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Outshone by the bigger malls in Dubai, Al Ghurair Centre was never known to me until one instance when Mark badly needed to pee and the restroom in the mall was the closest remedy. We got into the part of the mall where it's a bit dark and uninviting, so the mall didn't really appeal to me.
Apparently, Al Ghurair Centre has taken on a new persona with its tagline ‘Soul of the City' and has undergone renovations to become at par with the fast-developing Dubai. They've expanded physically and added new fashion brands and conducted events to cater to families in Dubai--locals, tourists, and expats alike.
One of which is Al Ghurair Centre's Dub Fest 2015, which I got invited to last Friday to mark the start of the fest.
The bloggers meet was held at Paul, Al Ghurair Centre, where we were served with a delectable array of cocktail food, juices, and coffee. I tagged Mark along and we both had great day. :)
Mark and I do not really go out on "romantic" dates. You know, all the dressing up, dinner by candle light, slow soothing background music, and a romantic setting, it's just not our thing. Although I, I mean the hopeless romantic in me, must admit that from time to time I'd picture ourselves in that setting too. Ehem! Ehem!
It was also only once that I decided to arrange a "romantic" dinner for us via a dinner cruise along Manila Bay when Mark and I were still back home, but it was postponed once until it was finally put to a halt and never materialized because of the bad weather. You can read the story about it here and here. :) And since then, I decided to just let go of the idea and just stick with our usual dates. But I'm still not closing my doors. Hi Mark! Hahaha! :p
So imagine my delight when I got an invite from Radisson Blu Hotel, Dubai Deira Creek, for a dinner cruise on board their Al Mansour Dhow. And of course, the hopeless romantic in me suddenly awakened and got more excited too!
So there, last Friday, Mark and I finally experienced a dinner cruise that we never got to have back then. Seeing the Al Mansour Dhow as we were nearing the Dubai Creek already got me all giddy, more so when we mounted the vessel.
Just like in every fast-growing nations, life in Dubai also seems to be fast-paced. Living here for more than half a year now, I observed that most of the people, locals and expats alike, tend to be too preoccupied with work that they almost forget to unwind, spend quality time with their families, and "live life".
And I think it's a great idea for The Westin Dubai to try to get people back to "living life" with its Saturday "Pik-Nik".
The Westin Dubai, Mina Seyahi Beach Resort and Marina, announced its new Saturday "Pik-Nik", which launched last Saturday, March 7, 2015. Mark and I were lucky to be part of the launch along with other families. Seeing the place immediately made me feel as if we were transported to a different site, far from the hustle and bustle of the city life.
- Final line-up of restaurants and celebrity chefs confirmed including ‘Retro Feasts’ mastermind Luke Thomas
- Tickets still available for the long-awaited al fresco food, drink, and music festival from www.tasteofdubaifestival.com
The much-awaited Taste of Dubai is all set to sizzle from tomorrow, Thursday (12 March), with the annual three-day extravaganza of food, music, attractions, and celebrity personalities ready to ignite a memorable weekend for the whole family.
Now in its 8th year, Taste of Dubai is a food lovers' fantasy, packed with exclusive new restaurants, world class chefs, cooking classes, world class entertainment, and tantalizing fresh features. No restaurant lover should miss this tasty event which has already become a firm fixture in the Dubai social calendar!
Bolstering the celebrity chef line-up is fresh-faced Luke Thomas, founder of Retro Feasts – Dubai’s newest foodie hotspot. At the forefront of revolutionising the UK’s culinary scene and dubbed ‘Britain’s youngest head chef’, the 20-year-old promises an eclectic new experience for Dubai diners.
Thomas joins a fiery-hot line-up of international heavy-weights set to wow crowds with live demonstrations and classes including Jean-Christophe Novelli, Atul Kochhar, Tim Anderson, Andy Bates, Jose Pizarro, Dhruv Baker and Bader Al Awadhi.
