Savouring the delights of Dubai
A short stop-over to break up a long-haul flight gave SA writer Amanda McInerney the chance to tick off an item on her bucket list – a Dubai food tour. And she certainly didn’t go hungry.
When we fly home from Europe we usually stop over in Hong Kong or Singapore, but on our last trip we came back via Dubai. Now I know that this city is popular for shopping, but for me the thought of a Dubai food tour was far more attractive.
I love Middle Eastern food and the opportunity to try it at the source was very exciting.
Dubai is big, modern and a shopping mecca – and that is all most people experience of the place, but by taking part in a Frying Pan Adventures Dubai Food tour we visited a part of the city not frequented by most tourists – the old town.
Dubai is not a particularly old city, but there are two distinct parts. Heading north and crossing the Jumeirah Creek places the traveller in the back streets of a vibrant neighbourhood where the locals live their lives.
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This town is hot and, as a South Australian born and bred, I’m used to summer heat, but I don’t function at all well in it, so was quite pleased that the tour began in the (relative) cool of the evening. A small group of us met up on a street corner and began our food adventure, winding our way through the back streets – all the while eating. And eating.
I soon lost count of the number of restaurants and food stalls we meandered in and out of, following the delightful Stephanie, our guide, like ducklings behind a mother duck. Some of the dishes we tried were familiar to me, others not – but there was no shortage of food on this tour.
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Which brings me to my big tip – do not eat before going on one of Frying Pan Adventures’ tours. This was probably one of the most generous food tours I’ve ever been on (and I’ve done a lot of food tours).
The food was amazing and I wanted to try everything – by the end of the evening I was groaning with the extra weight of the food baby I was carrying around.
Our final stop for the evening was at Sadaf Iranian Sweets and Spices where, miraculously, I was able to find just enough room for Iranian faloodeh, an icy dessert of sweetened noodles with rosewater served with saffron bastani (ice cream). This store was a spice lover’s heaven, full of nuts, spices, spice blends and the cheapest saffron I’ve ever seen.
I came home with heaps, but still wish I’d bought more.
Frying Pan Adventures conducts a range of food trails all year round. All details are on its website.
South Australian writer Amanda McInerney writes about travel and food on her Lambs’ Ears & Honey blog, where this article was originally published.
