It’s Bar-B-Q party time! – Urban’s Barbecue at Dusit Thani Abu Dhabi

It’s Bar-B-Q party time!

As committing to its promotion that “DUSIT THANI ABU DHABI BRINGS A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE THIS AUTUMN”. The Thai hospitality once again hit the mark bringing best of the tastes from different cuisines under one roof. Although what’s to be notably commended is their effort to gain the diners attention by bringing the “best quality with reasonable price” this autumn, reflecting specially in this particular theme offering we have reviewed.

We were privileged to be invited to the exclusive preview of their very first Urban’s Barbecue last Monday, at Urban Kitchen. Experiencing the event first hand was indeed a pleasure as we found this package a complete steal in this value.

It brought together the finest taste and the flavors of Middle Eastern, Turkish and Tandoori BBQ specialties, you can actually taste all that in just AED 129/- net per person including soft beverage, every Monday and Wednesday from 19:00 to 22:30hrs.

   

Chef Aiham, Chef Bulent and Chef Bede have introduced the authentic flavors from each region with their very own recipes that have been passed down over generations. The set-up and spread of dishes was dynamic. We loved their tandoori BBQ items, Adana Kebabs, Paneer Tikka and Vegetable Tandoori. Hariyali Kabab with green marinade was also a must-try item.

 

We loved the aroma and tenderness of tandoori items and how they were prepared fresh over live counters. Middle Eastern menu items gained a lot of my attention that day. We have tasted Fish Magli with Harissa sauce and Tikka Marinated Sea bass wrapped in spinach leaf and it was delicious. Ispanakli Yumurta (Eggs with spinach and onion) and Couscous Bil Khudar (Marrakesh classic taste) were made with full dedication and was deliciously tasty.

 

 

In desserts it was a grand affair and we tasted vast variety and sweetness, from Muhalabyia to Halawa Bil jiben and from Znood Alsitt, Baloryia Pista to Katayef. Opera cake was another great find in their desserts menu. You may conclude on assorted Indian Sweets or warm Umm Ali.

All and all it was a great value treat that every individual should try. Don’t forget to bring along your friends and family as the fun are always doubled when shared with the close ones.

Do comment below on what you think of Urban’s Barbecue themed buffet at Dusit Thani Abu Dhabi.

For reservations or more information on Dusit Thani Abu Dhabi’s food and beverage promotions, please contact +971 (2) 698 8137 or email: reservation.table@dusit.com.

 

Real Italian Treat – Pizza Di Rocco with AED 200 meal vouchers for 2 winners.

Winners are Khadija Mustafa & Noora Ashraf . Please send email with your full name and contact details to mahiblog.ae@gmail.com to claim your voucher within 2 days, incase of failure another winner will be chosen.

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Celebrating Italian cuisine this month, we visited Pizza Di Rocco, we were warmly greeted by the Managing Director Mr. Peter.

He explained the origin that Pizza Di Rocco is born from the spirit of Master Pizzaiolo Rocco and it is their passion for creating authentic Italian gourmet pizzas that inspires customers to try classic pizzas: delicious, light, crispy, natural and fresh from the oven. Seeing that giant oven in the centre of the kitchen is treat to the eyes, where he explains that most of the product are coming straight from it to the table of diners and being ready to deliver asap. Venue and seating arrangement is not too big, however it accommodates at around 24 guests at a time and also having a very cozy environment and ambiance that you could almost imagine that you were in some Tuscan pizza street café smelling the cheese and dough aroma, while before going into fantasyland busy traffic lanes in Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street will bring you back in current zone.

Nothing compares to Pizza Di Rocco real Italian pizza, one bite and you’ll know. It’s about the freshness and authenticity of a true Italian pizza, though we had enjoyed our dinner there but I would say the lunch deal is a steal.

It’s about il deliziare, temptation, simplicity and ingredient natural to get that exceptional gusto, taste. And it’s about using a traditional hand-tossed base, and culinary techniques passed down through generations, cooked in their handmade cupola-style oven, topped with Italian herbs, and with the true spirit of Italy.

Staff:

The staff here are incredibly pleasant and friendly, and have made a real effort to turn this tiny unit into as pleasant an environment as possible. Deliveries are prompt and Pizzas delivered hot! The staffs are very friendly and accommodating in a way to make sure that your Pizza comes just the way you like it. A tiny place that seems more geared up for a brisk delivery trade than eat-in

Rocco’s dough.

