The camel menu at FANR
We’ve tried every dish on the camel-inspired menu at FANR restaurant at Manarat Al Saadiyat - trust us, you’ll love it too. The harira soup with minced camel meat and coriander is pure Moroccan comfort food. There’s a camel burger on offer that comes on a crispy, toasted bun with halloumi cheese, but my favourite main is the East African camel stew. The tender, mouthwatering leg meat, which is braised for 24 hours with carrots and potatoes, is piled on tomato-based couscous with pomegranate seeds, slivered almonds and dates. The camel-filled ravioli are pillowy parcels are stuffed with minced camel meat and ricotta; drizzled with Parmesan cream and accompanied by capers and sweet, oven-dried tomatoes that pair well with the hearty meat in the ravioli. Kids will love the cheesy sfiha, an Arabic pizza is loaded with halloumi and mozzarella cheese, arabic spices and camel meat. Make sure to save room for the warm bread-and-butter camel milk pudding. Made with saffron-flavoured camel milk ice cream and loaded with dates, nuts and chocolate chips, it’s certainly a contender for tastiest dessert in the capital. The camel menu is available for lunch and dinner through August 31. For reservations, call 02 657 5888.
* Stacie Overton Johnson
Qcumber fizzy drink
Our drink of the summer is hereby declared Qcumber, which tastes like the cucumber water you drink in the spa, only fizzy and a touch sweeter. It’s flavoured with natural cucumber and sweetened only with beet sugar. While it costs around Dh18 at local food spots such as Love Doughnuts and Taqado, you can get it cheaper by ordering by the case through the Dubai-based Limeline Premium Beverages (limeline-me.com), which offers free delivery of “soft drinks for grown ups” with a minimum order of three cases (a case of 12 is Dh110.19).
ESPA at the Venetian Village
We keep forgetting about ESPA, as it’s off of our usual flight path, tucked away in the Venetian Village at The Ritz-Carlton Abu Dhabi, Grand Canal. But on a recent Friday we went on a field trip there with a few girlfriends and were reminded why it’s one of the best picks in town for a proper spa day: after your treatment, you can use the spa’s small private beach outside and order lunch from the beach menu. For our next visit, we’ve got our eye on the Ladies Who Spa Package, which includes a one-hour massage, a one-hour re-hydrator facial, a shampoo and blowdry and a set dinner menu in the hotel’s Li Jiang, for Dh3,390 for three people. Call 02 818 8051 to book an appointment.
Bedashing at-home services
Going to the salon for a mani-pedi seems to be a UAE ritual for a lot of ladies, but sometimes a lady just craves the comfort and quiet of home. Enter a growing array of home services and in particular, those offered by the Abu Dhabi salongs Bedashing Beauty Lounge. On a recent Friday we booked an appointment in Abu Dhabi and, after a prompt arrival by two technicians, proceeded to have a great mani-pedi - and a little nap, to boot! To keep things simple, the services are “waterless”, meaning in lieu of a foot and hand soak, the feet and hands are left to soften in pairs of plastic booties and gloves filled with lotion. The ends are then snipped off the toes and fingers so the technicians can get started on the nails while the lotion continued to soften. Next time we’ll pop on a little music to counter the extreme silence of the apartment, and maybe try to keep our eyes open. Manicures Dh100; gel manicures Dh165; pedicures Dh120; gel pedicures 205. Call 02 417 1999 to book.
* Ann Marie McQueen
Abu Dhabi markets
For years we’ve been jealous of the variety of weekend markets Dubai has had to offer, but no longer: the capital is coming into its own. There are now more than a half-dozen sizeable options, including regular stops at Yas Marina and Mushrif Park, as well as a variety of one-off events, there are a number of options continuing on through the summer months. There is the new Mawasim Organic Market at the Abu Dhabi’s World Trade Center Mall, Fridays from 2pm-8pm, featuring produce from a new, 55-hectare organic farm about 45 minutes from downtown Abu Dhabi, as well as locally made crafts and artwork. There’s the Ripe Food & Craft Market, which has moved indoors for the summer and is on every Saturday from 10am-2pm at The Collection, St Regis Saadiyat Island resort. Also indoors at The Collection is the brand new UpMarket, organised by Tiny Bean events every Wednesday from 10am to 5pm. The pop-up luxury boutique featuring a variety of items, and we’ve got our eyes on funky jewellery from Dubai-based 2birds; colourful caftans from Pine and Apple Boutique and bohemian chic dresses from Tipsy Gypsy. Souk Qarat Al Beri just launched a monthly market bringing together more than 50 artisans, and it will resume on Friday, August 7. (In the meantime, the souk will host a Ramadan market from July 3-24th).
* Ann Marie McQueen
