Carrefour Marina Mall - 10am opening on Saturday, Ramadan opening hours

What time does Carrefour at Marina Mall, Abu Dhabi, open during Ramadan?

The website claims ... 9:00am on Saturday mornings. I went at 08:55am .. waited. Guard told me, "9:30am". I asked "Are you sure ...", went for a drive and came back half an hour later.

Next guard told me ... "10:00am!". DOH!!! I decided to leave and came back later in the afternoon :-( This ARE the Ramadan opening hours ... Sigh!

Umi Fusion - Al Wahda Mall, never again!

A poor eating-experience and one we hope to forget about soon, one weekend lunchtime at the new extension of Abu Dhabi's Al Wahda Mall...

Fusion? Seems Umi Fusion has an outlet at Jumeirah Beach Residence, Dubai ... I hope that it is purely-Japanese in that outlet, as the meaning of fusion here is genuinely confused! Fusion in Umi Fusion-speak means Mediterranean, Chinese, Japanese and other dishes. It is NOT a fusion of different dishes on one plate - Just a mixed up menu.

Child-friendly? Not at all - One high-chair in the entire restaurant, and when asked for a "child-friendly cup", we got a plastic cup (The disposable type) with a sharp-lip that cut my daughter's lips. Outrageous!

I chose the Paella - I am not sure what mediterranean flavours and colour-profile was agreed upon by the Executive Chef and owners, but it certainly turned-out un-Paella like. Funny enough, it was probably the best of the 4 dishes our lunch-party chose (v the Chicken Rice, v the Hor-fun or Kuay Teow, and definitely v T's mackerel which was promptly returned to the kitchen!).

I am not sure what inspired us to order the Chicken Rice, but we did ... Chili was overly-spicy and without flavour, the chicken was dry ... and the rice? Plain ol' plain ol'!

 

Prices? Japanese Edamame (18 AED), two Japanese Kappa Maki Roll (aka Sushi - 29 AED each), my Mediterranean Seafood with Chicken Paella (69 AED), Japanese Saba Shioyaki (Wait a moment - Isn't that the Mackerel which T sent back!!! 79 AED), and a large bottle of local water at 12 AED. Looks like we got the Chicken Rice and Oyster-sauce-heavy-Hor fun "free".

On a positive side ... They accept The Entertainer. This meal for 4 (4 adults + 4 children) came up to 236 AED, and note that this was WITH the Entertainer vouchers and T had sent back his mackerel!

As Edgar Allan Poe described in The Raven, "Nevermore..."

Costa for breakfast - Al Wahda Mall

We like Costa ... we like Al Wahda Mall ... we really like the GIGANTIC "soup-like" portion of Cappucino at Costa, for not many a dirham :-)

Our favourite? The Turkey and Ham twist ... but look what was brought to us, a Turkey Ham and Cheese toastie :-( Seems it wasn't the first time we experienced this, I guess I gotta either "point" next time, or speak slower ... or perhaps ... It was the staff!

Any how ... the toastie was actually delicious, and we got a Twist later any way (We did pay for it!). A self-reminder for the next time we visit Costa at Al Wahda Mall!!

Shake Shack - Now open in Dalma Mall, Abu Dhabi

Located: Ground floor, Dalma Mall - Mussafah, Abu Dhabi

Tel: +971 26120750

Opening hours: 12pm - 12am daily

Thanks to KCL for pointing out Shake Shack's website, which publishes their simple but elegant menu...

 

Here in the UAE, it is operated along with their partner M.H. Alshaya Co - Seems this unit at Dalma Mall is their 5th one, with the first 4 being in Dubai I believe. On this occassion, I was the first to arrive, it opened at exactly NOON, and the staff were really friendly :-)

After asking for the signature Shack Burger, I had a single patty burger (If you don't ask them specifically, they prepare each burger "medium" - I may try a "medium rare" next time) with no drink and no fries. Gulp ... 25 AED or RM$20 for this. Hmmm, wonder how big it is! Wonder how good it would be?

I did wonder why they issued me with a JTech Wireless Paging system (Not dissimilar to the one they issue at our local Evangelical Community Church), then I realised they cooked each burger fresh (I did not see any burgers "queueing" at the service counter) and it took about 10-20 minutes ....

BUZZZZZZ!!!... Yay .....

It was well worth the wait, and I enjoyed every single bite - Succulent patty, perfectly cooked, delicious cheese and veges, and a wonderful and delicate bun. It was small, but soooo good ;-)

Merry Christmas from Dubai!

Mum and dad were visiting us from Malaysia ... so we took them to Dubai for the weekend :-)

We had a nice brunch at Dubai Mall's Social House - It was decorated very nicely in a yuletide fashion, and there was even a christmas menu :-)

We then took some free snappies outside Dubai Aquarium which is the flagship of Dubai Mall :-) Wonder if the Eagle Ray (Or mini Manta?) and sharks knew it was Christmas week!

We then went to Mall of Emirates - An interesting chair exhibition, contributed by local artists :-)

Tiffany and Co occupied the centre atrium with what I thought was a bit un-Tiffany like, with a "stall" ... Heh heh! Anyway, the tree was pretty and best of all was the Tiffany wreath!