A real pizza always begins with authentic, hand-tossed dough made from 100% fresh ingredients with no preservatives or artificial additives. Rocco’s dough is prepared up to 48 hours in advance, allowing the fermentation process to complete before cooking, ensuring the pizza base is light, crispy, and easy to digest.

Rocco’s sauce

Our expert pizzaiola’s prepare Rocco’s special sauce in store each morning, according to his own traditional recipe and with passion, care and attention….. Made with premium, perfectly ripe peeled Italian tomatoes, and seasoned with authentic Italian herbs.

Ingredients

Rocco is very conscious about the quality of his product. This comes from the quality of his ingredients, which are mostly imported directly from Italy, as he believes there is no substitute for authenticity! Their passion is their pizza and thus focus of all attention at this restaurant is to ensure that flavor, quality or nutrition value will be perfect and not sacrificed at all.

Wow factor:

• Rocco’s pizzas are available in your choice of original white flour, or whole-wheat flour!
• They guarantee the freshest herbs. Italian herbs are so flavorful, and therein is one of the secrets to a beautifully succulent pizzas at Pizza Di Rocco
• There’s only one size pizza here and it’s pretty large.
• We highly regards their commitment to make good staff even better by reassuring them to their commitment hence they usually conduct their Bi-weekly tastings and value staff involvement in the new menu.
• You are offered a choice of a white or whole-wheat base.

We tasted:

Oven-baked Garlic bread came to our table first, Immediately after I’d ordered, a complimentary appetizer of strips of bread i-e rocco’s classic dough baked with fresh rosemary entrenched in it, served with olive oil & garlic /pesto dip and parmesan cheese. It made our expectation even high with rest of the items. They prepare the same with garlic, olive oil and rosemary. We simply loved the Oil infused in-house.

 

Insalata Caprese was very native Italian salad with Fresh buffalo mozzarella, sliced Holland tomato, fresh basil, olive oil. Best quality of cheese you would taste at Pizza Di Rocco.

Di Rocco

It is basically Mixed Italian greens, cherry tomatoes, olives, spring onion, oven baked goat’s cheese, fresh mushrooms, walnuts and pine nuts toss together with sweet balsamic dressing. One of the highlight is the evening and my ultimate favorite salad of all so far I have tasted in any Italian restaurant. The taste of the buffalo cheese and roasted pine amalgamate in such a beautiful way that its gives you this softness along with crunch at the same time in the salad.

Mozzarella Fritta

Thick, creamy slices of mozzarella, breaded and shallow fried. Served with spicy BBQ dip and small green salad – simple but absolutely sensational tasting of back to back antipasti made us full already and by the time our Pizza came we were stuffed.

Diavola is one of their classic range pizza, very basic but full of flavors. It has Tomato sauce, mozzarella, spicy Italian salami and oregano. Each bite was melting in mouth with the perfect ratio of cheese and sauce that it concurs our taste buds.

Fattoria pizza has their signature Tomato sauce, mozzarella, caramelized onions, sun-dried tomatoes, pesto, roast pine nuts and goat cheese. What makes this pizza so special is the taste of the onions as it really balance this pizza with its mild sweetness and is perfect choice for Hawaiian taste pizza lovers. Caramelized onion is the star ingredient of this dish.

In desserts we tried Chef’s special Tiramisu and Gluten free cheese cake and they were to drool fo, fuss free and very delicious.

It was indeed a happy journey and a treat for a true Italian food lover. We are basically glad to discover this unpretentious Italian eatery and moreover delivery point for selling the best pizzas in the emirate.

Have eaten at this small restaurant a couple of times and had a few takeaways at home and work and love their prompt and oven fresh delivery. The pizzas and salads are persistently lip-smacking! All in all for their fresh ingredients, taste quality and made Mahi Blog will rank them 4.6 / 5 on our blog-o-meter.

GIVEAWAY/ COMPETITION: (2 WINNERS)

Mahi Blog and Pizza Di Rocco have teamed up to offer TWO lucky readers “200 DHS value voucher“ to spend at the restaurant.

How to win:

For your chance to win simply do the following:

1- Subscribe (via email id) on Mahi Blog,

2- Share this post using buttons below of FB, Twitter, IG etc

Tag Mahi Blog on FB, Instagram, Twitter to let us know that you share !!!!

