With only a couple of weeks left before Ramadan, aside from our Muslim brothers getting ready for this holy month, restaurants and hotels alike are also gearing up for their Iftar and Suhoor offerings—ranging from traditional feasts to lavish and extravagant ones.

While the dining scene in Dubai is at its height on weekends because of brunches here and there, weekdays don't come far behind. Most of the hotel restaurants offer theme nights on weekdays—which is sort of a mini version of a weekend brunch and is mostly focused on a specific "theme" or cuisine each night.

I'd been to the Medley Restaurant before for Iftar, and just a couple of weeks ago, Mark and I were back at Medley to experience their Indian themed night. Dubbed as the "Art of Spice", the theme night offers a buffet spread of authentic Indian dishes with ingredients and flavors inspired by the North Indian region, all curated by the award winning chef Sweety Singh.

It's World Chocolate Day today! As early as last Monday, our friends from Movenpick Hotel Bur Dubai sent us a sweet surprise in preparation for today.

Imagine this: all-you-can-eat choice cuts of prime steaks, mouth watering ribs, a selection of Indonesian, Japanese, and Arabic grills, and fresh seafood; all grilled right before your eyes, plus so much more! Too good to be true, eh? Well apparently not!

The Art of Brunch immediately captivated my heart (and tummy!) when I first got to try it almost a year back. So when our friends from Movenpick Hotel & Apartments Bur Dubai extended another invitation for us to sample their revamped Friday brunch offer, I immediately confirmed as I already knew that I'd be having one helluva gastronomic treat!

It was also very timely that my college friend, Kristel, is in town for a vacation so I didn't have second thoughts when I tagged her along. I was sure that The Art of Brunch would not let me down.

Although there are already a number of Filipino restaurants here in Dubai, it is very rare for international restaurants, or at least with the ones that I tried, to include Filipino cuisine in the menu. Which is why I was stoked when I knew that the Eatery Restaurant in Four Points by Sheraton Downtown Dubai devoted an entire night to highlight the Filipino cuisine. They have International themed-buffet every night and on Fridays, they have this Filipino themed-buffet which they call Kabayan Fiesta.

Mark and I were invited to grace the launch of Olive Oil, Jumeira Rotana’s new all day dining restaurant, a couple of weeks back. While the hotel was unfamiliar to us and was a bit of a struggle to get to (it's tucked in 2nd December Street in Satwa, with all the traffic especially since it's rush hour), the restaurant was easy to find as it's located on the ground floor of the hotel.

One Friday night, Mark and I found ourselves at the streets of Jumeirah, where the venue of our foodie feast is. I got an invite from the owner of Grand Barbecue restaurant to try out the restaurant's pride, their buffet. The restaurant may look unassuming from the outside, but a grand and elegant ambience is what will welcome you when you enter the restaurant.

Friday brunches are a common thing here in Dubai for families, both locals and expats alike. I've been in Dubai for a little over year, and I have already observed how they take Friday (or weekend) brunches so passionately. And while almost all hotels here offer brunches, each still has their own way of making their brunch stand out.

One fine Friday afternoon, Mark and I found ourselves indulging in a festive spread yet again, this time at Dusit Thani Dubai.

We arrived at the hotel a little past noon and were welcomed by the Thai musicians playing traditional Thai instruments, serenading us with a soothing music that filled the air.

A couple of weeks back, I got to indulge into another lavish Iftar buffet, this time at Liwan restaurant in Al Ghurair Rayhaan by Rotana. I was actually invited to the Iftar night for bloggers and media, but it's a weekday and my schedule didn't permit. Good thing Ferry was able to arrange a night for Mark, Cherry, and I on the following weekend.

As part of the hotel’s 40th anniversary celebration, Radisson Blu Hotel, Dubai Deira Creek invites guests to enjoy the vast buffet for Iftar. Mark and I have already tried their Friday Brunch and we enjoyed it, so we obliged when we got another invite for their Royal Iftar on the second night of Ramadan.

