Miguel de Cervantes sure was on to something in his 17th-century novel Don Quixote when he quipped: “With bread, all sorrows are less.” An ingredient that’s come to represent food at large (breaking bread; daily bread et al) and labelled “comfort food” in modern times, the humble sandwich has come a long way since John Montagu, the fourth Earl of Sandwich, got his chef to whip up a meal of sliced roast beef between two loaves.
There’s something about combining bread with slivers of meat (or veg or cheese or just good ol’ butter – the customisation options are limitless) that excites and unites in equal measure, as a quick survey of The National’s newsroom proved today, aka World Sandwich Day.
Here are the top picks, ranked by price from highest to lowest, but each one as indulgent as the next.
Wagyu sando, Reif Kushiyaki, Dubai
Price: Dh198
Dubai’s OG Japanese-style sando, by chef Reif Othman, lies on the pricier end of the sandwich scale, but it’s worth every bite. The melt-in-the-mouth Wagyu blends beautifully with the deep-fried bread, with the tonkatsu sauce bringing all the flavours together. Passion on a plate.
Dana Alomar, technology reporter
Salt beef sandwich, Mika, Abu Dhabi
Price: Dh95
It’s not the four thick slices of beef cured for 10 days that make this sandwich one of the country’s best. It’s not the zingy pickles and lashing of mustard mayonnaise that sits on top. Nor is it the squashy homemade brioche bun that it all sits in, which is softer than butter but still sturdy enough to not fall apart at first bite.
Away from the magic chef Mario Loi works, it is also the simply stunning Yas Marina views served alongside that elevate this classic of the genre to anything-but-normal standards. Where better to savour every bite than on a breezy terrace in the sun surrounded by superyachts and a world-class Formula One circuit?
Dean Wilkins, features sub-editor
Shrimp po' boy, Craft by Side Hustle, Abu Dhabi
Price: Dh79
This is a delicious concoction that could be straight out of New Orleans. Served on fluffy home-baked French bread and stuffed full of crusted prawns, lettuce, tomatoes and pickles, it's topped with a creamy Creole hot sauce and served with moreish Cajun seasoned fries – a complete meal on a plate.
Hayley Skirka, travel editor
Spicy tuna sandwich, The Lighthouse, Abu Dhabi and Dubai
Price: Dh58
The Lighthouse gets points for being a calm and welcoming space, which also happens to serve up superb food with an inviting Dh140 business lunch menu. When I am not there for a multi-course feast, the spicy tuna sandwich is my go-to.
A hearty sandwich prepared on warm grilled wholegrain sourdough bread, it is filled with tuna dressed in a spicy mayo, with sliced lettuce and tomatoes. The tuna has a bit of a kick, while the mayo is just creamy enough to cut through the heat.
Farah Andrews, head of features
Spicy club at Rascals Deli, Dubai
Price: Dh55
Honestly, every sandwich on the Rascals Deli menu is worthy of a place on this list, in my opinion, but my MVP has to be the spicy club sandwich. It’s made up of pillowy-soft Hokkaido milk bread and jam-packed with sliced chicken, mild cheddar, tomatoes, gherkins, lettuce, turkey bacon, salt and vinegar crisps, and a spicy lemon chive mayo. Full of crunch and bite, this is the kind of jumbo sandwich that you say to yourself you only need half of before polishing off the entire thing.
Farah Andrews, head of features
Halloumi-pesto sandwich, Paul’s, UAE-wide
Price: Dh52
This sandwich is my go-to order when I’m not in the mood to eat meat. A great vegetarian option, the combination of grilled halloumi, pesto, sun-dried and fresh tomatoes, cucumber, basil and rocca all ensconced in chewy polka bread is herby and delicious, with each bite bringing together the various textures and flavours. Light yet filling, it comes with a side salad but, because the fillings are green enough, I don't feel guilty swapping it out for a portion of fries.
Aarti Jhurani, features sub-editor
Butter chicken and burrata sandwich, Gino’s Deli, Abu Dhabi and Dubai
Price: Dh49
If it’s a sarnie, it has to be this rather unusually flavoured one from Gino’s Deli. The crispiness of fresh ciabatta, the goo of creamy melted cheese and the flavour punch of curry make the perfect fulfilling bite. Best of all, it travels well – I have had it delivered more times than I would care to admit. It’s the perfect warmer in a brutally air-conditioned office.
