I hope you're having an amazing day.
It's Mark Wiens.
I'm in Dubai, UAE, and I'm on my way to go meet my friend Peyman.
He's from Dubai.
He's a local travel TV host.
He's just an awesome guy, and he also loves to eat.
So in this video, we're going to take you on a food tour of Dubai and in this video, we're going to show you some of the best restaurants.
So we're at Dubai Festival City and we're gonna go to probably the lone Emirati restaurant in Dubai.
It's called Al Fanar.
And this is one of the Emirati restaurants that serves exclusively Emirati food?
Absolutely, I think it's the only one that does exclusively Emirati.
All right, cool.
So this is gonna be the first stop on this Dubai food tour.
This place up nice.
It looks like an old market slash a village.
They have it all on the menu.
And I'm gonna fully rely on Pemun to do all the ordering for us.
There's this coffee culture over here, right?
So little cups like like that yeah, and then you've got the coffee coffee pot and the person who's serving the coffee.
So if I'm the host, I have to serve you the coffee.
I have to hold the cup in my right hand because I have to hand it to you in my right hand, so the coffee on the left hand, and it's usually little bit like that, so you never fill up the the cup, and then i can offer you the coffee.
Thank you, and i, how do i accept it in any way?
You hold it and i need to wait.
Uh, you need.
You keep drinking and i can keep pouring for you and keep pouring for you once you are done.
You don't want anymore.
You do this.
We got coffee, we got a bunch of food.
That has all just arrived.
We're here with Pim and Dwight, and Ying and Mike are here.
Yeah.
It's really, really fragrant.
Because not only do you taste the coffee, but you really taste the cardamom, and maybe sometimes it has rose water, sometimes as well.
Or kind of florally.
Correct, and sometimes they have saffron in there.
So this is called legaymort.
Legaymort, okay.
And this is, so you do this mainly for dessert and you also do it during Ramadan.
So during Ramadan they make this almost every single day.
It's golden.
And then you can see the date syrup on top, and then you can also see some sesame seeds sprinkled on top.
Oh yeah, it's gooey on the inside and then just has that crunchy crust around the outside.
This is the bread that's soaked into the gravy and it gets soggy like that.
Thank you very much.
So this is called tarid.
Tarid.
Yeah, and basically, it's like a very thin, crispy pancake, and it's what we're gonna have later with the fish sauce.
Okay.
Okay?
But in this case it has it's just plain broken up into chunks, and then the gravy is just poured on top of it.
So it gets soggy like that.
It just sucks in all the juice, which is amazing.
And it's chicken also?
Or is that lamb?
This is lamb.
Mmm.
You see how that texture, how it's just soaked and all that.
It looks like it's gonna be more dense, but it's really, really fluffy and really light.
And then you can taste the tomatoes in there.
You can taste the essence of the carrots.
It's really, really soothing, kind of.
Great dish.
It just absorbs all of that flavor.
And it's a combination of.
You can see the shreds of chicken in there and there's a grain in there also.
It's almost like porridge looking in texture.
It's slightly like gummy in texture.
It's really soft.
It is like a thick sauce, but then you can really taste the richness of the chicken in there.
We call it belalit.
And belalit is basically, you see that vermicelli over there.
And the vermicelli is cooked like very quickly with just like sugar and saffron.
Simple.
And cardamom as well.
And then you just lay like a nice omelet on top of it.
So pure breakfast meal.
You can smell the light aroma of the saffron in there and maybe a little bit of like the kind of sweet spices like cardamom are all right.
It's really a unique, interesting dish, both in flavor and in texture, because you got those noodles which you can feel, every piece of noodle, and then the omelet.
And yeah, you can feel it's kind of like, yeah, it feels like a pancake.
It feels like a pancake.
And then dip.
Cream cheese.
The pancake is a little spongy, a little bit gooey.
It's kind of fragrant.
And then yeah, that's just like... nice cream cheese to go with it.
That's good.
I do like that.
So this one, what I suggest is we have it with the date syrup.
Okay.
So you get like this date syrup.
I'll just pour it on right here.
Okay.
Knock on wood.
We say knock on wood.
So you see that, you can hear the crunch a little bit.
They're like little hockey puck sizes.
Oh.
