My friend from Myanmar ( formerly Burma) took me to the Innlay Asia Restaurant so I could taste the cuisine of his country. The restaurant was really quiet so we had the 2 Myanmar waiters to ourselves as they served and explained each dish to me.
Tea Leave Salad
We started with the crispy Tea Leave salad made with dried noodles and nuts and tomato, cabbage and beans. Then Kway had Khauk swell which is a noodle soup which tasted a bit like Philippino Kare Kare ( peanut butter taste) . It was creamy and none of the dishes were spicy!
I had Chicken Kong Pong which is made with chicken. ginger, carrots, green pepper and cashew nuts.
The whole meal with rice and soft drinks came to 104 AED ( 10 bd or 20 GBP or 1412 Philippine peso) but they offered 10% discount on the meal or a voucher for 20% off our next meal there. I opted for the 10% off so we paid 93 AED for the two of us- cheaper than the hotel buffet.
The restaurant is situated by the water at Jumeirah Lake Tower and as we ate we watched all the Talabat riders come to collect meals from the many other restaurants in the area- but there were hardly any customers actually dining there.
Regular Blog reader Brian emailed me the other day to say I had not mentioned the Phillipino restaurants we had visited on this trip- apologies Brian and my Kabayan. Dubai has a large Phillipino community ( "679,819 Filipinos live in the UAE, of which 450,000 live in Dubai, and they from 6.1% of the whole UAE population, and they form 21.3% of the population of Dubai. Dubai is home to the largest population of Filipinos in the UAE, followed by Abu Dhabi and Al Ain.") Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filipinos_in_the_United_Arab_Emirates ( accessed 29.8.21)
In terms of where they live most live in the areas I have stayed on vacation ( Al Satwa and Bur Dubai) so we have had a good choice of Phillipino restaurants to eat at. According to one website:
Al Satwa, Al Rigga, Bur Dubai, Al Karama, and Al Nahda are considered to be the best places to live in Dubai for Filipino expats as they have a sizeable number of Filipino restaurants, stores and supermarkets in the area. Source: https://www.bayut.com/mybayut/best-areas-to-live-dubai-filipino-expats/ ( accessed 29.8.21)
My favourite Phillipino restaurant so far was a short walk from the hotel in Al Satwa called El Batangueno where Leo had a whole grilled Tilapia and I had a delicious Beef Caldereta and then we both had Halo Halo.
At the end of the meal we realised we had not taken a photo!
Leo's Inihaw na Tilapia (26 AED, 3 Bd, 6 GBP, 353 Philippine Peso)
Next to the hotel is a 24 hour Chow King where I have been for a few meals including Shanghai Chicken Spring roll, Chicken and corn soup, Beef and Broccoli combo ( with rice, and Iced tea ), Chicken Siomai , sweet and sour chicken and Halo Halo. Just down the road is a Jollibee ( the Phillipino version of KFC) and we had a family meal there one day .
We tried another small Pinoy restaurant ( Picnic Grill) for Bulalao and Daing na Bangus and Halo halo but it had too many flies and was too hot so I will not be going back there. Perhaps the most disappointing Pinoy restaurant was M Inasal which is in the arcade next to the Al Khoory Hotel. On one side it still has the Yellow Cab Logo and back in 2018 Erickson and I had many happy meals here with Pizza, Huge bowls of Halo Halo and other Pinoy favourites. The staff were very friendly and we soon became suki ( regulars). However it has since changed hands and the food ( I had Bulalao and Halo Halo ) was ok, the AC was not working and the Halo Halo was the worst I have ever had. Another restaurant I will not be going back to! The other bad news is that the small Indian Restaurant at the back of the hotel has now closed. Again we had many good cheap meals there back in 2018.
In addition to the Pinoy and Myanmar food we have been to one of the top Pakistani restaurants( Nayaab
Handi- https://nayaabhaandi.com/)
Nayaab Handi in Satwa, one of the UAE's top Pakistani restaurants
Another restaurant recommended by Waqas Nadeem in Bahrain was the top Iranian restaurant here called Ustad Special Kabab, otherwise known as Dubai's 'celeb' kebab shop- Ustad Special Kabab video . You can read about my experiences in both restaurants in my earlier Blogs from Dubai.
