After a relatively quiet July, the UAE's dining scene is firing up again this month with big-name launches in the pipeline, including venues led by celebrity chefs.
Here are eight to check out in Dubai.
Duo Gastrobar
Cuisine: Modern European
The brainchild of Russian chef Dmitry Blinov and restaurateur Renat Malikov, Duo Gastrobar opened in Dubai Hills this month with a focus on creative flavour profiles that slot right in with what Blinov describes as a "flourishing culinary industry in the region".
On the menu are combinations such as broccoli pate with pine nuts; yellowtail with black truffle and horseradish; oxtail pie with taleggio; and young cabbage with black truffle.
Monday to Friday, noon-11pm; Saturday and Sunday, noon-midnight; Building 4, Dubai Hills Business Park; 04 451 5740
Atrangi by Ritu Dalmia
Cuisine: Indian
The Indian restaurant at Jumeirah Al Qasr is Ritu Dalmia’s latest endeavour. The prolific chef, who usually specialises in Italian cooking and runs Delhi’s Diva restaurant, aims to provide a distinctive twist on Indian cuisine while tapping into the country’s diverse roots.
Customers can expect dishes such as chole bhature, duck galawati and kappa meen curry. Fans of Indian cuisine can look forward to cooking celebrating simplicity.
As Dalmia tells The National: “What's interesting about Indian cooking is the amount of spices available to us, but the real challenge is to use them intelligently. I don't want to prove how clever I am by using 50 different spices, but rather I want to use one spice that will stand out, and make people really taste what they are eating.”
Opens August 16; Jumeirah Al Qasr, Dubai; 800 6234628
Hoe Lee Kow
Cuisine: Korean
Michelin-lauded chef Reif Othman, who is best known for his Japanese Kushiyaki cooking, has ventured into the Korean barbecue business with Hoe Lee Kow, which is open at Dubai Hills Business Park.
On the menu are “unconventional” dishes including grilled ori gogi, ramyun soup, sweet potato brulee and plenty of sharing-style banchan dishes with rice.
The restaurant lists its dress code as smart-casual and says it “reserves the right to deny entry to anyone wearing flip-flops, beachwear and gymwear after 6pm”, while children under 10 are not allowed after 8pm.
Open Tuesday to Thursday, 6pm-11pm; Friday, 6pm-midnight; Saturday, noon-midnight; Sunday, noon-11pm; Monday, closed; Building 4, Dubai Hills Business Park; 04 255 5142
Din Tai Fung
Cuisine: Chinese
The beloved Taiwanese brand will open its first licensed restaurant in the UAE this month, on Bluewaters Island, Dubai.
While the xiao long bao, tangy wontons, egg fried rice and dan dan noodles are time-tested favourites, we also love the mutton pot stickers, prawn pancakes and bean curd puffs.
Open Monday to Thursday, 11am to midnight; and Friday to Sunday, 11am-2am; The Wharf, Bluewaters Island, Dubai; 04 288 7786
Osh Del Mar
Cuisine: Uzbek, Central Asian
Open-fire cooking with a focus on seafood is the USP of this restaurant at Address Beach Resort, which serves dishes from Uzbekistan and Central Asia.
Variations of these – both seafood and meat – will be prepared using three types of charcoal grills (Josper, robata and spit), plus natural wood smoke.
Daily, 5pm-1am; Address Beach Resort, Dubai; 050 914 4215
Homer Lobster
Cuisine: American
The popular Paris restaurant opened its first Middle East outlet in the Dubai International Financial Centre on Wednesday.
Founded by Moise Sfez, who was inspired by a lobster roll he had in New York, the dining spot has since grown to have multiple branches in France after the original Paris restaurant became a favourite among tourists and residents.
Aside from the lobster rolls, other sandwiches on the menu include tuna mel and salmon pastrami, served alongside the restaurant's own coleslaw.
Open daily, 10am-10pm; Precinct Building 5, the DIFC
Hangry Joe's Hot Chicken and Wings
Cuisine: American
Another new franchise is Hangry Joe's Hot Chicken and Wings, a popular chain from the US.
The Dubai outpost is in City Walk, and serves the chain's Nashville-style chicken with a Korean twist. On the menu are chicken sando, chicken fingers, chicken and waffles, fries and flavoured wings. Diners can adjust the heat level of their orders, from no seasoning to angry hot.
The restaurant also serves milkshakes, boba teas and acai bowls.
