Akel: Food

In my efforts not to be a tourist, I haven't taken pictures of every meal I've eaten. However, I have been making mental notes of the foods I enjoy, maybe next time I'll remember to take pictures! So far, I've spent 50% of my budget on food! I've had a few authentic meals and even have access to American cuisine; even IKEA has a dinner meal! Surprisingly, the mall has excellent food averaging around 8USD, however, I'm sold on the local "Wal-mart" Lulu's and Carrefour which have inexpensive meals.



This meal is called Biryani Mutton. It's actually an Indian dish which was sold at the Lulu's. 

For $4.75, I got a pint of the lamb and sauce and a quart of rice. I prefer the slow cooked

lamb as it is falls off the bone. Additionally, the sauce is quite spicy, but I like it!

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My first Arabic Meal...

Anita and I initially intended to go to a club called Rush which was located in the hotel. However, we were sidetracked by two other LTs who were at the Indian Resturant. (SN: There are 7 resturants located in the hotel!) We bombarded their table towards the end of their meal and although the waiter and waitress offered a menu, we declined. However, we did eat the dessert candies that were brought over with the bill. There were three candies all with familar flavors but different in presentation. Licorice (red/orange), sunflower seeds and rootbeer. We were more so intrigued by the rootbeer candy because it was covered in seasame seeds and was the sweetest of the flavors.



A hard candy with a familar root beer taste. Covered in seasames to

 keep them from sticking together as they cool.

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Our hopes of enjoying the Abu Dhabi night scene were quickly shot down when we strolled into Rush an hour after our expected arrival time. In the back of our mind were weren't disapppointed because we knew it was Ramadan. So the club scene we expected was non existent due to the no-drinking, no-dancing law. We decided to go back downstairs to the resturant that stayed open the longest, 2:00 am. Understand that during Ramadan, a lot of businesses are closed during the day and open after Iftar, when the sun goes down, and stay open until the early morning. It's something to get use to.

This is an Arabic salad called: Fatoush. Let's just say, it is an acquired test! There are peppermint leaves which
give this salad a very poignant flavor! The salad dressing is rather sour; I would have prefered a Raspberry Vinegirate.
I'll definitely pass on this! But, if I am presented with it again, I'll just eat the tomatoes and cucumbers!

Hilabi; grilled ground lamb (mutton) with shredded bell peppers and tomato cubes.

It comes with a piece of bread (tortilla) and yogurt sauce.

I ate half for dinner and half for lunch the next day.

Dh85.00 = $23.60 

I made the mistake of ordering Mango juice, Dh25 = $6.94 for 8 oz!
The next day I went to the Lulu's and got a litter for Dh3
Notice the 30% discount JUST because I am a TEACHER!!

SN: I'll talk about dirhams in a coming post, but the waiter didn't return all of my money!! He shorted me Dh2. I just kindly made him aware of the mistake and he quickly retrieved the money. Apparently, they do this ALL the time!