Taylor Heyman, assistant foreign editor
Turkey and cranberry baguette, Jones the Grocer, Abu Dhabi and Dubai
Price: Dh48
'Tis (almost) the season to eat cranberry – and this one comes in a sandwich, in jam form. Smoked turkey is one of my favourite deli meats, and Jones does it in a crusty (yet not too hard on the teeth) baguette crammed with slivers of meat, fluffy Brie, rocket and slices of Spanish red onions. The hint of nuttiness from the Brie and the plumminess of the cranberry jam is a proper treat. It’s why this is also my go-to aeroplane food, courtesy of the Jones’ outposts at Dubai and Zayed International Airports.
Panna Munyal, lifestyle editor
Brioche chicken sandwich, Four Buns Burgers, Abu Dhabi
Price: Dh48
Getting this sandwich delivered to my home does not in any way detract from its flavours and juiciness, which are the two key attributes of any good sandwich. The texture of the meat, too, is simply perfect and it just melts in the mouth. The restaurant also does a Wagyu version.
Zoya Thomas, digital platforms editor
Spicy tuna sandwich, Joe and the Juice, Abu Dhabi and Dubai
Price: Dh37
The healthy food brand from Copenhagen is primarily known for its juices and protein-infused power shakes. If, from a compact food menu of just six sandwiches, one stands out as my favourite, it’s definitely the spicy tuna. This one is salty, spicy, fresh and tasty – with its power combo of tuna mousse, tomato, vegan pesto, jalapenos and Tabasco. Everything works together to make a great sandwich.
Ahmed S Almansoori, news reporter
Chicken sandwich, Farooj Abou Al Abed, Abu Dhabi
Price: Dh20
Sundays are for staying in, watching a movie and ordering Farooj Abou Al Abed. This sandwich is my idea of the ultimate comfort meal. It’s juicy, saucy and absolutely delicious. I first had it at a friend's house over a chilled dinner, and it's been our favourite weekend tradition ever since.
Fatima Al Mahmoud, social media journalist
It's a wrap
While the list that follows does not comprise traditional sandwiches like the ones above, here are some wraps and burgers that come equally highly recommended.
OB cheeseburger, Orfali Bros, Dubai
Price: Dh91
The restaurant run by three Syrian brothers serves an irresistible burger, worth its Michelin-starred price tag. A perfectly charred yet juicy and thick Wagyu patty is served inside a soft, slightly toasted Hokkaido bun, and comes with raw and cooked onion and a special sauce. Each bite is rich and savoury, offering the perfect balance of flavour. Now, if only I could get my hands on the “OB sauce” recipe.
Nour Ibrahim, graduate trainee
Beef shawarma, Wagyu Station, Abu Dhabi
Price: Dh25
Since moving to the UAE in 2017, I have grown to love the authentic spicy garlicky Middle Eastern shawarma. But occasionally I crave for the Filipino-style wrap I grew up eating, which is a tad sweeter.
This Wagyu shawarma hits that nostalgic mark, with its oyster and soy sauce fillings, complemented by fresh cucumbers and tomatoes. The slightly charred pita bread is thicker than the original too, which makes it more filling. The wrap reminds me of the shawarma at Turks, a popular chain in the Philippines that’s a go-to for university students and young professionals.
One Carlo Diaz, Lifestyle reporter
Cheesy chicken bhuna wrap, Faasos, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah
Price: Dh24
I'm not sure what “bhuna” means exactly, but it must mean “tastes amazing” because this wrap sandwich is everything its long name promises. It's cheesy, it's loaded with chicken and the veggies are there to complement rather than steal the show. I can't identify the spices, but they all do their part in making this sandwich the safest go-to whenever I'm stumped for choice at lunchtime.