“WINNERS WILL BE CHOSEN ON MAXIMUM SHARES BASIS”

To win you must do all the above steps. Winners will be announced on September 22nd, 2015.  Only UAE fans can take part.

Disclaimer & Notes: A huge Thank you to Peter, Pizza Di Rocco’s humble staff & Brandon for coordination. We were invited however it did not influence our thoughts and reviews, all opinions content are our own. You can not use any pics without prior permission.

 

Carluccio’s at YAS Mall – Win Meal Voucher worth 200 dhs #ItalianCuisineCelebrationonMahiBlog

Congratulations, And the winner is:

1) OMAR SAMI

– Thanks for sharing a lot – Please send us your full name and contact details on mahiblog.ae@gmail.com within 2 days to claim your prize. Incase of failure another winner will be chose.

Carluccio’s at Yas Mall:

Those who are following my blog are already aware of my love for this brand. I once read an interview of Founder “ANTONIO CARLUCCIO” where he has mentioned that Olive oil, flour, tomatoes and basil are the ingredients you can’t live without; yes we are talking about 78-year-old Italian chef and restaurateur himself who was in Abu Dhabi last year to open Carluccio’s in Yas Mall – his third restaurant in the capital. Having about 100 restaurants around the world, he shows no signs of slowing down, and his great concept of love for Italian Cuisine is beautifully cascaded to the recipes at Carluccio’s restaurant menu.

Super Gorgeous and our Ultimate Favorite Antipasti Mixed Board, it has each element of our liking ranging from home-baked Focaccia bread to roasted bell pepper with basil pesto.

 

Well, apart from covering their FESTA DELLA PIZZA offerings and tasting from the best pizza festival in town, we did taste their main menu items too, and this time in a different location i-e @ YAS Mall. It is quite a big and spacious venue. In the evening, Carluccio’s welcomes those who are looking for a more relaxed dining experience. Carluccio’s deli here is unrivalled – offering a scrumptious selection of fresh meats, cheese, salads, olives, tarts and baked food items, in addition to a range of take-away dishes, they even sell these handy gadget so you can make similar dishes at home! In short YAS Mall Carluccio’s is not just a food outlet but it is a food shop that offers a range of specially imported products from Italy to give it the authentic taste of Italy to this region.

I must say we had found our spot for comfort food that goes to our very heart. Our visit was memorable; we have been well greeted by the branch supervisor. Kids were well entertained with a customized kid’s pack they offer having a number of fun activities for kids aside from coloring too, I found myself well engross while they were solving the puzzle mysteries.

 

Starters were best to name few were Tomato, Pesto & Garlic Breads. We tried on our host’s recommendation their Ravioli and it is just divine, so full of flavors and the tiny pouches will do the magic mix in your mouth where sauce is so carefully coordinated with soft home-made ravioli which is filled with tender spinach and cheese giving the classic breakdown of each ingredients, it’s just absolute harmony. Being served in a traditional way with butter it kept it’s true essence.

LAGAGNA is also up there in this same category, baked at its perfection simply must-try item on the menu. My kids have thoroughly enjoyed the dish.

Hubby ordered Lamb Shank which is basically slowly braised lamb shank with herbs and vegetable, served with rosemary and mashed potatoes. Meat was well done and juicy at the same time the aroma of braised lamp just satisfies your taste buds and you will fall in love with this dish.  Uncomplicated ingredients, basic taste! It can even cater to my craving for lamb roast incase I am up for big challenges next time.

Kids enjoyed the very simple and basic Penne Pasta with pink sauce, which is too good and accurate to the taste and liking for the kids. The fact that the staff gave extra attention while taking your order you can actually customize your dish by requesting to add on or reduce the selected ingredients.

As for the Desserts, they have a lovely selection. We tried 3 in total, 2 from the new range and one regular.

CASSATA which is Semifreddo Sicilian Dessert with Chocolate pieces (I hardly felt any in mine), pistaccio ice-cream and candied fruits (as it’s comparatively hard to chew dint give me much of my dreamtime while enjoying this dessert.)

 

CHERRY SUNDAE: Being a die-hard fan of cherries I had no reasons not to fall in love with this awesome treat, very well proportionate dessert made by simple amalgamation of Italian Amarena Cherries and Vanilla Ice-cream and the syrup was there to balance the sweet ratio too. Love it!

