Blue Barjeel Restaurant & Cafe

We concluded my first weekend in Dubai with a dinner date by the Dubai Creek. Mark chose this restaurant because he says that the food here is good. He would usually stop by this restaurant for some gastronomic treat before heading to the camp. It is also just a few walks away from the Al Ghubaiba metro station and near the bus station to Abu Dhabi.

There's an air-conditioned part of the restaurant, where the kitchen is also situated, but we chose to have an al fresco dining experience.

It's already past 6pm but the sun's still up and bright! :D

A Filipina waiting staff ushered us to our seats and handed us the menu after we were settled. We placed our orders which were served shortly after. For our drinks I had iced tea while Mark had his favorite avocado shake.

Avocado Shake - 12.00 AED, Iced Tea - 10.00 AED

We were too thirsty that we gulped down our glasses the moment our drinks were served, and ordered for a big bottle of water.

Mark and I are both non-smokers but he insisted that we try their shisha out.

We've already tried a couple of shisha back in the Philippines, but I don't think I'll ever get it right. I always sip and inhale the smoke too much that I always end up coughing. :p

Shisha - 25.00 AED

Along with our drinks and shisha, these were also served. I was having a conversation with myself in my head while trying to recall what Mark had ordered. I thought they're some sort of ingredients for shabu-shabu. Hahaha! Apparently, this is how they start off with their meals here in Dubai. :p

Complimentary Salad (tomato, carrots, cucumber, spinach, and lemon)

It was my first time to try eating raw spinach. It was actually good. It's sweet and kind of the same with lettuce but with a little nutty taste. The larger leaves were bitter though.

I don't hate pickles but I'm also not a fan, so I left this one untouched. Mark insisted that I taste the pickled chili and I think I trusted him too much when he assured that it's not spicy, so I gave in. It was actually sweet and tangy at the first bite but became hotter as I chewed. Mark was laughing when he saw me almost teary-eyed with the chili's heat. Oh, such a bully!

Complimentary Salad (pickled chili, carrots, ampalaya, and cucumber)

Good thing we were also served with complimentary paratha, which I grabbed and munched immediately to relieve my burning mouth. :p

Complimentary Paratha

Whenever we dine out when Mark's on a diet, he wouldn't eat anything if it's not grilled, so I wasn't surprised when he ordered Mixed Grill Plate. It had the same meat components like the one that we had in Ravi Restaurant, plus some grilled onions, tomatoes, bell pepper, parsley, and chives which added more flavor to the meat.

Mixed Grill Plate - 35.00 AED

Mark has been raving about how good shawarmas are here in the UAE, so I opted for the Shawarma Plate. I wasn't expecting something like the one in the picture below and thought we were served with the wrong dish so I called the attention of the waiting staff who confirmed that it's the Shawarma Plate. :p

Shawarma Plate - 25.00 AED

It's a deconstructed shawarma, with the chicken strips sitting on the Greek yogurt and then topped with the crispy shawarma bread, plus tomatoes, lemon, and bell peppers on the side.

And Mark was right. This shawarma was more than delectable! The chicken had that distinct Indian taste and was mildly spicy. I loved the Greek yogurt as it balanced out the spicy taste. I just didn't like the crispy bread though. I instead ate it with the paratha. I filled the paratha with the chicken strips and yogurt and then rolled it like the usual shawarma. It was so good that I wiped my plate clean!

Shawarma Plate - 25.00 AED

With good food and nice ambience, it's no wonder why Mark frequents this restaurant. Dining in Blue Barjeel was indeed a great way to cap off our fun weekend. :)

BLUE BARJEEL RESTAURANT & CAFE
Near HSBC Bank, Al Ghubaiba Road
Meena Bazaar, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
+971.4.353.2200 / +971.4.353.6007
Nearest metro station: Al Ghubaiba (Green Line)