For two decades, Global Village has been entertaining and feeding millions of visitors who walk through its gates each year. Last year alone, 5.3 million visited the entertainment destination in Dubai.
Whether you are looking for a sit-down restaurant or simple street food, you can sample a wide range of authentic dishes from all corners of the world at Global Village. In fact, some of the food on offer is not available anywhere else in the emirate.
“Dining is one of the key pillars of Global Village’s offerings, alongside entertainment, shopping and a funfair,” says Ahmad Al Rayyes, the venue’s commercial director.
“We strive every season to provide our guests with a unique dining experience that ranges from street food to fine dining, with multiple international dishes served for the first time in the UAE and the region.”
With 150 restaurants, cafes and food kiosks throughout the park, guests are spoilt for choice. From traditional Syrian feasts and Bosnian kebabs to authentic Canadian poutine and Texas-sized burgers, there are more than 30 types of cuisine on offer.
Behind those cuisines are teams of chefs and vendors eager to share their love of the food they are dishing up.
Alaa Al Halaki is the general manager of Syrian restaurant Bab Tuma, which has three branches in Dubai.
“This is the only Syrian restaurant in Global Village,” he says. “The speciality here is shawarma on saj, and the appetisers. Syrian appetisers are amazing, but the best is the mixed grill.”
He also suggests sahlab, one of Syria’s most beloved drinks, a warm, foamy brew made from salep flour, sugar and milk, topped with cinnamon. It costs Dh15 in Bab Tuma and Al Halaki says it must not be missed.
“Sahlab is a very traditional drink for Syrians,” he adds. “Everyone loves it. When you try it, you will like it.”
This kind of passion among staff is frequently observed as you explore the food offerings at the village.
Carlos Santos, one of the partners behind Portuguese bakery Nattas, loves talking about the traditions behind the tastes you will find there.
“A Portuguese bakery does not look like a French bakery,” Santos says with a smile. “Not everything looks so nice.
“People look and think, ‘Oh, is this good?’ Sometimes we say, ‘If you don’t like, you don’t pay.’ Most of the people fall in love.”
At Nattas, located near Global Village’s main cultural stage, there’s a display case filled with typical Portuguese cakes and pastries, but the bakery also offers home-made organic ice cream, crêpes, waffles and a handful of sandwiches.
This is the first location for Nattas in the Middle East, but Santos says they’re opening a bakery and restaurant in Sharjah by the end of the year and another in Abu Dhabi in January. “I’m really passionate about my country and its food,” says Santos. “The feedback here in Global Village has been really good.”
The feedback from guests has also been good for newcomer Samer Khezaran, who co-owns Raclette DXB.
His pop-up stall is one of the many concepts set up along a street full of food kiosks in the middle of Global Village. “We were not expecting this,” says Khezaran. “We’re very busy.” Khezaran and his team serve up one dish – a raclette plate – that consists of a traditional serving of French small potatoes, French pickles (cornichons) and rocca leaves, all smothered in melted raclette cheese.
Khezaran and his partner both have full-time jobs apart from their raclette kiosk.
“This is our first year here,” says Khezaran. “It’s a hobby. We’ve been training ourselves in our own houses.”
So far, guests are loving it, in part because it’s such a visual affair. A half moon of raclette sits under heat in a traditional raclette machine. Once it’s heated sufficiently, the whole cheese is lifted out of the machine and the top layer is scraped off across a plate of pickles and potatoes.
“Many people don’t even know what it is,” Khezaran says. “They just like the way the cheese melts and gets scraped off. They order it and once they try it, they love it.”
Flamin Pumpkin is another newcomer to Global Village. Owner Abed Al Kareem, from Jordan, says he was looking for something unique when he came up with the concept.
“I’m an industrial engineer,” he says. “I know about the chemical materials. My idea was just to serve something in a different way, in an engineering way.”
Each drink at Flamin Pumpkin is freshly and meticulously prepared. Fruits and mint leaves are muddled by hand for the mojitos, and ingredients are freshly blended for each shake. But the main attraction is the smoke that billows out of each drink. With his engineering background, Al Kareem concocted a smoking effect – similar to liquid nitrogen, but not the same – to take these drinks to another level.
The smoke does not impart any flavour. Done purely for the aesthetic appeal, these smoking drinks are social-media showstoppers. “This is part of the marketing,” explains Al Kareem. “Everyone’s on social media. Customers are amazed at the concept. They love it – the taste and the smoke. The feedback has been amazing.”
Whether it’s a unique smoking mojito from Flamin Pumpkin or a warm, nostalgic drink from Syria, guests can indulge in a feast of flavours in this year’s offerings at Global Village.
While you won’t be able to try all the food served up here in one visit – perhaps not even in 10 – rest assured, it won’t be hard to find something you love.
“This season at Global Village, we are have put together an exceptional mouth-watering experience for our millions of guests, taking them through a culinary journey across the world,” says Al Rayyes.
sjohnson@thenational.ae
