GETTING A TASTE OF AUTHENTIC EMIRATI CUISINE AND CULTURE AT 'AL FANAR'
Al Fanar Restaurant & Cafe, Dubai Festival City Mall
ABOUT:
The term, 'Emirati' is given to the people who hold UAE's nationality.
UAE is lacking restaurants that serve authentic Emirati food, Al Fanar is one restaurant where you can experience the Emirati heritage as well as have good Emirati food.
Al Fanar does not just serve authentic Emirati cuisine, instead they decided to take it one step further and give the customers an unforgettable experience. They decided to create a Bedouin type village to bring back the traditional moments of UAE and made it look like what UAE would look like in the 1960's. You can experience a proper traditional and cultural experience because it makes you feel lime you are in the moment, experiencing it.
You have two options, one to sit outside in a majlis (a place to sit) where you take off your shoes and eat the way the Emirati's would in 1960. Normally people would prefer to sit in a majlis and eat because that is where they all came together and it became a tradition since then. By sitting there you learn about the history and important aspects of the culture. The other option is to sit inside, where there are stone walls that are decorated, reminding you of the buildings that would appear in the past. The way of constructing the place was to show us and make us experience the history that we learn about.
THE MENU:
The menu of Al Fanar was quite extensive and interesting. They had authentic dishes and very well known dishes. Al Fanar serves 'all day breakfast' and other general food.
For breakfast in the UAE they usually traditional breads, 'Raqaq', 'Khameer', and 'Chebab'. Usually served with cheese, date, syrup or eggs.
For main courses, the traditional Emirati food would consist a lot of meat, grain and dairy because of the harsh hot, desert weather conditions.
To prepare desserts and sweets; Dates, saffron and cardamom are the main ingredients that are used.
For food we tried their speciality, which was traditional biryani and the meat kebabs. Excellent service and quality, brings back the authentic Emirati taste from the 60's. You cannot leave the restaurant without trying their desserts! For dessert we ordered their best dessert, which was Legaimat. It is a very popular dessert and one of their most traditional ones. We tried a drink called, 'Aryan Laban', which was a yoghurt, refreshing drink and 'Karak chai', arabic culture is incomplete without chai!
LOCATION & CONTACT DETAILS:
Dubai festival city, canal walk, Dubai
04 232 9966
