Hey Dubai! Your Unwanted Items Please.

Hey, Dubai! Do you have unwanted Clothings Abbaya, Kandora, Bed clothes, Hand bags, Paired shoes, Towels? Why not give them to charity?

When you pass by Emarat Gas Station, you will see this bin-like box where you can donate your used items.

But please do not give soiled Clothes, Pillows, Duvets, Rugs, Carpets, Books and toys.

Isn't better to give something for people who needs your help?

Do something. Be part of it.

Breakfast at IKEA

Once upon a rare morning, Far-ouT and yours truly went to have breakfast at IKEA...Ok, let me do it the normal way. When you go inside IKEA, you’d really wish to have a place of your own. They’ve got everything you would ever need. I mean, literally, everything. From plates, spoon, fork, knives, beds, etc. You name it, they have it. Its like, you can picture how you want all your rooms inside your house to look like. Aside from all of those, one of the best things that this store has to offer are foods for minimal amount. What I also love about them is, their drinks are unlimited. Coffee for me. 3 years back, I wish to have breakfast here, but we were commuting that time so traveling would not be an easy task at all. But far-out made that happened today.

Breakfast at IKEA! I was surprised when we went inside because there were so many people having theirs as well.

 

There were many foods to choose from.

But my all time favorite is there unlimited coffee

Far-ouT and yours truly both have the IKEA breakfast, that includes, a partition of eggs, 2 sausages, beans and hash brown.

All for only Dhs 4. How that for a breakfast? Unlimited coffee and bread are sold separately.

I enjoyed the breakfast so much that I had 3 cups of coffee that morning. Yum! Yum!


Eat and be merry!

Steak House at Royal Ascott Hotel

I admit I am neglecting my blog again. Quite frustrated about it actually. I wanted to update it on a daily basis but work and other stuff prevents me from doing so. Besides, I've been thinking a lot of changing the whole format lately.  All I blog is about food and dining out. I didn't like it that much. I wanted something different, something more exciting but all I can think of are latest restaurant that we went to. So that's basically it. Nothing more, nothing less. That means, my life is a bore. Sadness struck like lightning. I don't want to entertain what I am feeling right now but deep inside, I feel empty sometimes. Like, I have nothing but routine. I've been trying to find out, what is missing but nothing is coming up. Maybe its just hormones? Like every time of the time I have this mood swings?

But before anything else, I need to finish my latest foodie trip. Far-ouT and yours truly went to Wellington Steak House located inside Royal Ascott Hotel. Its a fine dining, mind you. Haha! Just kidding. Please note though that even if you say a place is a fine dining experience it doesn't necessary mean that you'll enjoy every minute of it. The hotel has a nice interior, very elegant

The restaurant was just one from the many others inside. First of, when you enter the restaurant, there is only one server in the area. No one to greet you, nobody to assist you on your tables. That is how a fine dining should be right? Or am I wrong? Anyway, secondly, the place was dark. Maybe it serves the purpose of a relaxing atmosphere, a place where you can unwind and have some quiet moments with yourself. 

Then finally, another server came to assist. We were serve our complimentary bread which I was very disappointed with. The bread was cold and definitely not freshly baked. Unlike what we had from Tribe and Outback. So first impression lasts for me. I was now expecting the worse. 

After that not-so-enjoyable starter, we were already serve with our chosen drinks. Red Wine (Dhs 35/glass)

This red wine is called Concha y Toro "Casillero del Diablo," Merlot Chile. From Concha y Toro comes this succulen Merlot. Dark and deep purple with subtle aromas of chocolate, dark plums, berries, and spices with a touch of vanilla and smoke, medium-bodied, with lovely tannins, and a long pretty finish.

As I previously mentioned, alcoholic beverages are not allowed in Dubai unless you have a license, but the good thing is, you may drink and get drunk is a hotel or restaurant who are licensed to serve them. Never forget to bring with you your receipts though as this already serve as your license just for the particular. Cool right?

