The quest for good pizza in Dubai continues (bet you didn’t even know there was one right?) and I think I am getting close now. Today we had lunch at a little restaurant tucked away in the Crowne Plaza hotel on Sheikh Zayed Road. I think this hotel has been here about 20 years, so it’s not flashy or shiny like a new pair of Jimmy Choo’s, it’s rather more like a favourite pair of slippers, comfortable and a little tatty. Well I base this assessment purely on the exterior and the lobby having never actually stayed here, for all I know the rooms could be a train wreck. But I digress.
The pizza was great, first of all they have pork options; real ham not turkey, actual prosciutto and salami; and there is a proper wood burning oven. The crust was thin and perfectly cooked. And as it’s in the hotel you even have the option of a glass of wine as well. I thought the meal tasty, and good value. Although I have to agree with the Timeout review – whilst the service was good the food itself took ages to arrive (and the restaurant was by no means full).
Nevertheless I give it 4 out of 5. Well done Al Fresco!
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getting closer..
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dust + rain = mud
This weekend the wind blew constantly, well that’s how it felt, bringing with it bucket-loads of dust from the desert; sand that is able to sneak through door seals and under windows and cover everything in a fine fine layer of grit. As “Life in Dubai” puts it, it really is the worst kind of weather. Our intrepid gardener cleaned the cars as normal on Saturday (not sure how he managed it actually in that), but he need not have bothered as all that dust, combined with last night’s unexpected cloud burst, left the cars looking like we had been off-roading all weekend. The good thing is that at least the rain settled the dust, but this morning, in true Dubai fashion, the roads were flooded and it was chaos. Luckily some of the schools are on holiday today because of the Prophet’s birthday on Friday, so the traffic was lighter than normal overall.
[sand on the car yesterday]
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a spot of art, well sort of
Stu and I travelled to Abu Dhabi this week to visit “The Guggenheim: The Making of a Museum” exhibition at the Emirates Palace hotel. Stu had initially expressed an interest in going, especially as some masterpieces from the Guggenheim collection were to be on display. We suddenly realised this past weekend that we had almost run out of time as the show was only on until the 4th February. So we decided to go on Tuesday this week.
The drive to Abu Dhabi was thankfully uneventful; it manages to be nerve-wracking (other people’s driving) and boring (a long straight road) at the same time somehow. I don’t know how people commute that way everyday. We finally arrived at the hotel just before lunch-time. Actually we got into Abu Dhabi in good time, but then my poor choice of route took us right into the worst of the traffic and we took a while longer getting down to the Corniche. Let’s just say that I wasn’t too popular. Oh dear..
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the F1 coaster
When I saw the picture of “Ferrari World”, taken from above, in the newspaper the other day I was blown away. Okay, granted, it’s an aerial view of a model, but still very impressive.
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the law…be careful
There have been a couple of stories in the papers over the past few weeks about a proposed new smoking ban to be implemented here in the UAE. Today’s article in the 7days newspaper had some very good news in it. Ok well I think it’s great news.
Smoking has been banned in restaurants and indoor bars in the UAE, an official from the health ministry confirmed to 7DAYS yesterday.
Dr Wedad Al Maidoor, who heads the National Tobacco Control Committee, said the new tobacco laws announced last week mean that enclosed public spaces such as restaurants and bars will need to apply to have a separate area where people can smoke.
[Smoking is barred] story from the 7days