From K-pop to K-drama, the export of South Korean entertainment is in full flow.
But it’s not merely the eyes and ears being stimulated by the cultural takeover, now chef Reif Othman’s latest venture, Hoe Lee Kow, is captivating taste buds with off-the-wall Korean barbecue.
And, despite the K-ringeworthy name, it’s quickly building a reputation for memorable dishes.
Where to sit and what to expect
Hoe Lee Kow is opposite Dubai Hills Mall, tucked away in the nearby business park. However, it’s close enough for a brisk walk from the mall’s multistorey car park.
Inside, there are an assortment of tables for two, private booths with soft-to-touch fabric backings and a New York Art Deco-style central bar. It’s low-lit, straddling the classy side of darkness, with a few pops of flair by way of pastel-coloured fans adorning one wall, and Hahoetal theatrical masks on the other. The faces range from coy smirking to maniacal grinning and date from the 12th century when they were used in traditional dances.
The menu
I’ll confess, aside from whacking spoonfuls of kimchi on to my plate in pursuit of overnight abs on the advice of internet health gurus, I’m a novice when it comes to K-food. Chef Othman promises “unconventional” Korean dishes, but it's lost on me – I don’t know my gimbap from my galbi.
I presume the menu – one of the most exciting I’ve seen in months – is fusion in full flow. Ninety per cent of it is made up of small plates, with a smattering of bigger mains such as grilled steaks and fish.
And while the majority of them are Korean dishes, the unconventional part comes by way of the international ingredients used – Wagyu beef, Australian lamb, Irish duck, Scottish salmon – and spins on classic recipes.
Thankfully, no doubt after seeing my struggles and worrying about having a half-wit on her hands, the friendly waitress kindly points out that I can see pictures of the dishes by scanning a QR code on my phone.
Much better, it’s like a Christmas catalogue (ask your parents) and my dining partner and I can point gormlessly at the photos to order rather than butcher the pronunciations and hope for the best.
Soon, the kitchen is firing out plates on a served-when-ready basis. The chicken mandu are four delicate dumplings packed with divinely seasoned fillings in a shallow bath of peanut sauce split with chilli oil; the Wagyu steam bun is a pocket-sized burger with mighty flavour; the banchan potato are baby roasties that are so soft they’re almost velvety and served on a fiery kimchi sauce; and the crispy baby calamari is a playful Korean riff on the Italian classic.
But it's not all fun and squid games, there is some serious technical skill on show. The house gimbap is a delicate nori roll that has been deep-fried tempura-style before being stuffed with raw tuna and dabbed in diced chives on either end. It’s like a savoury cannoli, served alongside truffle mayo.
The simply outstanding tteokbokki – more on it later – brings the inventive, eccentric small plates to a close.
Mains of grilled mackerel fillet and thinly sliced flame-grilled Wagyu strips – nothing too unorthodox here, I should note – extend the prowess Othman has built his name on in the city.
There’s just enough time (and room) to get back to the slightly bonkers recipes with a sweetcorn ice cream so good, it makes one wonder why all vegetables aren’t served this way.
Stand-out dish
The tteokbokki is one of Dubai’s best dishes, hands down. The dish, I learn, is a twist on the traditional garaetteok street food, which are 5cm cylinders of rice flour that are typically left plain and used to dip in sauces.
Here, they’re given a crunchy coating before being supremely well seasoned and deep fried. They’re finished with grated Manchego and maple beef bacon jam, and sit in an aerated cheesy, silky foam dip. It’s a bowl of unbridled happiness and, if this is unconventional food, I’m all ready to embrace the new norm.
I leave with a grin wider and more delirious than any Hahoetal mask and carrying the hope food is South Korea's next big export to our shores.
Price points and contact information
Kimchi and small sides range from Dh20 to Dh58; hot and cold starters range from Dh46 to Dh128; ramen and rice dishes range from Dh70 to Dh130; and mains and grills cost up to Dh328.
The restaurant is open noon to 11pm, Sunday to Thursday; and noon to midnight, Friday and Saturday; Building 4, Dubai Hills Business Park. Reservations can be made at hoeleekow.com.