 Tiffany blue :-)

 

More christmas festivities at MOE - Mall of Emirates ;-) Not the Ministry of Education!

Ski Dubai ... where it snows all year round :-)

Anyway .... Merry Christmas and lots of love and blessings from Abu Dhabi to those near and far. See you all in 2013!

IKEA - Yas Island, F1 weekend 2012

There have been so many visitors this past week in Abu Dhabi - Nice to see all the Formula 1 afficionados here in the desert, to catch the big race at the Yas Marina Circuit on Yas Island. We braved the traffic (It wasn't bad at all) to head to Yas over the weekend - Here's our Friday lunch, in IKEA - located adjacent to Ferrari World (Home of the world's fastest roller coaster - You can see the track in the photo!).

Our IKEA breakfast, funny how it used to (A year and a half ago) only cost 4 AED or RM$3 ... Its now 7 AED, still good value!

bbG chose the Thyme and Mushroom omellete, part of the organic offering from IKEA, which cost about 10 AED but came with an unlimited/refillable cup of coffee :-)

 

As IKEA is quite a long drive from where we live, nearly 40 minutes drive in fact, we often have breakfast there and shop ... and stay till lunch time! Here's my Chicken and Chips ... alas, on this occassion, the roast chicken was quite dry. When IKEA serves their Arabic-style chicken, such as Mandi, it is often much better - Moist and tasty!

bbG always chooses IKEA's baked fish, which comes with an unlimited-refill soft drink, less then RM$20 for the meal :-)

We got V and J the vegetarian fried rice, I think this was about 11 AED or RM$8, which was decent too!

Waitrose opens in Abu Dhabi - Reem Island

Good news ... Waitrose is now opened in Abu Dhabi!

Its located at Sun and Sky Tower, in the still-developing Reem Island.

 

Torino tomatoes from France, I presume these are air-flown ... check out the prices, nearly RM$55 per kg! You can get Malaysian tomatoes alongside too - Only RM$4 per kg :-)

More shots from our first visit to Waitrose, which opened on 5th July 2012 ...

And ... my favourite "button" in Abu Dhabi!

The posh entrance to the ... Pork Shop!

Dubai Mall - Lego, Aquarium and TWG

We were at Dubai Mall over the weekend, and look what I spotted at On The Top, a Lego Architecture set! Didn't realise that Lego had launched this series ... Nice!

What does 10 million litres of water look like? Have you ever seen a whale-shark IN a mall!? Look no further ... it is the Dubai Aquarium in the Dubai Mall.

Cool facts from dubaifaqs.com ... Tank dimension 51 x 20 x 11 meters, Perspex acrylic viewing panel size of 32.8m width x 8.3m height, over 30,000 aquatic animals (unless the big fish get hungry) including 400 sharks and rays with over 85 different species of fish and other sea creatures, the thickness of aquarium acrylic is 75 cm (Wow!), and the water temperature is kept at a constant 24 Celsius.

We were lucky enough to see a diver in full action, whilst viewing from the free vantage point outside. For the pleasure of entering, it would cost an adult ...  25 AED (Tunnel), 50 AED (Tunnel and Zoo), 75 AED (Glass-bottom boat), or 625 or 825 AED to swim with the sharks.

Oooh ... Nice tea-house!

Cafe: 1837 TWG Tea

Tel: +971 4 325 3857
Described in Dubai Mall's website ... TWG Tea, the finest luxury tea brand in the world, welcomes you to its Tea Salon. TWG Tea has created a distinguished tea-infused gastronomy using the world’s greatest single harvests and exclusive tea blends. Step into an oasis for the senses, tantalise your palate with a unique cuisine and indulge in handmade patisseries, all prepared fresh daily. 

We also spotted a quaint wooden figurine shop on one of the top floors ... Bartolucci of Italy.

Shoe Addicts Welcome - Scarpe, Dubai Mall

For those who love shoes ....

Scarpe, The Shoe District - Due to open in Dubai Mall in August 2012.

Dome Cafe - Ibn Battuta, Dubai

On our first visit to Ibn Battuta mall, just down the road from Jebel Ali in Dubai. Funny ... I always remembered the coffee to be more memorable, the iced cappucino I had was simply mediocre. But ... the Garlic chicken with Rice was diabolically bad. Dry, tasteless, worse then airline food!


Redeeming dishes ... Don't know what RF's dish on the left was, but my Thai Green Curry was better. Not perfect, but better! Worse of all ... meal wasn't cheap too. 160 AED for the 3 of us, sorry for the crap meal RF!

Ibn Battuta Mall - Our first visit, Dubai

Located: Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai, close to Interchange 6 for Jebel Ali Village. Builder/Owner: Nakheel Properties group, 2005
GPS (Wikipedia): 25°02′40″N , 55°07′14″E


The mall is named after Berber Moroccan famous traveller and explorer Ibn Battuta. It is split into six main courts - China, India, Persia, Egypt, Tunisia and Andalusia.


Another galleon ... what big displays!


Ibn Battuta Mall boasts the only IMAX theatre in the country and also offers a 21-screen Cinema Megaplex, located in the China Court.