Anyway, for our entree,  Far-ouT ordered beef carpaccio, roquette and roasted parmesan (Dhs 30).

Generally these are thinly sliced or pounded thin of beef served as an appetizer. This may be the least on my list of foods that I'll never ever try again. For me its was bland and rubbery.

Lucky was I this time when it was time for me to order and chose Mushroom Cappucino (Dhs 25).

The soup was superb! Really finished everything. But the bread again, almost ruined it. I have no idea why their breads were not of good quality. But anyway, I enjoyed the appetizer so far, that I stick my tongue on the plate (just kidding)

The empty plate, oh yeah of course I finished even the bread.

For our main course...drum rolling...rack of lamb ( Dhs 90) for Far-ouT and 10oz fillet mignon (Dhs 90) for yours truly

Far-ouT order was so-so, nothing to rave about. We liked our beef medium rare

No steak has yet to replace the one I had in tribe. It was still the best. Nevertheless, this is not that bad as well.

In addition to our main course, Far-ouT also ordered their mash potato which was actually delicious

The last and definitely the least. Our dessert

Classic Creme Brulee (Dhs 20). We waited for it for quite sometime just to be disappointed in the end. It was plain suger and flour. We didn't even finish half of it. Hope the servers will feel that we did not enjoyed it and that they should improve on it.

The laughters was the best part of the celebration all because my Far-ouT's birthday! Yey! Wish you all the best. I love you! A toast to more happiness and love. Another year to look forward to

Cheers!

A-Test

I really admire how our technology evolves. Everything is fast changing and if you will not go with the flow, you'll definitely be left behind. Like what I am doing right now. I am actually blogging on my phone! How cool was it, right. Now I just have to click the send button and see if this would really work.

WAGAMAMA: Japanese Food Trip again

Yep, you heard it right. We happen to planned this from previous month, after our Thai cuisine at Lemongrass , we've decided to go Japanese this time. Its just so timely and sad that I have been thinking about Japanese foods since last month and now reading about the sad stories happening to them right now. I hope Japan will be able overcome the tragic event they are facing. I always admire their calm and professional way of handling things at the moment.

I know I just had that post on Japanese food, but this time Far-ouT and yours went out with different set of friends so, that doesn't count.  Anyway, we had our eyes set on Wagamama, located just inside Crowne Plaza Hotel in SZR.

  

No one had an idea on what to expect from this restaurant. The setting was very Japanese of course.

We were curious for the longest time on how "sake" (Japanese wine) taste like as it was highly recommended and now an A-first on our hitlist.

Pour me some

Not a fan though. It has a sweet taste but alcohol was still too strong for me. Singaporean sling was way better than this Japanese Sake. Far-ouT enjoyed it but was very careful not to drink much, as you know, Alcoholic beverages are prohibited in Dubai unless you have applied for a license.

Actually, there were 2 types of sake, gekkeikan sake dry - medium sweet, with a balanced flavor, served warm and gekkeikan sake dry - premium sake, refreshing and smooth, served cold. They have it in 150ml small flask (Dhs 35), good for 1 person and 250ml large flask (Dhs 49) for 2 to share. We ordered the latter and very much disappointed in the end as we were not able to finish 2 flasks and  not even allowed take out the remaining drink. I was hoping to use it for cooking. Just a waste of money.

Let me proceed with our dishes, Allen ordered his miso soup and pickles (Dhs 11), a light dashi soup flavoured with miso paste, wakame, silken tofu, and thinly sliced spring onions. I got to taste it and didn't like it much either.

Aside from the above, his main dish was ebi chili bento (Dhs 55), sweet and spicy ebi chili men on soba noodles served with three deep-fried ebi gyoza and a citrus ponzu dipping sauce.

I was hoping that I would at least enjoy my meal. Not losing hope until I realized that it has curry. I ordered, chiken katsu bento (Dhs. 55). The all time wagamama favorite, chicken katsu curry, with Japanese style rice, and a mild curry sauce served with three chicken gyoza and a chili, garlic and soy dipping sauce. Never, never will I order again something with curry. Even if it says, mild. I like the taste of the chicken though, Far-ouT was kind enough to order me plain rice.

