Once upon a foodie in London... Part 1: Pizza, Columbian and Cheese

Is it still ok to say hi? Anyone out there still reading this?

I'm back with a BANG after a 2 month hiatus! *insert fireworks here*

After settling in to a new job (within food - woohoo!), travel, fasting and since we're always honest with each other, just a tad bit of procrastination in the mix of things, I neglected my FMTB baby for a little bit. But frowns must turn upside down! So I am back and I'm here with a delicious and dynamic foodie getaway for your eyes from London.

London is starting to become a regular spot to visit since I have cousins (more like sisters :)) over there. Miss them already. Planning my next trip there as we speak? This time I came in prepared with my tasty ambitions to bring to you my diary. So here it goes... well part 1 for now.

Franco Manca


Super cute, bustling and has a unique take on pizza offering sour-dough pizzas with toppings ranging from organic olive oil to buffalo ricotta. You had me at sour-dough pizza. Menu is very simple which is what I look for in Italian places - minimal and to the point with ingredients that shine.

We quickly skimmed the menu and ordered everything on it. If there is a burrata on a menu, it's almost impossible for me to ignore it. See what I mean?

Probably not the best picture but you know what, it was one of those moments where the smell and look of the pizza could not let me try for more photo taking attempts.

The pizzas were delicious. I would highly recommend the classic: tomato, mozzarella (we changed it to buffalo - for obvious reasons ;)) and basil. I love when authentic Italian places do the simplest things best. The other pizzas were great as well like the courgettes, basil, mozzarella, buffalo ricotta & Franco's pecorino. I know... your mouth just watered. Same. I absolutely loved the elastic, soft and melt in your mouth sour dough. So different and interesting.

Brixton Market 

This one is more about the experience and a little less about the food. We were walking around in Brixton market and stumbled upon a Columbian shack. Their "arepas" looked delicious - cheese stuffed corn bread fried and served with spicy salsa. One by one, all of us starting devouring these small pastries of goodness. What made the experience for us was the man behind the shack, Louis. He was the grandpa running the show along with his wife, daughter and grand daughter. Here he is teaching us about Columbian food and culture.

I absolutely love meeting these types of people. I can talk to them for hours and just explore their side of the world. Here's a special moment we shared with him. The idea for the photo was all him! 

Left-right: Dalia, Yasmin, Lina, Monica, Me, Joanne, Louis

Morty & Bobs

Here's a fun side note you should know about me. I'm a huge fan of Backstreet Boys. Oh yeah, hard core fan since the 90's. I was super happy to get a chance to see them for the second time in London. Don't leave the page, this relates to the food part I swear! 

One thing I enjoyed about this concert was that there were tons of food pop up shops at the venue. Something I wish we had in Dubai, instead of the over priced bland food that gets served here. Any who, before jamming out to "I want it that way", we needed to get our grub on. My cousins and I have a soft spot for grilled cheese toasties, super simple but when done right, you just can't go wrong. 

A cute pop-up shop called Morty & Bob's won us over with their grilled cheese. 

No joke. No lies. All seriousness. One of the best grilled cheeses I've ever had! Oh my. Whenever you're in London next, track them on twitter and find out where they're popping up so you can get one of these. Crunchy, toasted, sour dough, delicious trio blend of cheese with onion mix - crispy on the outside, ooey gooey on the inside. You have to try it. I highly recommend the "Straight Up" - their signature.

Stay tuned for part 2! If you liked, don't forget to subscribe and comment. Let me know what you think. 

OH and big news! My first feature is currently on Krisp Dubai - a new online magazine showcasing homegrown talent. Full article can be found: http://krispdubai.com/foodie-feature-the-wing-showdown-with-mina/ Check it out now and let me know what you think.

x

Rated: Nay Restaurant & Lounge

I heard about Nay from a couple of friends and decided to try it out for a weekday dinner a little while ago. Positioned as a Lebanese restaurant, the menu has a tendency to twist the flavours and dishes of authentic Lebanese cuisine (such as a traditional Lebanese white cheese starter served with an oriental ratatouille sauce). It's always interesting to see modern chefs putting spins on traditional dishes.

Situated in DIFC, it's a perfect central spot for post-work dinner and sheesha. The venue itself is huge. and I mean huge! It hosts a lovely outdoor seating area (unfortunately the weather now is slowly eliminating that option) and the indoor seating has an Arabic singer at night. Since it was a huge space and it was still in it's opening month, when my friend and I arrived, the ratio of people to chairs was quite low (aka a little on the empty side). I feel like it can look like that anyways since the place is really big and can accommodate a large number of people.

