Something for the Weekend #12
In this issue... 10 years in Dubai! A Caribbean cookbook you must buy. Dubai's best French fries? JLT's still got it. April was a mixed month for eating out. Malbec. I wrote about Dhabas and Al Naqa.
As April comes to a close and the swelter of May descends, it always reminds me of moving to Dubai. Although we lived here briefly in 2011, we returned to Dubai for a “look and see” in early April 2015. I planned our move around “May the Fourth be with you” so I would never forget the date.
After living in Exeter, Cardiff and almost every corner of South and East London, my restless feet wanted out of the UK after 14 years. I would never return to Trinidad; the UK had run its course.
Like many who move here, we told ourselves we would “give it a year”. One year became two, two became indefinite.
There were many opportunities to leave. Amsterdam became very attractive a few times, but Dubai remained home. Since COVID, Italy is a spectre on the horizon that draws closer. We will spend large parts of this summer overseeing renovations.
Candidly, I could not have picked a better place to live for the last ten years from a safety, career, friendships, and awesomeness perspective. The UAE has given us so much.
Here’s to maybe another 10 🥂 🇦🇪
Eat.
Girl and The Goose, Business Bay. We surprised Chef Gabriela Chamorro (who, frankly, I know as “Gigi”). It’s a warm, approachable space that’s heartfelt in the details. It’s too soon to comment on highlights and lowlights as I visited within 2-3 weeks of opening. Would I Return? Wild horses couldn’t drag me away.
Ariana’s Persian Kitchen, Atlantis the Royal. A work night out where someone else (very capably) ordered everything. The food is modernised, proper and tidy, like a young child washed, combed and presented to its grandmother. Highlights: croquette-like tahchin bites, stuffed with chicken, stained a vivid saffron yellow. A Shirazi sangria spiked with sumac. The company of others. Lowlights: feral children screaming at 11 pm because actual parenting is out of style. Was it Ariana’s Persian Kindergarten? Would I return? I would follow a group—or drop my son off.
Oriental Fusion, Jumeirah Lakes Towers. A catch-up with “Pitfire Michelle”, where we overordered despite ample staff warnings. Despite visits and expeditions to Mamak over the years, I know little about Malaysian food. Michelle, who lived there for many years, confirmed some dishes were the real deal. Highlights: fabulous price point, Oriental Hor Fun, beef stir fry with spring onion and ginger and the kampang fried rice piled with ikan bilis (dried anchovies). Lowlights: Some dishes start to taste the same after a while. Would I return? Yes, it’s in the running for JLT’s Best Restaurants List.
Five Guys, Nakheel Mall. Meeting a former colleague to hear about her new job. She doubted I eat at Five Guys. Here’s my usual: a little hamburger with grilled onions, pickles, barbecue sauce and jalapeños in a lettuce wrap, because I save my bread calories for the skin on fries. Five Guys is in the conversation for the best French fries in Dubai, unless you order the Cajun Fries, which taste like roughly-milled sawdust.
Who makes Dubai’s best fries?
Mythos, Jumeirah Lakes Towers. A Greek OG restaurant, full to the rafters on a Wednesday night. It is one of Dubai's best and one of JLT’s best restaurants. Highlights: Mythos epitomises neighbourhood charm, perfect for first dates or any date night, or in my case, a work dinner. Lowlights: I chose poorly. The Imam Bayildi tasted lacklustre, like it languished on the pass while others enjoyed the homestyle pork belly, which I spied enviously. Would I Return? This rare break in form does not deter me from returning.
Amritsr, Jumeirah Lakes Towers. A (long-overdue) team lunch of semolina pani puri and papadi chaat, rounds of pav bhaji, and a platter of mixed pakoras. There were sheets of garlic naan, pools of ochre butter chicken, chicken tikka and tikka masala chased down with lime soda, salty of course. Highlights: most of it. Lowlights: I wish we had the chole bhattura over the butter chicken. Would I Return? Yes, it’s also in the running for JLT’s Best Restaurants List.
Anywhere worth visiting these days?
Reading.
I bought Caribe, a cookbook that explores the Caribbean through essays, recipes and the personal journey of the author . I felt a real connection in her pages as I searched through her recipes from Trinidad, Jamaica and beyond. I blackened tomatoes over the fire to recreate her tomato chokka, a dish evocative of my childhood. I read the pages about Trinidad to my son, who, unbeknownst to him, is half ‘Trini’. It opened a conversation with myself about what that really means, especially when I’m not sure what that means for me anymore. I feel so estranged from it.
Writing.
It was almost unthinkable one month ago, but I managed to put out two slowly written posts. Al Naqa is one of the most-read articles I’ve published on Substack.
Wine.
It’s been a relatively light wine month, but this Casarena Lauren’s Single Vineyard Agrelo Malbec 2020 stood out. Deep ruby with purple hues, a nose of dark fruit, tobacco and oak and the palate is juicy with blackberries, plum, chocolate and a little under ripeness in the dark fruit that I enjoyed—135 dhs in Windmill.
Food for thought.
A Guardian article about the Michelin Guide, and needless to say, I concur with a lot of it. My write-up about Al Naqa earlier this week reaffirms the blind spots in the Dubai Michelin Guide, which…
…will announce its new 2025 Guide on 22 May.
- hit 7k this month—she’s the most consistent and prolific Substacker I know.
- redraws Michelin’s map.
- reminds us that not all chocolate is equal, in fact, some of it is a very bad choice to make.
- ’s post about redundancy reminded me of my long stretch of unemployment during the 2008 credit crunch.
- ’s fascinating read about Easter in Sevilla.
Liam is a restaurant critic and food/travel writer based in the Middle East. He owns EatGoSee and contributes to other publications. You can follow Liam on Substack, Instagram, Threads and Bluesky.
Thanks for the mention Liam!
Thank you for the mention. On a selfish/personal note, Eric and I are delighted you and Nai have chosen Dubai as home! Do I spy some tiny R hands on the Caribe cookbook? We love a grabby hand.