I’ve lived away from Lebanon, my home, for three and a half years now. While I’ve settled down and built a life of my own in Abu Dhabi, missing my mama’s food has yet to get easier.
Sure, I am surrounded by Lebanese restaurants everywhere, but eventually, the cravings for mixed grill sandwiches die down. Sometimes all I need is a hearty bowl of home-made chicken and rice, or kafta and batata. That’s why I’m ecstatic to have finally found a spot in the capital that serves exactly these dishes, and so many more.
Born in Bali, Zali made its way to Abu Dhabi this year. The Lebanese restaurant tells the story of my home country’s warmth and love of food. By its nature, Mediterranean cuisine is healthy, but Zali goes above and beyond to offer wholesome, hearty dishes.
Located in Al Bateen, it’s an addition to the area’s versatile dining scene. Its home-cooked meals take me back to the happy years I spent in Beirut.
Where to sit and what to expect
Before my dining companion and I even set foot inside the restaurant, an Arabic phrase printed on the door captures my attention. “Ahla w sahla,” it reads, which means welcome. Saying it out loud transports me to summers spent in Lebanon, when my grandparents would stand at the door of their home, ushering me inside for our ritual Sunday family lunch with these very words.
The ambience inside Zali is no less warm and welcoming. We are greeted warmly by the staff and ushered inside to find a table of our liking. The interior is sleek and rustic, and sunshine pours into the restaurant through ceiling-to-floor windows. Our table of choice is one by those windows, which offers a beautiful view of the marina.
The menu
This is comfort Lebanese food done to a tee. All my favourite home-made dishes are listed, leaving me genuinely confused as to what to get without over-ordering. A typical Lebanese feast begins with hot and cold mezze, so we order spiced meat hummus (Dh53), at the recommendation of our waitress. The hummus is delicious and creamy, topped with minced beef in a spice mix for extra protein. Served with freshly baked saj bread, this dish is the perfect starter.
Next, we order the kafta fatteh (Dh53), a protein-packed twist to traditional chickpeas Lebanese fatteh and, dare I say, an even better version. The tenderness of the warm kafta with the tanginess of the garlic yoghurt and the crispiness of the saj bread makes for a lip-smacking concoction. A light and fresh side salad comes by way of the beet and feta (Dh55).
The two mains are the true stars of this show. The beef shawarma bowl (Dh97) and mante (Dh87), a traditional Armenian dish, seem straight out of my teta’s kitchen. The shawarma bowl meets the approval of the gym buff in me. Usually, when I think of eating shawarma, I immediately worry about how oily it’s going to be. But this bowl ticks my macros and tickles my taste buds with its generous portion of beef and batata harra (spicy potato cubes). The aubergine moutabbal dip drizzled with olive oil is the cherry on top.
I can also safely say the manteh at Zali is the best I’ve had. In a unique twist on the traditional Armenian dish, the restaurant swaps out the usual thick meat dumplings with mini triangular meat sambousek. The pastries are so light and crispy I could gorge on the plate alone, coupled with fresh yoghurt.
To wash it all down, the waitress recommends the refreshing desert llama juice (Dh39), made with coconut cream, green apple and lemon.
A chat with the owner
“We prepare each dish here the way we would in our family kitchen,” Joelle Maalouf, owner of Zali and daughter of the chef, tells me. She explains they brought the restaurant from Bali to Abu Dhabi to fill a market need for home-cooked rather than mass-produced Lebanese food.
Other than the dishes I try, she recommends mudardara, a lentil and rice dish that is a staple in every Lebanese household, and kafta and batata served with vermicelli rice.
As the weather gets better, Maalouf says tables will be added outside right by the marina, which is where I’ll be, sipping on my desert llama.
Price point and contact information
Dishes on the lunch and dinner menu range from Dh35 to Dh113; beverages are from Dh35 to Dh45 and desserts from Dh35 to Dh59.
Zali is open from 9am to midnight, and can be contacted on 050 797 6951.
