Liam Collens

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Eat Like a Local in Cairo: The Best Street Food, Cafes and Restaurants As Recommended by Locals

Forget the guides, this is where locals in Cairo really go to eat. Discover Cairo’s best street food and more, from shawerma buns to koshary, with locals revealing their favourite places to eat.
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Newsletters

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Something for the Weekend #15
Hello from monsoon-drenched Thalassery in Northern Kerala where the skies belch rain, the tuktuks are fearless, the food is delightful and the people…
 • 
Liam Collens
5
Something for the Weekend #14
Italy as a tonic for 2025. Lido 84 has still got it. MOOD MUSIC. The Cullinan first impressions. Dinner, revisited. A collection of writings, and a…
 • 
Liam Collens
9
Something For The Weekend #Lucky13
Chef’s Table loses its luster. Reeling from the 2025 Michelin Guide Dubai. Some stonking good Substack reads. I’m off to Veneto!
 • 
Liam Collens
10
Something for the Weekend #12
In this issue: our 10-year anniversary in Dubai! Caribbean food inspires me to cook more. Dubai's best French fries? JLT's still got it. April's eating…
 • 
Liam Collens
8
Something for the Weekend #Elevenses
The reports of my demise are greatly exaggerated.
 • 
Liam Collens
Something for the Weekend #TEN
Reporting from a tomb of paperwork. Send snacks.
 • 
Liam Collens
3
2024's Highlights: Of Eating and Writing In The Year I Never Expected.
2024 tested me in ways I would not expect: as a new father, as a new writer. Here are my fondest moments of 2024.
 • 
Liam Collens
6
Something for the Weekend #9
We are turning our attention to our house in Piemonte, and is our son teething?
 • 
Liam Collens
2

Restaurant Reviews

View all
Eat Like a Local in Cairo: The Best Street Food, Cafes and Restaurants As Recommended by Locals
Forget the guides, this is where locals in Cairo really go to eat. Discover Cairo’s best street food and more, from shawerma buns to koshary, with…
 • 
Liam Collens
9
Sticky Rice, Jumeriah Village Circle, Dubai
I don’t know if this is Dubai’s best Thai restaurant, but I don’t want to find another.
 • 
Liam Collens
6
Corona Reale Trattoria, Moncalvo
A cozy, village restaurant where, after enough local wine, you'll start looking for homes nearby.
 • 
Liam Collens
1
Tiff's Table
A supper club that brings farmers, artisans and the eaters who love them closer together, season by season.
 • 
Liam Collens
5
Ristorante Lido 84, Lake Garda: It's What Dreams Are Made Of [Archives]
There are very few restaurants where I daydream about going back. Lido 84 is one of them. Hell, it may be the only one.
 • 
Liam Collens
8
Al Naqa Lao Kebab House, Neighbourhood Food Hall, Dubai
It’s the Bib Gourmand that Dubai deserves, but may never get.
 • 
Liam Collens
18
Ascending God's Rooftop Pt 3: Giani da Dhaba
No Himachal Pradesh journey would be complete without a dhaba pit-stop--a fulcrum of every day life.
 • 
Liam Collens
9
Reif Japanese Kushiyaki, Dubai Hills: We Deserve This (Archives)
Reif Japanese Kushiyaki Dubai Hills expands Reif Othman’s success, reminding imitators that he’s still the yardstick to beat.
 • 
Liam Collens
3

Travel Reviews

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The Chedi Muscat, Oman: It Was Well Worth The Wait (Archives)
We waited 10+ years to experience The Chedi Muscat. It was worth it. The Chedi Muscat’s tasteful luxury is a benchmark for other Middle Eastern resorts.
 • 
Liam Collens
2
The Greatest Dining Spaces
Of views, history and art, you could come here to eat nothing and leave utterly satisfied. These are some of my most memorable dinings rooms.
 • 
Liam Collens
10
Ascending God's Rooftop, Pt 2: The Journey to Himachal Pradesh, India’s Himalayas
Ascending God's Rooftop is a multi-part series about my recent travels to India, particularly Himachal Pradesh. This time I talk about Kasauli and…
 • 
Liam Collens
1
Ascending God's Rooftop, Pt 1: A Journey to Himachal Pradesh, India’s Himalayas
A multi-part series about travelling to India over the years and, most recently, to Himachal Pradesh.
 • 
Liam Collens
10
The St Regis Abu Dhabi
The St Regis Abu Dhabi's Grand Deluxe Suites overlook sweeping views of Abu Dhabi’s Corniche within moments of the city’s most-loved sights.
 • 
Liam Collens
5
13 Unconventional Travel Destinations to Consider this Eid
There are MANY travel guides recommending the same places, but this guide finds some of the best and unique options out there.
 • 
Liam Collens
2
48 Hours in Copenhagen: Where to Eat, Sleep and Play
The land of Carlsberg, mermaids and Hans Christian Andersen offers more than enough for a weekend getaway.
 • 
Liam Collens
Maldivian-Style Villa Stays at the Anantara Mina Al Arab Ras Al Khaimah
A brand-new weekend waterfront stay in Ras Al Khaimah challenges you to ask: do I need to go to the Maldives?
 • 
Liam Collens