I was already criticizing my food and we joke to dine in a more familiar and safer place the next time. But we were just too determined to taste the dishes of all nations. Haha!

Far-ouT ordered yaki udon (Dhs 34), teppan-fried udon noodles, with curry oil, fresh shittake mushrooms, egg, leeks, prawns, chicken, chikuwa, beansprouts, and green and red peppers, garnished with a spicy, ground, fish powder, mixed sesame seeds, fried shallots, pickled ginger.

I liked his food better than mine. He always order the simplest dish and still get to enjoy it. Guess I am just a sucker for bad taste.

But Cliff was the luckiest of all four of us as his was way better than any of our orders, okazu bento (Dhs 55). An okazu, meaning selection of your favorite side dishes, two chicken, and two yasai gyoza with a chili, garlic and soy dipping sauce, three grilled skewers, one prawns, one chicken and one beef coated in yakitori sauce.

Another dish that we ordered was duck gyoza, it was good but the sauce has an unfamiliar taste that I didn't quite like.

And just when I thought, I will be able to taste california maki again, would you believe? They don't have it? A Japanese restaurant without california maki? How odd.

No smoking in here please

お読みいただき、感謝 (Thank you for reading),

Japengo Cafe at Mirdiff City Centre

Wow! I really don't know how to start my blog. I kept backspacing. Anyway, I will just start off with my latest gastronimc binge yet again.

This is Japengo Cafe, mostly Japanese cuisine. I was intrigue on what foods they were offering but never really had a chance to try them until recently.

I love their table setting with the colorful table napkins, its pleasing to the eyes

I also like this wallpaper,

Moving on, Far-ouT, Broder, a friend from rowing and yours truly had a wonderful time sharing each other's foods, just to try all their dishes.

For starters, we have ordered Fatoush Salad.

Its a combination of Cucumber, local lettuces, red raddish, flat, parsley, mint, sumac and fried bread with lemon dressing. Its more of sweet and sour combination but the sour taste is too strong for my taste.

This is the best California maki I've ever taste! Yeah, as if I eat it a lot. Seriously, I never really like Japanese dishes, I don't like raw food like Japanese cuisine offers. I am just too scared on the effect on it in my stomach. But their maki is the best so far for me. Crab stick, avocado, apple, cucumber, and flying fish roe (Dhs 44), Yay! that's like almost Php 500!

Unfortunately, I was not the one who ordered it, but I get to taste two and am now craving for more. My order was their Grilled Lamb Chops, served with grilled vegetables, baby potato, and mint gravy.

Sad that I was not happy about it. It wasn't tender at all. I didn't enjoy it much and having just this without rice is nightmare. I am gonna starve in no time, good thing Far-ouT ordered just the perfect dish for it.

Japengo special fried rice. (Dhs 46)

Its a combination of chicken, seafood and vegetables, mixed with garlic, dark soy sauce, and sesame oil.

Our friend ordered, Grilled fresh tuna steak, served with grilled vegetables, baby potato, and tomato salsa which I like at first, but it becaming hard to chew and the Tuna is just bland.

Another one of my disappointments is my drink. Lemon and Mint. It sour!!! I swear. I put a lot of sugar on it and the sourness is still there and its even Dhs 24! Almost Php 250! Not worth it!

I like the look of this, watermelon, I have not tasted though, because it not mine.

Far-ouT only ordered water, his all time favorite drink.

Just a remembrance of our get together, had some photos taken

By the way, this is located in City Center, Mirdiff. I like it better than the one in Deira. Lesser people and bigger stores. I like their H&M here as they have a huge area for accessories

And they have a play area for the kids and kids alike.

There's wall climbing

Bowling area

Candy bars

Look closer, I Fly!

and many more

We'll sure to take Bella in Mirdiff City Center.