Our server was very friendly and explained some popular items on the menu for us. He complimented us with a crispy strip of bread topped with olive oil, sesame seeds and zaatar with a garlic-flavoured dip. So so so good! Ordered for another round in seconds.

For starters, we chose one of their spins on hommos which was 'Hommos Green Rihan' (literally translates to Hommos Green Basil). This was delicious! Basil is also my favorite herb so maybe this could have been an easy win for me? I don't know. Balance of the added basil while maintaining authentic hommos flavor was ticked! My hopes were super high right now since bread and hommos were both spectacular.

'Hommos Green Rihan'

Our second starter was the "Nay Labneh" - again another twist. Although this sounded fabulous - labneh mixed with confit sun dried tomatoes, thin garlic crisps & fresh thyme - the taste did not live up to it. The issue was the oil from the sundried tomato which was a little too acidic overpowered the whole dish.

'Nay Labneh'

Our third starter was 'Hommos Sorra', roasted Arabic bread filled with beef, served with hommos and pine nuts. Unfortunately this was more about the presentation rather than the taste. The beef-stuffed bread or what I like to call them the Arabic-looking "money-balls" tasted old and very dry. This was not a winner.

'Hommos Sorra'

For mains, we ordered 'Shish Taouk' and 'Kebab Mushroom'. I know Shish Taouk can be a boring choice sometimes but most restaurants don't get it right. It usually comes too dry and tasteless. This one shamefully fell into that same category of restaurants. The chicken was way too dry - almost rock hard. The fries were very good as well as the vegetables. I really liked the presentation of the veggies on the metal skewer. Pickles & garlic sauce were delicious. Only downfall, well, the main thing: the chicken. As for the Kebab, not too sure why it was called 'Kebab Mushroom' since there was no taste of mushroom whatsoever. The kebab was alright but nothing special. Also the spicy tomato sauce on the side didn't add much to the dish as well.

We were too full to order dessert since portions were very generous. I would come back for good service, good portions and try our other main dishes. Also that basil hommos got me sucked in! Need to come back for more.

Total price breakdown below (for 2):
1 x 'Hommos Green Rihan' = 28
1 x 'Nay Labneh' = 28
1 x 'Hommos Sorra' = 36
1 x 'Shish Taouk' = 58
1 x 'Kebab Mushroom' = 58
1 x Large Lebanese Mineral Water = 20Total (AED) = 228

I've rated Nay 3 out of 5!

If you found this review helpful and would like to keep posted on the regular, please subscribe to FMTB. Subscribe button is on the right side of this page. Thanks :)

Rated: Elia

I know, I know, 2 Greek restaurants in a row? Sue me why don't you! but hey, the way I look at it is I'm discovering the Greek food around Dubai for YOU. See? This is all for YOU. Not me. Just YOU. Geez, be thankful. Kidding.

I was quite surprised that this place had been around for a whopping 6 years and I've never heard of it. I guess that was the beauty of it. Tucked away in the 3rd floor of Majestic hotel in Bur Dubai, Mankhool area, this place escapes from the loud and noisy Dubai.

And so our "Greekilicious" night began at Elia...

Upon entering, you see a mixture of a crowd from couples, seniors, families and friends dining and chit chatting their way through their meals. The Greek music in the background was a perfect mood setter and the place itself has a cute, rustic meets modern take on European style (much like their menu). The ambiance and look & feel already made me escape from Dubai's usual settings and took me to a European escapade - along the lines of Greece. My friend and I decided to sit in their glass terrace area which was beautiful. So homey and inviting and surrounded by trees and minimal views of buzzing Bur Dubai.

I know that Greek food traditions are similar to Arabic and so mezze was a must. You muzt mezze. Was that funny or plain cheesy? Now while we're on the topic of mezze and this is where you're wondering what we ordered & I was wondering what to order, this pops up on our table --> 

Eggplant salad, marinated olives with fresh baked bread. Okay let me break this one down for you. The eggplant dip was so smooth, full of flavors dancing in my mouth like olives, eggplant, garlic - just yummy. The olives were sitting in rosemary & garlic infused olive oil and the fresh bread had an assortment of carob (not pictured since this pic is the second round of bread), sesame crusted and olive sourdough. This was so good we had to tell each other to stop and save room for mezze.