It's really fluffy, really spongy on the inside.
Has a crispy outer edge, and then that date syrup is really, really good.
It's really fragrant.
Oh yeah, you're gonna wanna lick your fingers on this one.
You have to.
You have to.
You gotta do it.
That was really, really excellent food, authentic Emirati food.
This is the place that you can come for authentic Emirati food.
They have the full range of rice dishes as well, but we decided to eat mostly a mix of snacks and breakfast because we're gonna eat a lot more rice and bigger Emirati food dishes today as well, so that's coming up.
We just drove through downtown Dubai.
You can see the skyline which is always impressive.
Just giant skyscrapers just reaching the sky within the desert.
And we're on our way next to have some tea.
It's a special kind of tea, though.
Okay, yeah, it's a special kind of tea.
Karak, over here, K-A-R-A-K.
Okay.
But it's actually Kadak, K-A-D-A-K, and it's from India.
And what it means is really strong tea, like black tea, with either fresh milk or condensed milk.
And we get it in a traditional drive-through.
And I'll show you what that means.
Cool.
So, same Karak for everybody?
Yes.
Yeah?
Should I film them?
I should do that, right?
Let me come and show you what it's like, what they're doing.
And then we can fake it that we didn't go out of the car.
Yeah.
This is just a little kiosk, so it's all like in your car.
Ah, yeah, thank you very much.
Yes, okay.
Great.
Okay.
This is a normal one.
You just pull up your car, you sit in the AC because it's blazing hot outside.
And it's not even a restaurant, it's just a little kiosk shop right within the kind of a building.
A little kiosk, a little hole in the wall.
And they deliver it right to your window so you don't even need to get out of your seat.
You can sit here relaxing in the AC.
Oh yeah.
It's really, really good.
It's so creamy.
You can taste the strength of the tea and it is quite sweet, but you need that when it's when it's so hot outside, you need that that, that extra boost of sugar.
Yeah, the experience i always say is fantastic.
Oh yeah, you'll see all kinds of people.
So this cop car, just The police, come and drink tea here.
Everybody's here.
If you come here at night, I mean, there is a line.
The whole parking lot is full?
Absolutely.
So people come and they just order this.
They park over here, get out of the car or sit in the car.
And what's the name of the place?
Dunya Al Sham.
Dunya Al Sham.
It says Dunya Al Sham Pastry.
They do pastries as well.
Oh, okay.
But I mean, that's secondary.
Everyone goes.
How many cups would one have per day?
A few cups per day?
Yes.
Or many, many more than a few.
I'm terrible.
I might have like two, three of these a day.
Okay.
On top of the coffee, the amount of coffee that we drink, and everything.
Perfect way to take the drive.
And we are now at a restaurant called Al Marabani and this is where we're gonna have a real feast of a lunch, with rice and some amazing food.
Oh yeah, oh yeah.
Yeah, this is gonna be great.
That's all I got to say.
I can't wait.
They have a communal area, but upstairs they have private rooms, so you can get a little more privacy.
You can come in here with your own group and it's a traditional dining setting.
Oh, this is absolutely perfect for Micah.
He can take a nap while we're.
Most of the dishes are rice along with a variety of different meats, and Pei Min was telling me that the mendi is a style of meat preparation that's usually traditionally underground, where they slow cook the meat so it's just fall off the bone tender, and the food here is mostly Yemeni in origin.
The food comes really fast because all of the meats have been precooked, slow cooked.
You can see them glistening.
And they serve, we ordered all family style, so they have a platter.
There's rice on the base.
We got both chicken, which is red in color, and you can see how that's just glistening in the light.
And then we got a lamb drumstick on top. plus a few different salads and sauces to go with it.
And we're gonna eat the traditional style where we just all dig into the central platter.
Oh, you can just feel how tender that's gonna be.
That's gonna be like effortless chewing.
Okay.
You know, that is the perfect sign right from there.
Just a clean bone, it just slides out.
So this meat is gonna be insane.
Look at the way this lamb just falls apart.
Oh, I think a baby could definitely eat that.
Okay, so I'm just gonna tear off this drumstick.
Lamb drumstick.
We gotta share it, we gotta share it.
Alright, that opens it up and now we can dig into some of that lamb with the rice.