Guaranteeing food-filled fun for the whole family, the Kids Interactive Zone, organised by Funky Monkeys, will roll out a daily schedule of creative, lively activities. Tiny tots will enjoy children’s mani-pedis, cookie and cupcake-decorating, pizza making and a bouncy castle.
Guests will also enjoy a variety of musical treats from leading Bon Jovi Tribute Band, as well as local favourites Adam Baluch, The Boxtones and DJ Jonny Dub. Female festival-goers will receive two complimentary drinks on Thursday in celebration of Taste of Dubai’s first ever Ladies Evening.
Taste of Dubai will showcase a tantalising array of flavours from Dubai’s cosmopolitan gastro-scene, featuring more than 100 dishes from more new restaurants than ever before.
Confirmed restaurants include: Aseelah, Burj Al Hamam, China Club, Eataly, Gaucho, Joe's, Katsuya, The Noodle House, Patiala, Perry & Blackwelder’s Original Smokehouse, PF Chang's, Royal Orchid, Shang Palace, Sonamu, The Act, The Cheese Cake Factory, The Gramercy, The Scene, Tresind and Vida Food Truck.
Showcasing the best food offerings in the city, Taste of Dubai takes place at Dubai Media City Amphitheatre from Thursday (12 March) to Saturday (14 March). The festival will run from 4pm – 12am on Thursday, 12pm – 12am on Friday and 12pm – 11pm on Saturday.
Advance tickets are available now from www.tasteofdubaifestival.com, starting from as little as AED 75 AED.
Living in Dubai for more than half a year now, I've already come to love the food here. But I must admit that nothing still beats the exquisite dishes that we have back home.
There are a lot of restaurants back home which offer authentic Filipino food, but I guess one of the brands that has redefined the Filipino Cuisine for today's discerning food crowd would be Max's Restaurant.
Good thing Max's Restaurant is also in Dubai! It opened some time in 2011 and has brought to Dubai a selection of world famous Filipino dishes that will satisfy your cravings for Filipino food and will surely resonate in the hearts of local diners too. It's food delivery service is actually one of my life-savers whenever I get lazy to cook. :p
And did I tell you that it's just a 5-minute walk from where I live? Uh huh! So when I got an invite to have it reviewed, I certainly obliged and tagged Mark along. :p We had our fix for Filipino food last Friday at Max's Restaurant.
With the long queue of diners waiting for their seats, the crowd, the ambience, and the vibe, I really felt like I was immediately transported back to the Philippines when we got to the restaurant. I even kept telling Mark that it's as if we're not in Dubai. :D
Seeing the diners and hearing them enjoy as they devour the food on their tables suddenly brought back a lot fond memories. Max's has become one of my family's favorite picks, well Jaoey's especially, whenever we dine out. It has also become a witness to almost every celebrations that we have back home. And it was nostalgic to somehow be "back home" here at Max's.
Mark was the more eager one when he knew that we'd be dining at Max's, so I wasn't surprised when he took charge of the orders without even looking at the menu. :p
He of course ordered his forever favorite Kare-Kare and as always, it was a hit! If he has one comment though, it would be the meat being quite few. I on the other hand, being someone who could cook a variety of dishes (delicious dishes if I may brag :p), have somehow become more meticulous when it comes to food.
Max's Kare-Kare never really appealed to me mainly because I don't like bland-tasting peanut sauce, otherwise, everything would be okay. And it has been the same with every branch that I've been to, including here in Dubai.The peanut taste was there, it wasn't sweet too, but I thought a little saltiness would make it good. I loved that the vegetables were cooked just right and still maintained that crunch, though.
Of course Kare-Kare wouldn't be complete without the alamang (shrimp paste). It usually makes the Kare-Kare a lot delectable. But I guess luck was not on my side that time because even the alamang (shrimp paste) was a let down, well for me. It didn't taste fresh and seems like the oil used wasn't fresh as well.
But then, again, Mark enjoyed eating the Kare-Kare, so who am I to complain? I just had a couple of veggies and gave everything for him to devour. :p
I was supposed to get the Sizzling Tofu, but Mark talked me out from the idea because we just had tokwa't baboy (tofu and pork) plus arroz caldo for our breakfast, so he just ordered Beef Sisig instead.