The review was conducted at the invitation of the restaurant
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
Day 5, Abu Dhabi Test: At a glance
Moment of the day When Dilruwan Perera dismissed Yasir Shah to end Pakistan’s limp resistance, the Sri Lankans charged around the field with the fevered delirium of a side not used to winning. Trouble was, they had not. The delivery was deemed a no ball. Sri Lanka had a nervy wait, but it was merely a stay of execution for the beleaguered hosts.
Stat of the day – 5 Pakistan have lost all 10 wickets on the fifth day of a Test five times since the start of 2016. It is an alarming departure for a side who had apparently erased regular collapses from their resume. “The only thing I can say, it’s not a mitigating excuse at all, but that’s a young batting line up, obviously trying to find their way,” said Mickey Arthur, Pakistan’s coach.
The verdict Test matches in the UAE are known for speeding up on the last two days, but this was extreme. The first two innings of this Test took 11 sessions to complete. The remaining two were done in less than four. The nature of Pakistan’s capitulation at the end showed just how difficult the transition is going to be in the post Misbah-ul-Haq era.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
LILO & STITCH
Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders
Director: Dean Fleischer Camp
Rating: 4.5/5
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
Defence review at a glance
• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”
• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems
• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.
• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%
• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade
• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels
Honeymoonish
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Elie%20El%20Samaan%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENour%20Al%20Ghandour%2C%20Mahmoud%20Boushahri%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE jiu-jitsu squad
Men: Hamad Nawad and Khalid Al Balushi (56kg), Omar Al Fadhli and Saeed Al Mazroui (62kg), Taleb Al Kirbi and Humaid Al Kaabi (69kg), Mohammed Al Qubaisi and Saud Al Hammadi (70kg), Khalfan Belhol and Mohammad Haitham Radhi (85kg), Faisal Al Ketbi and Zayed Al Kaabi (94kg)
Women: Wadima Al Yafei and Mahra Al Hanaei (49kg), Bashayer Al Matrooshi and Hessa Al Shamsi (62kg)
Dr Graham's three goals
Short term
Establish logistics and systems needed to globally deploy vaccines
Intermediate term
Build biomedical workforces in low- and middle-income nations
Long term
A prototype pathogen approach for pandemic preparedness
About Karol Nawrocki
• Supports military aid for Ukraine, unlike other eurosceptic leaders, but he will oppose its membership in western alliances.
• A nationalist, his campaign slogan was Poland First. "Let's help others, but let's take care of our own citizens first," he said on social media in April.
• Cultivates tough-guy image, posting videos of himself at shooting ranges and in boxing rings.
• Met Donald Trump at the White House and received his backing.
Top 10 most polluted cities
- Bhiwadi, India
- Ghaziabad, India
- Hotan, China
- Delhi, India
- Jaunpur, India
- Faisalabad, Pakistan
- Noida, India
- Bahawalpur, Pakistan
- Peshawar, Pakistan
- Bagpat, India
What drives subscription retailing?
Once the domain of newspaper home deliveries, subscription model retailing has combined with e-commerce to permeate myriad products and services.
The concept has grown tremendously around the world and is forecast to thrive further, according to UnivDatos Market Insights’ report on recent and predicted trends in the sector.
The global subscription e-commerce market was valued at $13.2 billion (Dh48.5bn) in 2018. It is forecast to touch $478.2bn in 2025, and include the entertainment, fitness, food, cosmetics, baby care and fashion sectors.
The report says subscription-based services currently constitute “a small trend within e-commerce”. The US hosts almost 70 per cent of recurring plan firms, including leaders Dollar Shave Club, Hello Fresh and Netflix. Walmart and Sephora are among longer established retailers entering the space.
UnivDatos cites younger and affluent urbanites as prime subscription targets, with women currently the largest share of end-users.
That’s expected to remain unchanged until 2025, when women will represent a $246.6bn market share, owing to increasing numbers of start-ups targeting women.
Personal care and beauty occupy the largest chunk of the worldwide subscription e-commerce market, with changing lifestyles, work schedules, customisation and convenience among the chief future drivers.