Faisal Salah, gaming & social journalist
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
Founders: Ines Mena, Claudia Ribas, Simona Agolini, Nourhan Hassan and Therese Hundt
Date started: January 2017, app launched November 2017
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Private/Retail/Leisure
Number of Employees: 18 employees, including full-time and flexible workers
Funding stage and size: Seed round completed Q4 2019 - $1m raised
Funders: Oman Technology Fund, 500 Startups, Vision Ventures, Seedstars, Mindshift Capital, Delta Partners Ventures, with support from the OQAL Angel Investor Network and UAE Business Angels
Step by step
2070km to run
38 days
273,600 calories consumed
28kg of fruit
40kg of vegetables
45 pairs of running shoes
1 yoga matt
1 oxygen chamber
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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Company profile
Name: Steppi
Founders: Joe Franklin and Milos Savic
Launched: February 2020
Size: 10,000 users by the end of July and a goal of 200,000 users by the end of the year
Employees: Five
Based: Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai
Financing stage: Two seed rounds – the first sourced from angel investors and the founders' personal savings
Second round raised Dh720,000 from silent investors in June this year
more from Janine di Giovanni
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
If you go
The flights
There are direct flights from Dubai to Sofia with FlyDubai (www.flydubai.com) and Wizz Air (www.wizzair.com), from Dh1,164 and Dh822 return including taxes, respectively.
The trip
Plovdiv is 150km from Sofia, with an hourly bus service taking around 2 hours and costing $16 (Dh58). The Rhodopes can be reached from Sofia in between 2-4hours.
The trip was organised by Bulguides (www.bulguides.com), which organises guided trips throughout Bulgaria. Guiding, accommodation, food and transfers from Plovdiv to the mountains and back costs around 170 USD for a four-day, three-night trip.
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
TOURNAMENT INFO
Opening fixtures:
Friday, Oct 5
8pm: Kabul Zwanan v Paktia Panthers
Saturday, Oct 6
4pm: Nangarhar Leopards v Kandahar Knights
8pm: Kabul Zwanan v Balkh Legends
Tickets
Tickets can be bought online at https://www.q-tickets.com/apl/eventlist and at the ticket office at the stadium.
TV info
The tournament will be broadcast live in the UAE on OSN Sports.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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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
More from Neighbourhood Watch
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
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.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
SQUADS
South Africa:
JP Duminy (capt), Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock (wkt), AB de Villiers, Robbie Frylinck, Beuran Hendricks, David Miller, Mangaliso Mosehle (wkt), Dane Paterson, Aaron Phangiso, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Tabraiz Shamsi
Bangladesh
Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Imrul Kayes, Liton Das (wkt), Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim (wkt), Nasir Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Shafiul Islam, Soumya Sarkar, Taskin Ahmed
Fixtures
Oct 26: Bloemfontein
Oct 29: Potchefstroom
Maestro
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India squad for fourth and fifth Tests
Kohli (c), Dhawan, Rahul, Shaw, Pujara, Rahane (vc), Karun, Karthik (wk), Pant (wk), Ashwin, Jadeja, Pandya, Ishant, Shami, Umesh, Bumrah, Thakur, Vihari
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The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
Bombshell
Director: Jay Roach
Stars: Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron, Margot Robbie
Four out of five stars
DUBAI WORLD CUP RACE CARD
6.30pm Meydan Classic Trial US$100,000 (Turf) 1,400m
7.05pm Handicap $135,000 (T) 1,400m
7.40pm UAE 2000 Guineas Group Three $250,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
8.15pm Dubai Sprint Listed Handicap $175,000 (T) 1,200m
8.50pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-2 Group Two $450,000 (D) 1,900m
9.25pm Handicap $135,000 (T) 1,800m
10pm Handicap $135,000 (T) 1,400m
The National selections
6.30pm Well Of Wisdom
7.05pm Summrghand
7.40pm Laser Show
8.15pm Angel Alexander
8.50pm Benbatl
9.25pm Art Du Val
10pm: Beyond Reason
New schools in Dubai
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Key changes
Commission caps
For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:
• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• On the protection component, there is a cap of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated.
• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.
• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.
Disclosure
Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.
“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”
Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.
Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.
“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.
Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.
Other key dates
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Finals draw: December 2
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Finals (including semi-finals and third-placed game): June 5–9, 2019
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Euro 2020 play-off draw: November 22, 2019
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Euro 2020 play-offs: March 26–31, 2020
Oscars in the UAE
The 90th Academy Awards will be aired in the UAE from 3.30am on Monday, March 5 on OSN, with the ceremony starting at 5am
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
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