Last but not the least Chocolate Fondente a warm chocolate pudding served with Ice cream. It was a chocolate lovers dream. Thick, chocolaty goodness all over with a layer of ice-cream. If you want a drinking chocolate version, try the Ciccoletta fiorentina.

WOW Factor:

• On weekend they are serving new Nutella e Banana so go for it!
• If you looking for real taste of Italy at home their colorful cornucopia of fantastic fresh food, Keep sake & store cupboard items and gifts you should definitely pass by their deli.
• Their fondants are mind blowing – pure choco lovers, welcome.

Buon Appetito!

I loved the romantic ambiance and an extended space where you can enjoy with your loved ones or close group of friends for a special dine-outs. There is even possibility to get variety without giving up on your Italian cravings. Categorically worth next visit, maybe even after to try some more Gnocchi next time 😉 I would rate my overall liking for Carluccio’s 4.6 on 5. And it can take mouth-watering 5 for just deli itself as it’s too good to ignore.

Find more info on their FB page here or go to their Website.

GIVEAWAY/ COMPETITION: 

Mahi Blog and Carluccio’s have teamed up to offer Mahi Blog readers “Gift meal Voucher worth AED 200” to be used at any Carluccio’s outlet across UAE

How to win:

For your chance to win simply do the following:

1- Answer the following question in comments; Name any one of the PIZZA offering at Carluccio’s during FESTA DELLA PIZZA?

2- Subscribe (via email id) on Mahi Blog, Share this post on social widgets. (Use buttons below of FB, Twitter, IG etc)

3- Like, Follow, Share us on following:

• Facebook (/mahiblog)
• Twitter (@mahiblog)
• Instagram (@mahiblog)

To win you must do all the above steps. Winners will be announced on September 10th, 2015.  All UAE fans can take part.

Disclaimer & Notes: A huge Thank you to CARLUCCIO’S Management, Andjelka Pavlovic and our host staff at restaurant. We were guests there however it did not influence our thoughts and reviews, all opinions content are our own. Pictures are owned by Mahi Blog. You can not use any pics without prior permission.

 

FUKUROU HOUSE – Intuitive Dining at its finest + WIN #Free Dining Vouchers of 200 dhs

CONGRATULATIONS !!

2 Winners are:

Parveen Sheikh

Chrisfarrales

Send an email asap with your full name and contact details at mahiblog.ae@gmail.com. You have 3 days to claim your prize, incase of failure we will choose new winners.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Me & Hubby went for a Colorful plate and Vibrant Dinner Date to Fukurou House, located in the ground floor of Emirates Financial Towers, behind the Financial Metro Station. I was totally impressed by the picture in link over an invitation by Fukurou House and planned to visit later that month! This is an Armenian place, However restaurant’s name (signifies an old wise bird Owl) doesn’t give out anything regarding the cuisine & it is relatively new in town as well.

Ambiance:

Loved the ambience of the place. A very contemporary look with vibrant decoration made it extra glam. If you go in events time the mood in the restaurant will be brilliant with the classical jazz music playing and dimmed lighting associating with the type of event they are having. The purple hue to the place with the orange table tops  are complemented well by the large wall drawings in black & gold. A very unique fusion of colors and retro type I would say.

 

Management, Service & Staff: 

The staff was quite friendly, services were timely. Each course was well-timed basis, the expected time to finish the dish was continuously communicated by them. The Chef was giving the short description of the dishes making it a very pleasant service experience, I love the fact how the MD himself was involved as he is a great chef himself and his passion for food and cooking just gave him this whole inspiration of making him dream project to come to life and standing its base in DIFC  Dubai today.

Indeed we are talking about Managing Director, Mr. Armen Kostanyan, you will strained to become fraction of his vision once you chat with him regarding his dream project, how he blend in and did fuse the whole concept of Armenian food, contemporary health and Art all under one roof. Once you enter you will witness gallant shades of either colors or lights, don’t worry it won’t blind you, but in fact attract you to move forward and glaring at the walls on left which is so rouge and bling . Striking art pieces and frames from around the world, specifically focused on women empowerment. Freedom, and Soul, creates responsiveness. There is a classic stage with retro mic been placed making it a perfect and ideal location for Art, Brands, and book launches and, presentations or open mic sessions.