Ok enough of eating! I already had one comment on my Facebook from a nurse at Awali Hospital that all my pictures are of me eating! After 46 days here in Dubai I have had about 120 meals costing 1266 Bd ( 12,334.28 United Arab Emirates Dirham, 2,439.58 Pound sterling or 167,501.29 Philippine peso , slightly over budget! But hey, I am on vacation, and here to enjoy myself. I do not smoke or drink alcohol and I love eating out with my friends and trying different cuisines from around the word. You also need to remember I have been coming to Dubai every year for 11 years so have already visited most of the malls and tourist attractions like the Green Planet, Miracle Gardens , The Emirates Museum etc.
However , as I wrote in my last blog I keep finding new places and as I was writing this blog Kway told me about the Mahamevnawa Buddhist Monastery, the UAE’s only Buddhist temple, which he said was close to the hotel in Satwa so we walked there one evening. In my research for this blog I discovered there is a half-a-million Buddhist strong community here in the UAE, mostly from Sri Lanka. Theravada Buddhism is the strain practiced in the UAE and this is strongest in Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and Myanmar.
( accessed 29.8.21)
Mahamevnawa Buddhist Monastery, Jumeirah, Dubai
It goes to show what a diverse or inclusive place Dubai is, with so many nationalities, so many different cuisines and so many different places to worship from the Hindu temple at Bur Dubai, The Buddhist Monastery in Jumeirah and the many mosques.
My congratulations to Al Khoory Hotel for their excellent handling of my recent complaint. I found an unwanted guest in my bed at 3 am when it tried to eat my stomach ( Like Leo his eyes were bigger than his belly).
When I showed the receptionist the pictures as I had breakfast they sent the Housekeeping Manager to check the room , come to apologise to me, deep clean another better room on a higher floor and then have the porter move all my things to the new room. Later they sent me some fresh fruit. It seems that the hotel was having a bad day as in my new room the safe, kettle and fridge did not work but after a visit to reception the Maintenance and security men were dispatched to my room, the safe fixed and the kettle replaced twice ( the replacement did not work either) and my fridge was replaced. Now I have a great view from my room and can open the window for fresh cool air at 6 am.
The view from my new room at the Al Khoory Hotel in Dubai
The night before that MK and I had more great service at the Turkish Village Restaurant and Café at Jumeirah. The food was amazing, the décor very sosyal and Maarte ( as was the price). We shared an amazing mixed grill with Chicken, Lamb, Rice, Arabic bread and much more but simply could not eat it all. Carl Max would be very pleased that we took the leftovers home and gave the rest of the Sultan Platter to MK's flat mates.
The Sultan Platter - serves 2 !!!!
However we did make room for their excellent Baklava and Kunafa for desserts. The Kunafa was freshly cooked and was hot and delicious, Again we could not eat it all so I took the remainder to one of the restaurant staff at the Al Khoory Hotel ( Om) . If you have not heard of Kunafa then please read my earlier blog by clicking this link The Kanafeh shop that used to be in Bukawara )
The freshly made hot Kunafa from the Turkish Restaurant
This really is a must try restaurant in Dubai- so make sure you check them out. Their website has photos, a Bio of the Executive Chef, their amazing menu with photos of all the dishes, and you can order a take away, delivery or reserve a table by clicking on the link below:
Well it's Friday, so it's time to end this round up of the weeks eating... I found another new Pinoy restaurant yesterday which is very close to the hotel. I went with Macky and we were the only customers! There was one guy cooking ( Macky had to go to the kitchen to find him) and serving! Then 3 other customers arrived and another member of staff. He gave us a free bottle of water each and I had Bulalao steak, which was delicious . I have been missing Tony Roma and my weekly steak dinner in Bahrain. The total bill for 2 meals was 65 AED, 6 bd, 12 quid- 882 Philippine peso. We will definitely give it another try next week! They do not have a credit card machine so I had to pay cash, which is running low after 2 months here.
I will tell you about my final week in Dubai next week.. until then this is the British Kabayan signing out , stay safe, where your mask, keep your distance ,Ingat Palagi, Kita kits.
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Hello, I am The British Kabayan! Feel free to read my stories.
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