"Eating is an agricultural act."

Have you guys heard of Eataly? Everything is fresh and straight off the plane from Italy. You can watch your food go through the process of being made from scratch. I think it's a nice getaway lunch from the busy scene of Dubai. - Mari

Nothing goes better with crisp fluffy bread than olive oil and balsamic vinegar (and a pinch of salt)!

Mozzarella in Carrozza
✭✭✭✭✭
35 Dhs
(Picture credit to our wonderful sponsor!) 

I could barely stay still and patiently take angle shots of the fried mozzarella when they were laid in front of us. It was fried to the perfect golden crisp, and I'm not sure if it's because I was absolutely starving, but they tasted like heaven in fine breadcrumbs. -Mari 

I stuffed my face furiously with bread while waiting for Mari to get the right photo for the fried mozzarella. These fried mozzarella triangles were divine and had the perfect amount of dried tomato and pesto. The only bad thing about this appetizer was that it ended. -Daniel

Look at this bad boy.

Tagliatelle Alla Genovese
✭✭✭✩✩
52 Dhs 

"Eat your greens" doesn't sound so bad when you have this on your plate. -Mari

Lasagne Alla Genovese
✭✭✭✩✩
56 Dhs 

This dish defies the stereotype of lasagna having to be meat/tomato sauce based. It was a unique texture and I loved it. It was my favorite vegetables (yes, potato being one of them) covered in pasta and cheese. -Mari

Elegante
✭✭✭✭✩
49 Dhs

The sliced pears accented this salad perfectly. The cherry tomatoes were the perfect hardness and the cheese, oh my goodness the cheese- it pulled the whole salad together. It's hard to find an enjoyable salad, but I definitely felt satisfied after eating this one. -Mari 

Spaghetti Alla Chitarra in Pecorino Cream Sauce
✭✭✭✩✩
56 Dhs

I had a craving for cheese today and this definitely hit the spot. This mountain of spaghetti had a generous amount of cheese and was lightly peppered. I opted for the parmigiano reggiano on top and the mix of the two cheeses was mouthwatering. If I need any future cheese fixes I know exactly where to go. -Daniel

Overall the Eataly experience was satisfying. The only complaints we had are minor and not food related. The tables could have been a bit farther from the products though as it felt like people kept walking by. The chairs could have also been a bit sturdier. Service was excellent and we will probably return again when we're craving Eatalian. -Daniel

"One camel latté.. no I didn't mean caramel."

It's not often you get to say "I drank camel milk.", so where's a better place to try it than 'The First and Finest Camel Cafe' in Dubai?  

The Majlis in the Souk Atrium of Dubai Mall

Macadamia and orange peel camel milk chocolates
✭✭✭✩✩
Complimentary with your drinks

How do you milk a camel let alone make chocolate out of that milk? Thank you to whoever first milked one as this was some pretty sweet chocolate (no pun intended). The texture was similar to normal milk chocolate, but once you took a bite it stuck to your teeth. If no one told us it was camel milk chocolate though we wouldn't have noticed. The only complaint was the orange peel chunks were hard and were the only things left in your mouth. 

Daniel and his first Camel Latté - only in the Middle East!
✭✭✭✩✩
20Dhs/ 5$ USD/ ±600 yen

"Want to try camel milk?". When Mari asked I was iffy as she previously had a bad first experience. Once I tasted the latte though I was confused as it didn't taste bad at all. The taste is hard to explain (Mari would describe it as a liquified loaf of bread) and has to be tried. It's definitely something to try though because how many people can say they've tried camel milk? The overall experience was pretty fun, and camel milk chocolate from The Majlis is a great souvenir for all your friends back home.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Wafi Gourmet at Dubai Mall

If you weren't aware, Daniel and I are currently spending our Spring Break in Dubai! This morning I woke up with a strong craving for hummus (and I mean the lust kind of craving) so we headed to Wafi Gourmet in Dubai Mall for lunch. I personally love the entrance of Wafi Gourmet, it has a Arabic style market feel to it. All the nuts, meats and vegetables are laid out as if we had visited the Souq instead. This is what we ended up chowing down on:

The Salad Mix including Hummus, Tabbouleh, Baba Ghanoush, and Dolma
✭✭✭✩✩
70Dhs/ 19 USD/ ± 2000 yen

The Salad Mix came out first and we were glad that we only ordered one even though the waiter said it wouldn't be enough for both of us. The proportions were giant compared to the ones in Japan. We dug in with the freshly baked (and still puffy) pita bread. The hummus was a little too oily and neither of us were too fond of dolma (stuffed vine leaves), so the baba ghanoush (mashed eggplant) was both of our favorites. The pomegranate seeds on the baba ghanoush accented the overall taste perfectly.

The Gourmet Grill including Arayes, Lamb dices, Shesh Tawouq, Kofta and a Lamb Chop.
✭✭✩✩✩
90Dhs/ 24 USD/ ±2500 yen

 The Arayes (meat stuffed pita) was delicious and the lamb chop wasn't bad. The rest of the meat, especially the lamb dices, on the other hand had a pungent taste and was chewy and hard to swallow. If anything the garlic butter and pita bread helped us eat the rest of the platter.

Doing what I do best.

The location of the restaurant is great. It's by the famous water fountain and has a great view of the Burj Khalifa if you sit outside (You might even get lucky and catch one of the water shows). The service wasn't as great as the view though. The waiters sat us down and handed us menus, but then they forget about us until we flagged one down.  If you go to Wafi Gourmet in the future, tell the Filipino waiter named Junji hello! He was friendly and willing to service us better when we made small talk with him. (We asked him if he was Japanese because of his name but he kept replying "No, Filipino. Filipino.")