Since we're on the topic of mezze, here's what we got:

We ordered the Tomato Kefte and Cheese saganaki. Looking at the kefte, I was afraid they were going to be flavorless or bland but one bite of this, and YUM. Super super crunchy (best part about it) and filled with delicious and simple flavors of herbs that go so well together. Doesn't need any sauce and was not one bit dry. Now I have never tried graviera cheese and was pretty excited about this one. I also appreciated the hefty portion they give you (since it is AED67!). The cheese itself was super tasty - salty, flavorful and delightfully crispy on the top from being baked. I also loved the balanced flavors of the tomato, garlic and pepper sauce that it sat on. Both these starters, I will definitely go back for.

At this point, we've done two rounds of breads and dips and two starters and I have to say we were 60% full. Note to self, eat less bread next time (let's see how that goes!).

So far so good. Here's where things started to fall a bit. We waited around 15-20 minutes for the main courses after our starters which meant we were getting even more full. We also mentioned it our waiter and the manager took note of that.

Once our mains did come, this is what we were about to tuck into:

Since the menu was split up into two: one being traditional Greek food and the other authentic with a contemporary twist, we decided try one from each section. I'm going to leave it to you to guess which one ;)

The chicken was cooked well and had flavor. The downside was that it was heavily coated with dried mint and was borderline bitter. The pita bread it was served on top of was too oily to eat. On a positive note, the crunchy onions went well with the chicken sewers as well as the tzatziki. The stuffed capsicum with tomato and rice was yummy and reminded me of homemade dolma. I prefer Iraqi dolma over this since I love the additions of meat in the stuffing and the sweet pomegranate syrup it's cooked in.

The second was a sea bass spring risotto with egglemon/'avgolemono' sauce. I didn't know what that was until I checked and it's pretty much the same meaning as it's name - a thickener consisting of egg and lemon. The sea bass was cooked well, however, the risotto was under cooked. Although the dish had good flavor and was almost there, the under cooked rice left you with a chalk-like taste. It's kind of surprising since the mains did come late. Since I ate the best sea bass risotto of my life last weekend (read about it here), that was the reference I was comparing this to and it was in two different playing fields.


We were super full by the end of our meal but the manager came
round and delightfully complimented us with two dishes of their milk pie dessert ('Galaktompoureko') as a sign of courtesy for the earlier delay. Although we were full, doesn't mean we don't taste right? :)


The texture was great since the outer filo pastry was crispy and browned with sugar while the inside was creamy and milky.

Their service, aside of the slight delay, was great and we were very pleased that the manager reconciled our slight issue with a complimentary dessert.

I am definitely going back to Elia to try out more dishes and absolutely love their getaway location and ambiance!


Total price breakdown below (for 2):
1 x tomato kefte = 23 
1 x cheese saganaki = 67 (A bit too pricey)
1 x chicken souvlaki = 56 
1 x sea bass risotto = 69
1 x large water = 15
Total (AED) = 230

I've rated Elia 4 out of 5!

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Rated: Eat Greek

I'm sure you've all been to the new area, The Beach, of JBR where there's a full new strip of restaurants alongside the gorgeous beach filled with elements of art, sand sculptures and even work out stations. I love this area. Only downside is the traffic (for parking & people in general) but hey, nothing new there about JBR so just accept it!

One of the restaurants on my radar was 'Eat Greek' since I rarely ever eat greek food in Dubai. There aren't that many that I know of (have only heard of El Greco and Elia - have yet to try either). If you know of any good Greek restaurants that ought to be tried, please let me know below.

Now since it was a Friday, there was a waiting time to be expected of 20-30 minutes as described by the hostess. However, I must admit they did only call me after 40-45 minutes and at this point, our hunger levels were somewhat soaring through the roof.

We were seated outside (as requested) and the weather was gorgeous! Pure bliss. Our waiter was so energetic & friendly from the start, that he put us in a great mood to start. Whilst we look around our menus & try to figure out what to eat, their fresh piping hot bread basket arrives and this is what happens. Suddenly we're just distracted...

I told you we were hungry. But in all serious note, their bread was delicious. It had a crispy crust and airy filling and was topped off with olive oil, salt and herbs. Two more baskets coming right up, please. Thank you.

On to the starters! For cold, eggplant "salad" & giant beans "plaki" and for hot, baked feta cheese (after Foodiva's enticing picture on Instagram - could not let that one go), greek salad (of course) and roasted beetroot salad.




I thought the eggplant salad would be something similar to a baba ghanouj (arabic eggplant mezze) but it wasn't at all. I would say it's a much brighter & fresher version of baba ghanouj which was quite tasty. It was very simple and focused on the true flavors of eggplant seasoned with citrus and herbs.