Monday to Thursday, noon-1am; Friday to Sunday, noon-2am; City Walk, Al Wasl; 055 209 8769
Babel
Cuisine: Lebanese
The Lebanese fine-dining restaurant now has a 9,500-square-foot location at Dubai Mall's Fashion Avenue, including a terrace overlooking the Dubai Fountain.
With a flagship restaurant in Dbayeh, Lebanon, Babel is named after the ancient city on the banks of the Euphrates.
On the menu are Levantine classics, such as smokey caviar hummus, kibbeh nayeh, falafel truffle, smoked short ribs and baklava pistachio.
Open daily, noon-midnight; Dubai Mall; www.babelrestaurant.com
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
UNpaid bills:
Countries with largest unpaid bill for UN budget in 2019
USA – $1.055 billion
Brazil – $143 million
Argentina – $52 million
Mexico – $36 million
Iran – $27 million
Israel – $18 million
Venezuela – $17 million
Korea – $10 million
Countries with largest unpaid bill for UN peacekeeping operations in 2019
USA – $2.38 billion
Brazil – $287 million
Spain – $110 million
France – $103 million
Ukraine – $100 million
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
One in nine do not have enough to eat
Created in 1961, the World Food Programme is pledged to fight hunger worldwide as well as providing emergency food assistance in a crisis.
One of the organisation’s goals is the Zero Hunger Pledge, adopted by the international community in 2015 as one of the 17 Sustainable Goals for Sustainable Development, to end world hunger by 2030.
The WFP, a branch of the United Nations, is funded by voluntary donations from governments, businesses and private donations.
Almost two thirds of its operations currently take place in conflict zones, where it is calculated that people are more than three times likely to suffer from malnutrition than in peaceful countries.
It is currently estimated that one in nine people globally do not have enough to eat.
On any one day, the WFP estimates that it has 5,000 lorries, 20 ships and 70 aircraft on the move.
Outside emergencies, the WFP provides school meals to up to 25 million children in 63 countries, while working with communities to improve nutrition. Where possible, it buys supplies from developing countries to cut down transport cost and boost local economies.
WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
WandaVision
Starring: Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany
Directed by: Matt Shakman
Rating: Four stars
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
BEACH SOCCER WORLD CUP
Group A
Paraguay
Japan
Switzerland
USA
Group B
Uruguay
Mexico
Italy
Tahiti
Group C
Belarus
UAE
Senegal
Russia
Group D
Brazil
Oman
Portugal
Nigeria
How England have scored their set-piece goals in Russia
Three Penalties
v Panama, Group Stage (Harry Kane)
v Panama, Group Stage (Kane)
v Colombia, Last 16 (Kane)
Four Corners
v Tunisia, Group Stage (Kane, via John Stones header, from Ashley Young corner)
v Tunisia, Group Stage (Kane, via Harry Maguire header, from Kieran Trippier corner)
v Panama, Group Stage (Stones, header, from Trippier corner)
v Sweden, Quarter-Final (Maguire, header, from Young corner)
One Free-Kick
v Panama, Group Stage (Stones, via Jordan Henderson, Kane header, and Raheem Sterling, from Tripper free-kick)
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
more from Janine di Giovanni
More on animal trafficking
Ways to control drones
Countries have been coming up with ways to restrict and monitor the use of non-commercial drones to keep them from trespassing on controlled areas such as airports.
"Drones vary in size and some can be as big as a small city car - so imagine the impact of one hitting an airplane. It's a huge risk, especially when commercial airliners are not designed to make or take sudden evasive manoeuvres like drones can" says Saj Ahmed, chief analyst at London-based StrategicAero Research.
New measures have now been taken to monitor drone activity, Geo-fencing technology is one.
It's a method designed to prevent drones from drifting into banned areas. The technology uses GPS location signals to stop its machines flying close to airports and other restricted zones.
The European commission has recently announced a blueprint to make drone use in low-level airspace safe, secure and environmentally friendly. This process is called “U-Space” – it covers altitudes of up to 150 metres. It is also noteworthy that that UK Civil Aviation Authority recommends drones to be flown at no higher than 400ft. “U-Space” technology will be governed by a system similar to air traffic control management, which will be automated using tools like geo-fencing.
The UAE has drawn serious measures to ensure users register their devices under strict new laws. Authorities have urged that users must obtain approval in advance before flying the drones, non registered drone use in Dubai will result in a fine of up to twenty thousand dirhams under a new resolution approved by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai.
Mr Ahmad suggest that "Hefty fines running into hundreds of thousands of dollars need to compensate for the cost of airport disruption and flight diversions to lengthy jail spells, confiscation of travel rights and use of drones for a lengthy period" must be enforced in order to reduce airport intrusion.
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
