BY: DR. KAVIRAJ KHIALANI- CELEBRITY MASTER CHEF.
Dubai is the second largest emirate in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) sharing borders with Abu Dhabi in the south, Sharjah in the northeast, and the Sultanate of Oman in the southeast. The emirate of Dubai covers an area of 4,114 square kilometres.
Dubai is a city of skyscrapers, ports, and beaches, where big business takes place alongside sun- seeking tourism. Because of its large expatriate population, it feels like a Middle Eastern melting pot, and the atmosphere is generally tolerant.
Religious affiliations are not a prominent aspect of city life. Dubai is famous for wealth, being a multi-cultural place and being a popular luxury travel destination, but Dubai is also famous for its souks, the Dubai Creek, some history and culture, camel riding, dune bashing to name a few & not to forget the gold!
Dubai has some of the best entertainment venues in the world, such as indoor theme parks, an opera house, an aquarium and underwater zoo, museums, and many malls to go shopping at. Tourists can rent a luxury car and drive it around the city to explore Dubai during their stay.
Indulgent, glamorous, and progressive are words that describe Dubai. This United Arab Emirates city is a luxury travel destination for leisure and business travelers. Dubai combines a modern metropolis with a timeless sensibility and Arabian flair.
The UAE culture mainly revolves around the religion of Islam and traditional Arab culture. The influence of Islamic and Arab culture on its architecture, music, attire, cuisine, and lifestyle are very prominent as well.
Dubai boasts of a vivacious and lively nightlife, which is famous all across the world. The city looks completely different once the sun goes down. To enjoy Dubai’s great nightlife, you can also head to Dubai Marina to take a long walk or go for a yacht ride.
My plans to visit Dubai this time happened in a jiffy and it was not a very long in advance planned trip. It had been five years since I had moved out of the country for a break as we had the pandemic in between too amidst us.
Finally, a sigh of relief and excitement to go abroad for a change was chirping all inside the mind as things fell in place. For my travel partner I chose Emirates airlines this time to experience world class luxury in travel with efficient and prompt service which was very much visible and justified all through both ways.
The fact that I wanted to experience royal luxury in hospitality especially at The Atlantis- Palm, Dubai is what motivated me to make it all happen. It is a world-famous property when it comes to listing some popular and well- known hotels- The Atlantis, Dubai was one dream come true!
The journey embarked to Dubai started with experiencing hospitality with the Accor group of hotels namely- the Novotel – Al Barsha at Dubai, where I had planned a few nights. Upon reaching the hotel via my chauffeur driven limousine drive from the airport to the hotel, the courteous and kind staff at the Novotel ensured I was given a room immediately without much delay and wait.
Having upgraded my room from the ninth floor to the nineteenth floor it was a room with a view of the Burj-al-Arab and the sea all the way! After settling the bags and freshening up a little an invite for a lavish spread of buffet breakfast awaited us and to my surprise, I could see an entire international global spread of guests from Filipino, Japanese, Chinese, English, Germans, south African etc who were all there in the restaurant having breakfast to start their day ahead with various reasons while some were there for work and some just dropped in for a holiday- home away from home! The breakfast offering included the classic Arabic breakfast from Khubuz – Arabic bread with a choice of dips and spreads like hummus, labneh, fresh cut salad, olives, pickled vegetables, foul medames – the beans cooked to perfection- just too yummy to enjoy! The choice of egg preparations, sausages, bacon, pancakes, waffles, fresh cut fruits, juices, dry fruits, bakery goodies from croissants to muffins, cupcakes, slice cakes and Danish pastries were quite impressive!
After a hearty breakfast it was time to explore the local markets and malls around the hotel, spent a good time understanding the area around, a little walk thought it was a little warm it was an enjoyable journey all the way. For lunch it was some Chinese at a local restaurant which too turned out to be impressive and well made.
An evening well spent visiting the popular places around town and malls to add to the brands it was dinner time and meeting old connects has always been a pleasure and this time too it was a special invite to Dip Dash Restaurant & café – a creative pan Asian vegetarian outlet in Barsha, which is a must visit place when in Dubai for some great multi-cuisine delicacies very well curated and designed to impress multi-culture guests which have been well executed by the very dynamic owner Ms. Dhwani Maheshwari- we had some nice conversations as well.
here I was warmly welcomed by Chef Prem and his entire team of energetic, creative & friendly team of chefs and servers, the evening saw a variety of starters being served which were not just yummy but the mocktail alongside made it complete and satisfying. Met the entire team of their chefs at the outlet and a brief kitchen visit to was a surprise where the chefs welcomed me with the bouquet of Flowers, we had a brief chat and clicked loads of photos for memories.
Chef Amit too an old connect works here at the same restaurant and it was a nice evening in their company. I personally loved the sushi, khow-suey, dim sums- pan-fried and steamed both, the mocktails were amazing as well not to forget the pannacotta which was truly worth it.
The next day morning starts up with the similar lavish breakfast buffet at the Novotel, followed by a drive down the city to check on the mall of the emirates- a nice place to visit, centrally located and full of international visitors making the most of their time picking brands, looking at offers and satisfying their hunger pangs at a huge number of options available at the food court. Driving back to the hotel and enjoying a nice dinner at the Marriott Marquis Dubai – at their Thai restaurant serving great Thai food with desserts was just right! Days moved by and post breakfast there would be a line up of places to see from the Dubai frame amazing view and must visit place when in Dubai.
Lunches here happened on a very different note from having a wide- variety of choice between Chinese, Thai, Indian, Japanese, Filipino, American and fusion foods it was a great experience all the way. The Miracle Garden too was an amazing place to visit and the marvellous architecture and design was very pleasing and well kept.