The giant beans were a win! Baked lima beans in tomato & herbs - pure yumminess. Spoon that over with the baked feta on their fresh bread - you will be super happy! That baked feta was just melt-in-your-mouth deliciousness. Pretty much devoured in seconds. Trust me when I tell you try this combo out!

The Greek salad was fresh, simple and perfect portion. My best Greek salad was in Greece itself but this was still very tasty. The roasted beetroot salad with yogurt, walnut, apple & croutons was alright. I thought there was too much yogurt on the beetroots & took a way from the roasted flavor. I also didn't think there needed to be croutons on the dish.

For the mains, we ordered the Moussaka burger, 'Kleftiko' roast lamb, Greek eggplant Bayildi and a couple of pita lamb gyros.

The burger was moist, juicy and had sweet taste from the caramelized onions (if you don't like a sweetness in your burger at all - this is not for you). I'm pretty sure there was honey in there with the onions - which I liked. If you're thinking that this is going to be a typical "burger" taste, I'd think again. I really enjoyed it as it was quite different but the downside was it was too messy and sort of collapsed as I was eating it. Also, you couldn't taste the grilled eggplant that much because it was such a thin piece. They had chip/fries on the side which were pretty yummy! The eggplant 'bayildi' is a great vegetarian option. I really loved all the Mediterranean flavors singing in my mouth and the sweet kick of honey it made it that much more interesting & harmonious. As for the lamb braise, ooh-wee!, this was tender, fall off the bone, melt in your mouth, sort of meat. It was delicious and quite a hefty portion. It did have quite a lot of fat to discard but it added flavor during the cooking process for sure! As for the 'gyros' sandwich, I myself wasn't the biggest fan however, my family members did enjoy it. I found it to be too heavy and in a sandwich form, I wasn't that comfortable to have that much fat on my meat. It made the process of eating a little less enjoyable. Try it out for yourself as my family did say it was delicious :)

We were too full to try out any desserts and decided that a walk around the beach was much more suitable :)

Total price break down below (for 6):
1 x eggplant salad = 15
1 x giant beans "plaki" = 25
1 x baked feta cheese = 45 (this is overpriced!)
2 x greek salad = 35 x 2 = 70
1 x roasted beetroot salad = 30
1 x "moussaka" burger = 50 
3 x pita lamb gyros = 45 x 3 = 135
1 x "kleftiko" lamb braise = 100
1 x greek eggplant "bayildi" = 50
2 x large local water = I forgot this one but you can take an estimate of what a local water bottle costs :)
Total (AED) = 520

I've rated Eat Greek 4.0 out of 5!

I would definitely return and try out some other dishes and I particularly enjoyed their mezze (or starters) the most! The ambiance was also great in terms of music, service and overall vibe. We also had THE coolest waiter in town! (check him out on my Instagram). I read that the Eat Greek in Australia (the original one) does traditional live entertainment and dish breaking on the floor - would have been great if we had that!

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Rated: La Brioche Cafe

I haven't really heard much of this cafe but I was in the mood for a dessert the other day (#mustsatisfycravings) and remembered this place was nearby on Jumeirah beach road.

I didn't actually know there was valet parking available so we parked in the normal pay parking (will definitely keep that in mind next time).

Upon entering the cafe, we heard a beautiful "Bonjour!" from the staff. Now this might sound cheesy but it felt so refreshing to hear that. I rarely ever hear the traditional greeting or "hello" of a country or cuisine of a restaurant that you visit in Dubai. Regardless of whether or not the staff is from that country, it was a nice touch.

As for the cafe, I loved the openness of food placed everywhere around the restaurant. Walking in, you have a dessert glass closet filled with chocolate goodies and near the purchasing area there is fresh beautiful smelling french bread, croissants, pastries, cakes... pretty much all food candy for your eyes to gaze at. Hence, I had a hard time choosing what to have since my mind escaped and took me to back to the boulangeries (bakeries) in Paris.

After many questions & recommendations from the staff (who are very much helpful and friendly), I opted for the carrot cake with a side of jasmine green tea.

Carrot Cake

The carrot cake was well spiced and had a good carrot flavor. As for the frosting, it wasn't too sweet which I liked. I personally enjoy a carrot cake that has nuts but that was yummy nonetheless. I wish there was more to the presentation though - I wasn't the biggest fan of the sugar carrot on top.