We already had our Friday Brunch at The Fish Market and Shabestan (will share more details on my next post), so we chose to have our Iftar at Minato this time. Minato is one of Radisson Blu's restaurant which takes pride of their unsurpassed hospitality and their authentic Japanese cuisine including hand-crafted sushi and teppanyaki.

Ramadan is drawing near and is expected to begin in barely a couple of weeks from now. Although we have Filipino Muslim brothers back home, I never really knew anything about Ramadan, except for them having to fast and pray for the whole month. And I, being a Catholic and a first-timer in the UAE, am very much excited to finally get to witness and have a first-hand experience of Ramadan.

I only knew of Ramadan as having to fast for hours until sundown, when everyone then gets to go to prayer, break their fast, and eat. It was only until I got an invite for a pre-Ramadan Iftar (Arabic term for breakfast; the evening meal when Muslims end their daily Ramadan fast at sunset) that I knew that breaking the fast would also mean having a feast, an extravagant feast I must add, and that almost all hotels and restaurants here offer sumptuous and lavish feasts for Iftar.

PRESS RELEASE

Pullman Dubai Deira City Centre is ready to nourish you and your loved ones with a variety of offers to enjoy this Holy month of Ramadan.

Gather your family around the table and relish the Ramadan feast for Iftar and Suhoor prepared by Executive Chef Andreas and Chef Mama’s pan-Arabian delights, traditional sweets and savoury delicacies with a Moroccan twist. With its mouth-watering buffet and best family- friendly setting in town, Medley is the ideal place of choice to experience the true spirit of the month.

Prolong your experience at Pullman Dubai Deira City Centre’s Azure lounge by choosing your favorite flavour of Shisha from 13 different options while gazing over Old Dubai’s skyline.

Thought only Oktoberfest existed? Well, I thought so too. While many are familiar with the German festival of Oktoberfest, which we celebrate in the Philippines too, the spring offering of Maifest is lesser known to me, but it is apparently celebrated in much the same way.

Maifest is the traditional German celebration that marks the arrival of spring and Mark and I got to experience it when it came back at Grand Hyatt Dubai for a third year running, last April 29, just as summer in Dubai has officially started.

Mark and I had such a fun experience during our dhow cruise dinner care of Radisson Blu Hotel in Deira. So when I got another invite from Radisson Blu, I knew that it would be something not worth missing out on.

We were again invited by Radisson Blu Hotel in Dubai Deira Creek a couple of weeks back to try out their Kids Are Kings Family Brunch at the Fish Market, which offers a delectable sea-worthy selection inspired by Fish Markets of Thailand.

Mark was still nursing an injured leg, so I had to walk him through the buffet spread first so he can choose. I was only expecting plates of seafood not until I saw the rest of the spread. The brunch is apparently a collaboration among Radisson Blu's restaurants and Fish Market is just one of the hosts.

I got to stay in Abu Dhabi for a week during my first few months here in the UAE. So I somehow got a glimpse of the city and I was also able to visit the World's Largest Indoor Theme Park, Ferrari World (alright I totally forgot to write about that, so watch out for the details in my next posts :D).

Mark has also been telling me about how Abu Dhabi is the richest among the Seven Emirates, with it's oil resources and all, but I must admit that Dubai has left me totally flabbergasted more the moment I set foot on it than Abu Dhabi has.

The renewal center in Farmers Plaza has already transferred, so after our merienda, we headed to SM Megamall because we will be having dinner there and there's also a renewal center there.


We got to the mall a little after 4pm only to find out that the renewal center has also transferred. And because we were still too early for our dinner reservation, and as per Jaoey's suggestion, we decided to kill time in the arcade.

I know I haven't been that active in updating this blog as often, and it's been a while since I last got invited over to a food event, so I was more than delighted when I got an email of an invite to another food launch a couple of weeks back.


Our family loves to eat and although we do not usually dine out, we've been to a lot of buffets already. Our most recent buffet dining experience was the best for all of us except for my dad. Knowing my dad who has palates that are very hard to please, he only raves about one buffet restaurant, DADS buffet, that is.