This review was conducted at the invitation of the restaurant
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)
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champioons League semi-final:
First leg: Liverpool 5 Roma 2
Second leg: Wednesday, May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
TV: BeIN Sports, 10.45pm (UAE)
The specs
Engine: four-litre V6 and 3.5-litre V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: six-speed and 10-speed
Power: 271 and 409 horsepower
Torque: 385 and 650Nm
Price: from Dh229,900 to Dh355,000
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The specs
Engine: 4-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: eight-speed PDK
Power: 630bhp
Torque: 820Nm
Price: Dh683,200
On sale: now
BRIEF SCORES:
Toss: Nepal, chose to field
UAE 153-6: Shaiman (59), Usman (30); Regmi 2-23
Nepal 132-7: Jora 53 not out; Zahoor 2-17
Result: UAE won by 21 runs
Series: UAE lead 1-0
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
Results:
Men's wheelchair 800m T34: 1. Walid Ktila (TUN) 1.44.79; 2. Mohammed Al Hammadi (UAE) 1.45.88; 3. Isaac Towers (GBR) 1.46.46.
List of alleged parties
May 15 2020: PM and Carrie attend 'work meeting' with at
least 17 staff members
May 20 2020: PM and Carrie attend 'bring your own booze'
party
Nov 27 2020: PM gives speech at leaving do for his staff
Dec 10 2020: Staff party held by then-education secretary
Gavin Williamson
Dec 13 2020: PM and Carrie throw a flat party
Dec 14 2020: London mayor candidate Shaun Bailey holds staff party at Conservative
Party headquarters
Dec 15 2020: PM takes part in a staff quiz
Dec 18 2020: Downing Street Christmas party
Five hymns the crowds can join in
Papal Mass will begin at 10.30am at the Zayed Sports City Stadium on Tuesday
Some 17 hymns will be sung by a 120-strong UAE choir
Five hymns will be rehearsed with crowds on Tuesday morning before the Pope arrives at stadium
‘Christ be our Light’ as the entrance song
‘All that I am’ for the offertory or during the symbolic offering of gifts at the altar
‘Make me a Channel of your Peace’ and ‘Soul of my Saviour’ for the communion
‘Tell out my Soul’ as the final hymn after the blessings from the Pope
The choir will also sing the hymn ‘Legions of Heaven’ in Arabic as ‘Assakiroo Sama’
There are 15 Arabic speakers from Syria, Lebanon and Jordan in the choir that comprises residents from the Philippines, India, France, Italy, America, Netherlands, Armenia and Indonesia
The choir will be accompanied by a brass ensemble and an organ
They will practice for the first time at the stadium on the eve of the public mass on Monday evening
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Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
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
Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
Revival
Eminem
Interscope
Company%20Profile
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Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.
'The Ice Road'
Director: Jonathan Hensleigh
Stars: Liam Neeson, Amber Midthunder, Laurence Fishburne
2/5
Why does a queen bee feast only on royal jelly?
Some facts about bees:
The queen bee eats only royal jelly, an extraordinary food created by worker bees so she lives much longer
The life cycle of a worker bee is from 40-60 days
A queen bee lives for 3-5 years
This allows her to lay millions of eggs and allows the continuity of the bee colony
About 20,000 honey bees and one queen populate each hive
Honey is packed with vital vitamins, minerals, enzymes, water and anti-oxidants.
Apart from honey, five other products are royal jelly, the special food bees feed their queen
Pollen is their protein source, a super food that is nutritious, rich in amino acids
Beewax is used to construct the combs. Due to its anti-fungal, anti-bacterial elements, it is used in skin treatments
Propolis, a resin-like material produced by bees is used to make hives. It has natural antibiotic qualities so works to sterilize hive, protects from disease, keeps their home free from germs. Also used to treat sores, infection, warts
Bee venom is used by bees to protect themselves. Has anti-inflammatory properties, sometimes used to relieve conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, nerve and muscle pain
Honey, royal jelly, pollen have health enhancing qualities
The other three products are used for therapeutic purposes
Is beekeeping dangerous?
As long as you deal with bees gently, you will be safe, says Mohammed Al Najeh, who has worked with bees since he was a boy.
“The biggest mistake people make is they panic when they see a bee. They are small but smart creatures. If you move your hand quickly to hit the bees, this is an aggressive action and bees will defend themselves. They can sense the adrenalin in our body. But if we are calm, they are move away.”
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