My friend ordered "La Tarte Chaude" which is basically any of the fruit tarts served warm with a scoop of ice cream (flavors included pistachio, strawberry, coffee, chocolate & vanilla to name a few). So one pear tart with coffee ice cream was put to the test!

Pear Tart with Coffee Ice Cream

I tried this one too and the pastry is quite delicious. there were a few pears which was a shame but the flavor was great. The coffee ice cream was good with a good hit of coffee flavor which I love. I like the stacked presentation too.

Total price breakdown below (for 2):
1 x "La Tarte Chaude" = 25
1 x Carrot Cake = 15
1 x Jasmine green tea = 17
1 x Sparkling water = 14
Total (AED) = 71

If I would like to have a quiet breakfast/lunch/tea/dessert/dinner, I would come back here. I really enjoyed the fact that it was not heavily packed since nowadays a lot of places are with the ever-growing Dubai (not complaining but just saying!) So this was a nice french escapade from all of that.

I've rated La Brioche Cafe 4 out of 5!

Have any of you tried La Brioche? What do you think?

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"Sha3bi Shop" - Al Mallah

Al Mallah is one of the first few places my family and I used to go to when we first moved here back in 2001. When Dubai wasn't what it is now - huge skyscrapers, all 'glammed up' and a bajillion different restaurants. Our weekends consisted of driving to Dhiyafa street and feasting up on Shawermas.

I still think such nights are the best nights.

That's why my "Sha3bi" pick today is Al Mallah. Now when we speak about Shawermas, I think it's important to lay out the details... don't you? 

FMTB'S BEST SHAWERMA - WHAT IT TAKES

- Chicken (crisped up on the outside for a charred flavor)

- Pickles 

- Tahina

- Garlic

- Either pita bread or "rigaag" bread (if pita, needs to be toasted from the shawerma oven as well)

- No stinginess on the fillings, please!

- Cheap price - it is a street food item - no fancy shmancy!

Simple, isn't it? No tomatoes, lettuce, salad, fries, no no no no no!

This place understands that and has what I think are the closest thing to true street shawermas. I still believe the best ones are in Amman but in Dubai, this is as close as I'm gonna get.

Al Mallah Dhiyafa branch is the one I go to and every time I do, it is always full. I love seeing the mix of cultures and families there all smiles and enjoying great food. Not one table doesn't order their shawermas - it's truly the best thing they have. And at 6dhs a piece, you just can't go wrong. I love the atmosphere of Sha3bi places since it is just so packed and loud (but not noisy)... watching the shawerma men carve away what seems to be around 6000 shawermas a minute! Incredible.

The next time you're craving a shawerma, go for Al Mallah if you haven't done so already.


Have you tried Al Mallah? What's your favorite shawerma joint? Comment below!

Dubai Food Festival brings Beach Canteen to life!

Beach Canteen at Kite Surf Beach

With the Dubai Food Festival, comes more food related events, activities and experiences. The beach canteen is a new concept that is currently running across the 3 open beaches on Jumeirah beach road and I got a chance to check out the Kite Surf Beach Canteen on day 1 of opening.

The concept itself stood out to me because a) I love being outside (especially since we have to appreciate it the most during the cooler months when living in Dubai), b) I love the beach, c) I love trying new experiences and d) sounded like a great setting to have an early evening walk to with my parents.

I must apologize from now as the 'blogger' in me was not prepared to take pictures and hence the quality is smart phone and somewhat shaky. #shameless

Any who, here's a couple of snaps of our experience there...

Several restaurants/cafes temporarily set up pop up versions of their services with a selected menu for the Beach Canteen. Some restaurants featured were Loca, Extreme Shawerma and Seaview restaurant.

Seaview had their daily locally caught fish on display for purchase as well as their offered dishes. Their prices were very affordable as the fish was very fresh!

I wonder who the man looking at the menu is... :)

Intrigued by the idea of a fish shawerma, we decided to grab one and try it out. The hammour fish was very tender and the sandwich was quite yummy. Served with a side of fries for AED10 while listening to the lounge music being played on speaker with the cool breeze and ocean serene sounds - we were quite blissful.

We decided to finish off the night with a couple of rounds of foosball (or baby foot) and let's just say... I did not win at all (thanks Dad). The added complimentary games of foosball, volleyball and ping pong make this place great for families with children and just plain old adults for a little fun!

You should definitely check out at least one of the 3 beach canteens available till March 9th - great place for family, friends, kids with beautiful weather and affordable prices!

Have you been to any of the beach canteens? Share your experiences in the comments!