Alright, got some, oh that lamb is just crazy tender.
Oh man.
Yeah, it's just ultimate tenderness.
Got the fatty juices flowing.
Oh, that's flavorful.
So the red sauce is like a tomato-based sauce?
It's basically a tomato puree.
It's probably got some greens in there, maybe a little bit of salt, a little bit of lemon.
A little bit of yogurt.
Right on top.
And then you can scoot the chicken over a little bit.
Just mix it up with the rice.
And you can see the rice is really long grain.
It's really long grain rice.
It's with that tomato sauce.
It's outstanding.
The tomato sauce is really refreshing.
It's really tomatoey, but it's really light at the same time.
You can't even hold the chicken without it.
If you grab a part of the chicken, it will just fall apart in your fingers.
I don't even know how they can assemble it without keeping the meat intact.
It's so soft and tender.
That sauce is really, really good.
And then a little bit of yogurt.
Go for it.
All right, man.
Grab some of that chicken and you're gonna really love.
Just, I mean, one of the best things about eating with your fingers is it adds an extra element to not only the flavor, because you actually get to feel what you're eating.
Yeah, it's so good.
Chicken is really flavorful too.
And then just that combination.
But the lamb is where it's at though.
The lamb is where it's at.
They're both really good though.
Oh, I got a good piece of fatty meat.
Green chilies here, which they provide for you, which could be the perfect accompaniment to this meat and rice feast.
Oh yeah.
Oh, it's really fragrant.
So far it's not spicy, but it's the type of chili that kind of grows on you, I think.
Oh, that's just, oh yeah.
Okay, that bite had some seeds in it, so that has a little bit of heat to it.
It's fantastic.
That meal was absolutely just a stunning meal.
And now we are just.
A great thing about this room is you can just sit back on these pillows and relax after eating.
And if you wanna lay down, you know.
It's completely acceptable.
Yeah, that siesta before you leave.
That was such good food.
The lamb in particular was just the highlight for me.
It was so unbelievably tender.
And also, not only is the food really amazing, but the thing I love so much is us eating together, being able to share the same platter of food, and it's like this throughout this whole region.
You share a meal together, and it really is a special part of the culture.
Oh, back into the oven.
These guys are mostly iranian, owned most of these little bakalas.
Now what they started doing is they started making bread right in front of it, so they have like this little space over there where they just do bread.
Now these guys do that thin, crispy bread called ragag and they'll give it to you.
You can have it savory and you can have it sweet, but the one that is the classic is just that bread, lots of good oil, and then that fish sauce.
It is superb.
This is something you won't get in many places.
This is really unique.
Just from the appearance of the shop with the the random balloons hanging outside of the shop, you know it's gonna be good.
It's a little grocery slash convenience store in the door but you don't even need to go inside to watch him make the bread.
Oh, he's gonna make it right now, and it's called ragag.
That's the fish sauce.
Wow.
Make one of the chips dude.
Oh, that was an awesome toss.
There's gonna be more, come on.
I've never seen chips like this.
I've never seen chips like this.
My favorite part of him making it is when he takes the little triangle of cheese and because the cheese is half melted, because it's sitting in the Dubai heat, he just kinda like all with one hand he opens it and just kinda like squeezes the cheese and kind of like flicks it onto the base.
And then after that, he has some fish sauce.
And this is a local fish sauce made from anchovies that he sprinkles on.
And then oh, and that's my other favorite part
When he finishes, he folds it up and then he tosses it perfectly.
So that's the special.
So it's the ragak bread.
It's got an egg on top of it.
It's got cheese and it's got the fish sauce.
It's like super hot.
That's right off the griddle.
There we go.
That one's for you.
Thank you.
It's super hot.
Cheers, man.
Cheers.
Oh, it's amazing.
Oh, that's so good because it's crispy and hot.
And then you've got that salty, creamy cheese.
And then you have the extra saltiness from that fish sauce.
I mean, this is a must have if you come to Dubai.
I couldn't let you leave Dubai without having this.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Yeah.
Huge thanks to Payman for bringing me to all these places.
That's a snack worth standing in the 110 degree weather and watching it being made and sweating to eat.
This is gonna be the one with the chips.
Oh, with chips.
If things could not get better, these are just some Chips Oman.
