for a weekend brunch or just laze around with a newspaper.

The food is a combination of ready-made salads and small plates as well as an ala-carte menu. The drinks and desserts are also quite tasty. The place also has a very interesting “Cheese Room” and a delectable range of cooking materials to recreate the tastes at home.

All in all, a definite recommendation from DD :)

Exterior that seems to blend in

Chic Interiors, Excellent choice of ready meals

More Interiors

More Food

Review: Pei Wei - Marina walk

I am a big fan of PF Chang's (Dubai Mall and MOE) and seeing the advert of Pei Wei from the same group got me really excited to try it! To add to that I kept coming across jobs at the restaurant on the internet.

I did finally end up going there on a Thursday evening with friends. The first impressions were how empty the place looked for a Thursday evening. They’ve tried to develop a novel concept with menu displayed as digitised hoardings which showed photos of dishes. 

We had a a lady help us to understand how to order using the hoardings. We were made to order and pay at the till first but then served on the table. The concept didn’t work for me especially seeing that they were over staffed and could have easily taken a traditional approach, i.e. waiter takes the order at the table.

The food was good but maybe not good enough to make us go back. We ordered a thai style stir fry and vegetarian noodles. The portions were pretty big and the service was satisfactory.

Good try Pei Wei, but sorry, it just didn’t work for me.

Pei Wei Marina Walk

The digital menus to order from

Furniture Shopping

I have spent the last one year in Dubai heavily shopping for furniture for our flat. And for everyone who is new to Dubai or re-doing their interiors in Dubai, I have compiled a list of things to bear in mind:

1. Do not bother buying all your furniture at once. We can live without the extra table or chair as you will come to realise.

2. Do start with an air-bed which provides a close substitute to a real bed, is quite reasonable, is readily available (at Carrefour in UAE) and is easy to store and use in the future.

3. Online shopping is highly mis-representative of the real items so I’m sorry but there aren’t short cuts to you getting out and doing this yourself in Dubai.

4. I would highly recommend a few places to start with like Marina Exotic Homes (Umm Suqim Road, Al Qouz), The One (MOE/Outlet Mall), and Al Huzaifa (Karama). IKEA is of course the default value-for-money option. I will keep adding to the list as I continue with the search myself.

5. Shops in the malls like HomeCentre, Crate and Barrel, Q Homes etc. do good deals from time to time especially on home accessories and kitchen items. I was lucky to move in Dec- just in time for the January sales.

6. A few other shops like Pier Imports (Mazaya Centre), Indigo Living, United Furniture (Oasis Center) and West Elm (Dubai Mall) also deserve a good mention.

7. In Dec-Jan most of our friends recommended Pan Emirates (Barsha) as a reasonable option. The first time I went, I was terribly disappointed with the appalling taste, I would definitely not recommend getting any major pieces of furniture from there but maybe consider it for supporting items like puffies/ desk chairs etc.

8. Depending on your priorities and the intended stay in Dubai, you may want to order items and wait for them to be imported (nothing is manufactured in UAE). Our sofas (From Mobilia in Times Square Mall) took about 10 weeks before they got delivered from Malaysia but were totally worth the wait.

9. For the satisfaction of exhausting all options, it would be worth your while visiting the furniture area in Karama and on Sheikh Zayed Road between First Gulf station and Oasis Center. Dragon Mart is also meant to be good for office furniture, curtains, wallpapers and the like- we haven’t liked a lot there but it is worth a visit to know what all is available.

10. I can't stress this enough but try and think of the room as a whole instead of just about the item you are buying now. It may make sense to invest the amount you save on big pieces of furniture on home decor accessories instead like photo frames, decorative pieces, paintings, flower vases, candelabras to really give it your personal touch. God is in the details J

11. Most importantly, enjoy yourself through the process. Its not everyday that you get the chance to do/re-do your interiors.

Happy Shopping :D