Recent posts

View all
Something for the Weekend #15
Hello from monsoon-drenched Thalassery in Northern Kerala where the skies belch rain, the tuktuks are fearless, the food is delightful and the people…
 • 
Liam Collens
5
Sticky Rice, Jumeriah Village Circle, Dubai
I don’t know if this is Dubai’s best Thai restaurant, but I don’t want to find another.
 • 
Liam Collens
6
Corona Reale Trattoria, Moncalvo
A cozy, village restaurant where, after enough local wine, you'll start looking for homes nearby.
 • 
Liam Collens
1
Something for the Weekend #14
Italy as a tonic for 2025. Lido 84 has still got it. MOOD MUSIC. The Cullinan first impressions. Dinner, revisited. A collection of writings, and a…
 • 
Liam Collens
9
Integrity. You have it or you don't.
The third in a four-part series about honesty, food influencers & food writers. In the end, you're either in it for the right reasons or not. Plus tips…
 • 
Liam Collens
8
Cairo Food Week
Cairo Food Week spotlights Cairo as a culinary destination, gathering the world’s best chefs and hungry travellers to the Nile once again.
 • 
Liam Collens
2
Bread is not a course, so please stop serving it as one.
Bread is only ever a side dish, no matter what you do it.
 • 
Liam Collens
42
Something For The Weekend #Lucky13
Chef’s Table loses its luster. Reeling from the 2025 Michelin Guide Dubai. Some stonking good Substack reads. I’m off to Veneto!
 • 
Liam Collens
10

Featured In

View all
Reif Japanese Kushiyaki, Dubai Hills: We Deserve This (Archives)
Reif Japanese Kushiyaki Dubai Hills expands Reif Othman’s success, reminding imitators that he’s still the yardstick to beat.
 • 
Liam Collens
3
Consorzio, Turin restaurant review: "Fergus Henderson's doppelgänger is an Italian woman."
Consorzio tastes bold and edifying in modern times, making light work of unsexy, overlooked cuts. The squeamish will still eat well, and eat you should.
 • 
Liam Collens
5
The Greatest Dining Spaces
Of views, history and art, you could come here to eat nothing and leave utterly satisfied. These are some of my most memorable dinings rooms.
 • 
Liam Collens
10
Potong, Bangkok Restaurant Review: No One Should Cook Duck This Well
Potong is Chef Pam’s ode to her family and heritage; skilfully cooked, wrapped in class and served with charm. The storyteller all families would want.
 • 
Liam Collens
10
Tasca restores joy in Dubai's brunches
It took the Portuguese, a birthday and a slather of sophistication to Make Brunch Great Again.
 • 
Liam Collens
12
Tresind Studio x Gucci Osteria
Dubai continues to show the world that it's a world-class destination for creative cooking, eye-catching collaborations and a progressive melting pot…
 • 
Liam Collens
1
The St Regis Abu Dhabi
The St Regis Abu Dhabi's Grand Deluxe Suites overlook sweeping views of Abu Dhabi’s Corniche within moments of the city’s most-loved sights.
 • 
Liam Collens
5
Gaggan, Bangkok: restaurant review
Weeks later, I cannot decide how I feel about Gaggan, but that seeded, restless stir is precisely where Chef Gaggan Anand wants me. Welcome to one of…
 • 
Liam Collens
3

Italy

View all
Corona Reale Trattoria, Moncalvo
A cozy, village restaurant where, after enough local wine, you'll start looking for homes nearby.
 • 
Liam Collens
1
Ristorante Lido 84, Lake Garda: It's What Dreams Are Made Of [Archives]
There are very few restaurants where I daydream about going back. Lido 84 is one of them. Hell, it may be the only one.
 • 
Liam Collens
8
Trattoria Losanna, Masio restaurant review: “It is like a homecoming.”
Losanna’s cooking tastes like the recipes lie handwritten in a fifty-year-old notebook strapped together by fraying tape and divine intervention. You…
 • 
Liam Collens
1
Consorzio, Turin restaurant review: "Fergus Henderson's doppelgänger is an Italian woman."
Consorzio tastes bold and edifying in modern times, making light work of unsexy, overlooked cuts. The squeamish will still eat well, and eat you should.
 • 
Liam Collens
5
2024's Highlights: Of Eating and Writing In The Year I Never Expected.
2024 tested me in ways I would not expect: as a new father, as a new writer. Here are my fondest moments of 2024.
 • 
Liam Collens
6
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