We were seated on prim and porch sofas along with our host Armen, while he gave a brief info about the concept. Origin, food, creativity behind FH and then gave us electronic menu to order. I loved the whole idea of browsing through their iPads for menu as I loved the stylishly dressed images and description of each dish, I would envy my hubby if he would order a better looking dish than me, but luckily both our dishes were to look on. It was customer-friendly and easy to navigate thanks to tech savvy UAE.

Food:

We had sampled 2 appetizers and they were so appealing and vibrant in colors and texture and are served completely fresh and gorgeous. To grind our craving we were served complimentary freshly prepared eggplant caviar with Armenian bread. The bread was fresh from the oven.

The first appetizer was smoked salmon roll with zesty orange portions, avocado and organic dill and red capsicum in it, it was served with tangy lime and ginger sauce and gave that extra oomph to this fresh appetizer.  It was indeed spot on! Armen explained us about the quality of the Salmon which is actually sourced and smoked for the restaurant specifically.

2^nd appetizer was Chicken Crepe served a bit warm, it sounds avenue food, but delivered way higher on the appetite as the crepe was soft and crispy at the same time and is also flavored with some extra spices, the crunch of carrot pieces added the shredded chicken’s flavor. This is the first time I have tasted my crepes with yogurt dip with walnuts chunks on it and every bite of that was a journey to fantasy. It looks big in portion for an appetizer but tasted very light.

My favorite dish in the restaurant is the main I have ordered on owner’s recommendation it’s Portobello chicken with a side of tangy salad, while hubby had lamb chops with sweet potatoes puree, Mine was one large mushroom stuffed with oven-baked grilled chicken, cheese and a pineapple salsa side. The dish was brought to the table by Armen, unfortunately I did not find this dish on recent menu but it truly was the captivating factor of that night and would be worth re-visiting for and to order on demand 😉

 

For their carbs portion what I loved is that they serve quinoa or spinach as side with mains too.

In desserts we have tried their cake of the day which is so yummy.

Extra:

In case you are not being a wine drinker, you won’t get apprehended as, they will quickly ask and quell it by this very rich concentrated flavored drink, non Alcoholic Red & White Wine. Hence if you are in a party with friends and are a non-alcoholic it is the perfect way to go about with your meal.

WOW Element:

• Organic, healthy, gorgeous and soulful food . 
• Eggplant Caviar.
• Gleaming chandeliers.
• Bespoke Art Venue; Art gallery is changing dynamically and on Sunday for example it has live painting event, the main column will be changed into street art piece, guests can enjoy their food and witness its creation, starts at 1 pm.
• Large jeweled rack with Mystique and Imperial bracelets and accessories.
• They also have Lunch Specials with 7 types of salmon, 3 types of authentic stews, meatballs, chicken and vegetarian options, starting AED 45.
• Good news is they’ve launched delivery service as well 🙂

Price:

Price is not too less, but excellent value for money. As all items in menu were healthy, fresh and calorie conscious.

All in all Armen’s passion is clearly apparent from his amusing menu, commendations about ingredients and practical loom, an unusual find in Dubai. Fukurou House most definitely offers value for money with soaring quality, ingenious and artistic dishes. Their menu changes on regular intervals and they substitute less selling dishes with newly created ones hence I am willing to return to taste soon. We would rate them 4.4 / 5 on our likeness meter 🙂

For more information or reservations, please contact Fukurou House or visit their FB & Instagram pages

Fukurou House – Ground Floor of Emirates Financial Towers, DIFC in Dubai, UAE

Phone +971 4 552 1540

Email armen@fukurouhouse.com

GIVEAWAY/ COMPETITION:  (2 WINNERS)

Mahi Blog and Fukurou House have teamed up to offer Mahi Blog readers“2 Dine-in Voucher for 200 dhs each”

How to win:

For your chance to win simply do the following:

1- Answer the following question in comments; Name any one of the main course item at Fukurou House?

2- Subscribe (via email id) on Mahi Blog, Share this post on social widgets. (Use buttons below of FB, Twitter, IG etc)

3- Like, Follow, Share us on following:

• Facebook (/mahiblog)
• Twitter (@mahiblog)
• Instagram (@mahiblog)

To win you must do all the above steps. Winners will be announced on August 17th, 2015.  Only UAE fans can take part in contest.

Disclaimer & Notes: A huge Thank you to Fukurou House Staff &  Armen. We were guests there however it did not influence our thoughts and reviews, all opinions content are our own. You can not use any pics without prior permission.