Looking at the dish, those red and green chili slices were a nice addition as it added a play of color. The dish is definitely an eye candy. But I immediately removed them after I took a photo of the dish. Haha! I'm not a fan of spicy dishes, the pungent taste from spices I can take but I just have a low tolerance when it comes to the heat.
If I remember it right, we have Chicken Sisig in Max's Restaurants in the Philippines, so this one is new to me. Good thing it didn't disappoint. It's not a show-stopper, but at least it's not a let down as well. I love the combination of sweetness from the sauce, which as my palate suggests is seasoned mayo, plus the tangy kick from the lemon juice.
I prefer crunchy sisig over the usual soft ones, so I was glad that the pork rinds were there. Not sure if they were pork rinds really since pork is not allowed in restaurants in the UAE, but I just loved it! The crispy pork rinds plus the chunky onions added texture to the dish and worked well with the tender beef slices.
Max's Spring Chicken™ (Half)
Dining at Max's Restaurant of course wouldn't be complete without having what made them world-famous, their fried chicken.
Max's Spring Chicken™ is our usual order because of it's distinctive characteristic which is the tenderness of its meat, since the chicken is harvested at a young age. My photos may not give justice but this one is definitely a hit, as always! Aside from the tender meat, I love that it wasn't oily at all and the skin was so crispy.
Max's Spring Chicken™ (Half)
Up until now, I just can't distinguish what spices were in but it's definitely what I love and what I grew up with and is definitely what made Max's world famous and a Filipino institution.
Lemon Iced Tea and Strawberry Iced Tea
We also had Iced Tea for our drinks, lemon for Mark and strawberry for me. And for our desserts, we opted for the Dessert Sampler which includes, from left to right, Ube Creme Decadence, Buko Pandan, Leche Flan, and Chocolate Cream Cheese Brownie à la mode.
I've become uninterested with sweets in general when I actually started making cakes and cupcakes as we would always have a piece or two of the left over cupcakes and cake trimmings at home every time I get an order. And I would just usually have cravings for sweets just when it's the time of the month, if you know what I mean. :)
Dessert Sampler
So I wasn't really up for desserts during our lunch. And although the plate was an eye candy, I just had Mark finish it all. If there's one thing in the plate that I liked though, it's the Ube Creme Decadence. I'm not a fan of ube so it really didn't appeal to me at first. Mark also said it was just so-so when he first took a spoonful. So I gave it a try to check and fell in love with my first spoonful. I think I scooped too much that I got to dig into the ube halaya (purple yam) at the center of the cooked cream!
It was so good that it instantly became a favorite! Even Mark who was at first turned down just couldn't stop digging in. The mild sweetness from the cream was just right and brings out the natural sweetness from the ube halaya (purple yam). I also love the play of texture from the smooth cream, chunky ube, and ube cake crumbs.
Ube Creme Decadence
Over-all dining experience was good. Although there were a few misses in the food, well at least for the ones we got, service was commendable. Joy, the staff who was assigned to us, was very attentive and always checked on us and made sure that we are having a great time. The restaurant manager, Marinel Lacida, was also very hands-on. And I must say that it's not just because they knew that I'll be doing a review because every staff in the restaurant is also doing the same for the rest of the diners. I guess it's the Filipino hospitality which is very evident from the staff that sets Max's apart from all other restaurants in Dubai.
So if you want to know what made this restaurant world-famous or if you just simply need a quick fix for your Filipino food cravings, do drop by and try it out at Max's Restaurant!
MAX'S RESTAURANT, Dubai
Spinneys Bldg, Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Road (Trade Centre Road)
Dubai, United Arab Emirates +971 04 325 7797 www.maxschicken.com Nearest Metro Station: Burjuman (Red Line)
We were guests at Max's Restaurant and our meal was complimentary, but as always, this post is sincerely written and all views and opinions are my own.
sweetnothings.kriskamarie
kriskamarie
kriskamarie
Dubai Personal Trainer
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