They are potato chips.
He crunched them up in his fingers and then he opened the bag and then sprinkled them on top.
I got you something else as well.
Oh, cool.
So with that other ragak bread, the one with the chips, you gotta have labem.
So you know, this is like salted yogurt.
Oh, nice.
With the potato chips on the inside.
So this one's for you.
Thank you.
Oh, and the hot sauce too.
So it has like a vinegary sourness to it.
That creamy cheese, the potato chips, which are crunchy.
You know the base of it.
The bread almost kind of has a dose of texture, a dose of texture and flavor to it.
Absolutely close to it.
Thank you.
Oh, it's so refreshing.
Oh, that's cold.
That combination is fantastic.
What a combination.
And this is just an amazing stall.
He is such a skillful chef.
I love to watch him make it.
And we're moving on.
Got some water, you gotta stay hydrated.
But the guys here, the whole crew here is really, really cool.
They're really nice, they're really friendly.
It's such a cool place. were discussing how Emirati food is not all that common at restaurants.
And there are not even that many Emirati restaurants within Dubai.
There are so many international restaurants.
But when I came to Dubai, I really wanted to focus on eating Emirati food.
And one of the reasons that there's not that many Emirati restaurants is because everybody eats Emirati food at their homes.
And so you eat with your family and you eat with your friends at home, you home cook it.
And so it's still even a new concept to eat Emirati food out at restaurants.
This is gonna be the finale of this food tour today.
Peman also happens to be an amazing cook, and so he's invited us him and his wife have invited us over to their apartment, and we're gonna cook for dinner tonight.
We're gonna be making a dish called Mechboos.
Oh, those are lemons.
Yeah.
I don't know if you guys do dried lemon. fully dried lemon.
So that's what it looks like on the inside.
This is just black pepper.
The first step is to fry the fish, and we've got some little palm-thread fish frying in a little bit of oil and then just seasoning with salt and pepper.
The fish doesn't need to cook for long because mainly it's gonna cook again.
But we really wanna use that fish oil to flavor the whole dish and to flavor the rice and that's gonna be what gives the mech boosts a lot of its flavor.
Onions first.
Onions into that boil where the fish has been fried.
He added in the garlic and onions, frying that around in the oil, and then added in the turmeric, the coriander powder, those dry lemons which are so aromatic, and then some salt and pepper in there as well.
Saffron as well.
Those tomatoes are just going to suck up all of the fresh coriander as well.
All of that spice, that rich sauce.
The tomatoes are in there, the coriander, the cilantro is in there.
They're all just sizzling away and then you take the fish and you put that back into the sauce to sizzle away and let all this flavor just mingle and come together.
And a little bit of water in there.
So the final step is to add in the raw rice and put that in there.
You cook it along with everything.
So all the flavors mingle, everything mixes together and that's just gonna be one aromatic all-in-one meal with fish and herbs and spices and rice all together.
And as that cooks, we're sitting down to have some tea and some dates.
Oh, tea is wonderful.
Oh, that's a really, really like honey date, almost like crystallized honey.
Thank you very much.
I'm gonna dig into some of this rice first.
Oh, thank you.
And some pickled shallots to go with it as well.
Mmm.
Oh, it's awesome.
Seriously?
Really good.
Oh yeah, and that lemon comes in so nicely.
It comes in good, yeah.
Has this like citrusy complexity to it.
And then it's.
You can taste those tomatoes in there which have just been boiled down until they've just disintegrated into the rice.
You can taste a little bit of the fish flavor.
Paimon, you did an awesome job cooking.
My pleasure.
And all the food today has been fantastic.
Fantastic.
It's good to have you guys with us, really.
Just an amazing day of eating local and Emirati food with Paiman.
They have shown us really great hospitality, and I've enjoyed every single bite of this entire day.
I want to say a big thank you to Paiman.
I'll leave his link in the description box below.
He vlogs, you can follow his social media, check out all the links below.
And I wanna say a big thank you to you for watching this video.
Please remember to give it a thumbs up if you enjoyed it.
And I would love to hear from you in the comments section below.
And subscribe for lots more food and travel videos.
Good night.
Thanks again.
A pleasure.
It was great to see you again.
Thank you.
Thank you.