Luckily, we went on the last day as the garden goes on a wind up and close mode as of now for a few months. Evenings were very pleasant well spent at outlets serving multi-cuisine foods with beverages to compliment them all the way. After having spent a few days with Novotel it was now time check out from here and drive down to my dream destination The Atlantis Hotel.
Upon reaching this property, having settled the bags, I was guided to the imperial club lounge where we spent a few hours enjoying some tit-bits, hot snacks, cold cuts, fruits, juices, milk-shakes, hot samosas with chutney, wafers, crispies etc. This club lounge is usually for those who book the higher category of the rooms at the Atlantis which is the king club premier room. While the room got ready the view from this hotel as we all know it just mind-blowing and super!
Upon check- in to the room a few mins were spent in complete silence in order to absorb the positivity and the amazing first impression of having a room on the 13 th floor of this wonder with a great view. As a part of my package, I was also invited for an afternoon tea and canapes session which also served champagne and choice of signature cocktails and mocktails to all guests, unlimited for a few hours.
These moments were truly great where we were being pampered and the very friendly staff and managers at the imperial club lounge came to our tables and exchanged words, had great conversations to make us feel comfortable and at home. The further evening was spent checking out the hotel and its facilities, restaurants with a variety of over 10 options serving global gourmet options.
A stroll by the aquarium and lost chambers within the hotel too was nice since it was a visit after a decade to Dubai and it refreshed a lot of earlier memories as well. For Dinner there was a multi-cuisine buffet which was a super hit for the night loaded with guests of all nationalities who came, sat together and enjoyed the delicacies.
From Indian Chaat to Chinese dim sums, Thai curry and jasmine rice, phad thai noodles, salads, bakery offerings from breads to desserts, puddings- pies and main courses to choose from ending up with a white and dark chocolate fountain to be enjoyed with fresh cut fruits, bakery products, marshmellows etc followed up by a cuppa coffee/ tea to end the grand meal. While getting back to the room the amazing night view from the balcony was just too eye catching and worth the photography.
The next day morning waking up in ultimate relaxing environment and taking in some fresh air from that part of the world was just too good. After freshening up there’s a breakfast buffet calling us at the Kaleidoscope outlet besides the saffron as well which also serves breakfast since the number of in-house guests are huge here at all times. The choice of breakfast here too was very fulfilling to the soul but we could not end up tasting every bit of it since the variety offerings were over 65 plus dishes!
From choice of Dosas, Idli- Khandvi, Dhokla, Chana Bhatura, Roesti potatoes, baked potatoes, baked beans, cold- cuts, eggs benedict -live counter plus eggs to order station saw a queue of guests lining up to get their orders customised to kick-start the day! Even if one spent around 3 to 4 hours for this lavish spread of breakfast it would be impossible to taste every bit and food from every corner of this king’s royal breakfast.
Though that was not my intention at all, but I did see and observe people around who tried as much as they could but in vain! The further part of the day was spent enjoying the pool and beach side activities at the Atlantis hotel to capture all the areas as far as possible to take back fond memories of a lifetime from here.
After a mesmerising experience it was now time to move into old Dubai side, also known Bur Dubai where I made a choice to stay with an earlier experienced property with good quality and facilities namely the Royal Ascot hotel. After a quick check in and change it was time to have some nice lunch – choice was Chinese yet again and move to the gold souk by the local mode of transportation called the Abra- ferry which offers shuttle service to and fro. Upon reaching the souk side it was a nice walk down the lanes in the local markets checking out spices, saffron and dry fruits from the choicest quality and price range plus there were clothes, handicrafts, souvenirs as well to pick on the way.
The evenings usually were spent in the company of friends and quality time with conversations- coffee & tempting delights from the menus added value and fun to the days well spent all through. The shopping at the famous malls like the Dubai mall, mall of the emirates and the latest one added to the list being Dubai hills mall were impressive and good number of brands and styles were much visible all over.
The Marriott Marquis hotel too was a great experience having visited the Tong Thai – specialty outlet serving some great Thai delicacies, it was a pleasant evening dining here as well ! One of the evenings which are must mentioning is the one at the famous restaurant Levantara at the Marriott Resort at Jumeira which was planned by Ms. Cecilia and her team of expert chefs and servers, the view, the food and wine, the pampering, the surprises, the company and moments spent here were just too touching and impressive. The loads of people in the malls enjoying the promos and relishing the foods at the outlets and food courts were truly mesmerising to see that all of us need a break from routines and we need to pamper ourselves once in a while with all the goodness available around us. From the popular Turkish sweets, the baklava and the very popular and branded chocolate brand Patchi from Dubai was a must indulgence into and found its ways into the bags being packed up for back home relishing!
It was a great experience at the double tree by Hilton for lunch where the chefs and team were not only very welcoming but also extended their best options for me to try for lunch being a vegan menu this time. The finale dinner was planned at the rooftop penthouse lounge and bar called Eve at the Hyatt Regency Heights- Dubai creek a tall set of towers with amazing ambience, f & b outlets like the market 24 which served great Thai and Japanese foods, loved the wine as well at the 34 th floor with an amazing view of Dubai from the top!
On the whole if I look back to those ten days of complete off work mode status, it was a pleasing phase and a boost for the mind-body & soul to refresh – revive and reaffirm itself back to work. The way back journey too was booked up with Emirates airlines and the service, food & beverage choice, quality and value for money was well met with and
embarking back home after this break truly made me feel that a long-awaited bread and holiday was finally achieved.
I wish to extend my sincere gratitude and thank you with best wishes to all those who made this worthwhile and added value into my memory lists! Looking forward to planning up my next adventure hospitality- culinary & tourism related trip in the months to come!
