UAE Highlights

 

I'm trying to think if there's any other country that I've visited more than the United Arab Emirates. I've mentioned many times in the blog that I have reasons for visiting places that have a lot of western stuff. I have, and currently live in countries that are a little off the beaten path. In fact, I've lived in at least two countries that have never had a McDonalds. Depending on your opinion of McDonalds, you might think that's a good thing, but what it means is that I've lived in countries that are often short on western comforts. While that gives me a great opportunity to sample what many would consider to be exotic goods, it also makes me miss some of the regular things I can normally get at home.  You might be wondering why I wouldn't just go back home regularly then, that's a simple answer, price and time. It's both expensive and very time consuming to get back home from where I am. Fortunately there are many countries and cities dotted around the world that offer some of the comforts that I'm used to in Canada, and when I have the chance I like to get my fill of comfort food.

United Arab Emirates is probably one of the best countries in the world to get wester comfort foods. I haven't been in a while, but I've found that's become even more true. It used to be a place that had all the regular places, with a few more obscure western restaurants. Now it's chock full of all the regular places, and plenty of very specific and obscure western treats too. Allison and I decided to take advantage of these, while still managing to make regular stops at one of our favourite places, Cheesecake Factory.

One of the stops we managed to make was at Dickey's Barbeque, which was fine. I believe Dickey's is a chain of BBQ restaurants in the US, but I'm not sure if it's made its way to Canada yet. It wasn't the best barbeque either of us had ever had, but filled the gap.

The strange thing about Dickey's is their obsession with their yellow cup. They really seemed keen that I not only get my soda in this yellow cup, but that I take the cup home. I'm presently using it as a cup to hold my paintbrushes, so I guess that's something.

We also managed to stop at 5 guys, which was a first for us. This is a weird one because this is a place that's actually fairly common in Canada, but we just never go. It's not that we have anything against the place, it's just that all of the 5 Guys locations near my house in Canada are in places where I have other restaurants that I love. If we're in those areas, it means we're going to those restaurants, and we never really try anything new.

That might change after this visit as the burgers and fries were pretty good. I also like the idea of getting peanuts before a meal.

We didn't just eat western food on this excursion, we also managed to sample a really famous and very tasty Pakistani restaurant. It was nice to go to a Pakistani restaurant since there really aren't that many around. Having lived in Pakistan for a few years it was some wonderful and familiar flavours.

While the food was great, the real highlight was the fact that they also sold custom Adidas... sort of. Apparently they may or may not be authentic, but I have my suspicions.

While we did eat a lot of foreign foods, we also managed to enjoy a few iftar dinners as well (since it was Ramadan). Iftar dinners are one of my favourite meals since they're often buffets and they also often have foods I've never tried before. The format allows for a great sampling of new and fun foods including amazing desserts.

You also can't go wrong when you start a meal with a delicious date.

The candy scene in the UAE hasn't changed much over the years. Plenty of over the top candy stores, lots of imports, but only a few treats that you could really call local. I can't say that I completely hate the fact that most of the treats in the UAE are imports as it's a great place to take a look at the popular treats from all over the world. It also lets you really see how exotic western treats actually are.

The candy and desserts you could call local are also always presented in a big way, with lots of pageantry. 

I do however admire their very modern candy machines found all over the place. Video screens make for a much flashier and fun place to buy snacks.

CC