Rice paper.

Most of the English speaking world use that term to describe the edible wafer-thin papery sheets made of rice flour, water, and sometimes tapioca starch, and dried on cross-hatched straw to give it a distinctive weavy pattern. They are used to make Vietnamese summer rolls or deep fried for spring rolls.

But all my life, I’ve known it by its Vietnamese term: Báng Tráng. It’s one of the few Viet words I know – the others, of course, are also food related. Those are the words that I seem to retain the easiest. No matter the language.

“So where should we eat tonight?”

I love this question when traveling. There are so many new restaurants and street vendors to explore. In Vietnam, it wasn’t just the never-before-tried-foods that were exciting because even the familiar foods took on a whole new level of food exploration. I’m convinced that the food tastes better in Vietnam not only because everything is so fresh (bought daily from the early morning markets) but also because it’s served with the proper accompaniments – unlike in the U.S. or in Dubai when a lot of omission or substitutions have to be made.

“There is this place famous for its bánh tráng,” suggests my mom’s friend.

Sure, I thought. I like bánh tráng, I’ll go along for the ride.

(And ride I did! A very nerve-wracking first time on the back of a Motorcycle, nervously pressing my lips together, tightly gripping the driver’s waist to the point of possibly cutting off her breathing and circulation, even at speeds of only 20km/hr, feeling very vulnerable without the protection of airbags and seat belts, constantly wondering if my helmet would offer any protection from a crash every time we navigated a ridiculously large round-a-bout with traffic rules I didn’t understand or weaved in and out of traffic.)

When we arrived at the restaurant (safe and sound but it took a while to peel my lips apart), we chose a table outside on the sidewalk and as we settled into the stools, my mom and her friends began to discuss what to order.

Banh Canh restaurant

The restaurant seemed to operate out of two seating areas separated by about 20 feet of space so the wait staff shuttled food back and forth between the two store fronts.

Waitress shuttling plates of herbs

We ordered the specialty of the place and when the báng tráng arrived, it was very different from what I expected. First it was folded in quarters and second it needed no re-hydration at all. The báng tráng we use from the U.S. are dry sheets of rice paper and need to be reconstituted in warm water then used right away or else it turns to mush.

Third, it did not have the characteristic cross-hatch pattern.

A different kind of Bánh Tráng (rice paper wrapper)

They remind me of defrosted spring roll pastry in their ultra thinness and springy texture. But these báng tráng did not need to be deep-fried as they would be eaten raw.

Bánh Tráng filling

At this restaurant, there seemed to be only two meat fillings to choose from – both of the pork variety. My mom tried to explain to me that one cut is from the upper leg and the other is the lower leg, possibly the shank. We chose the mixed platter. Then you can choose the size of the platter – for 1, 2, or 3 persons.

The thinly sliced pork for the báng tráng filling came with these accompaniments: thinly sliced pickled daikon (white radish) and carrot, pickled pearl onions, mung bean sprouts and this amazing basket of fresh herbs.

fresh herbs

I recognized some from my mom’s herb garden and others were completely new to me. My favorite that night were the young mango leaves. Tender and lemony, they added a subtle tang to my báng tráng rolls.

Assembling the Bánh Tráng

I followed my mom’s lead on assembling these báng tráng rolls (using our hand as a plate) first the lettuce, then fresh herbs and pickle, and then the meat.

Assembling the Bánh Tráng

Finally it is rolled tightly, a tad haphazardly as I had to do it in mid-air, and ready to be dipped into the all-important Vietnamese fish sauce (nuoc mam cham), which provides the “dressing” for this rolled up salad.

Banh Trang dipped in Nuoc Mam Cham

I enjoy making and eating báng tráng rolls because I can personalize the fillings to my own liking. The flavors of the pork mixed with crunchy fresh herbs and tangy pickles makes for a great combination.

For drinks, I noticed that Schweppes soda water served over lots of sugar and ice seemed to be a popular drink in Vietnam. Sure enough, my mom’s friend ordered a few glasses for the table but it was too sweet for my taste.

Soda Water with Sugar

It seemed that no meal in Vietnam was complete (at least for us) without a bowl of noodle soup so we ordered a few bowls of the restaurants name sake Bánh Canh Trang Bàng. My mom explained to me that “Bánh Canh” is the name of the soup and “Trang Bang” is a province in southeastern Vietnam. The restaurant’s name also includes “Út Dung” which could be the owner’s name.

The rice noodles used in the soup were round and about 1/4-inch thickness. The broth was made with a pork stock and served with pig feet and fresh herbs. I tend to eat just the meat off the pig’s feet and discard the skin since the texture and flavor of boiled pig skin in this form never appealed to me.

Bánh Canh - Rice Noodle Soup

Slurping down the noodles and soup in between making báng tráng rolls, I wondered if I would ever learn the background and secret of how these rice paper wrappers were made or if I would ever experience eating them again outside of Vietnam.

*   *   *   *   *

Bánh Canh Trang Bàng Út Dung restaurant: 441 Nguyen Tri Phoung, Phoung 8, District 10, Saigon.

Banh Canh restaurant

Related posts:

1. Emirati Recipe: Rice with Chicken in the Bottom (De-jaj ta-ha-tah)
2. Emirati Recipe: Chicken and Rice (Machboos / Fogga Dejaj)
3. A Long Day’s Travel – Lost Luggage – Mom’s Comfort Food
4. My Saigon – From Past to Present
5. Delicious Vietnam #19 – November 2011 Round-Up

ààÕc Ðào in Saigon

This week marks the one-year blog anniversary for Ginger and Scotch and I thought I’d celebrate by writing a post about…

…Snails!

One of the great things about having friends and family living in a place you’ve never visited is the insight they provide on the best places to eat – more often than not, places that are off the tourist map.

Although Õc Ðào restaurant (Õc means snails) may not be off the tourist map anymore, it is a place my mom and I would never have found it on our own.

“Do you like snails?” my mom’s friend inquired.

With an enthusiastic nod from me in response, the deal was sealed. We ventured into the tortuous back alleys somewhere off of Nguyen Trãi and Cong Quynh streets (in District 1) with the goal of introducing me to more varieties of sea snails than I could imagine.

Õc Ðào Storefront

Our cab pulled up in front of the main storefront (pictured above) – which actually seats very little – so we headed over to the larger seating area just across the road.

But first I strayed behind to gawk and salivate over all the different baskets of snails and other mollusks - from what I could see, there were also clams, scallops, large shrimp, and mussels. A mollusk lover’s dream!

Choose your snail!

We arrived at the end of the lunch rush which meant that we didn’t have to queue for a table.

Apparently, this place is so popular that even with the large amount of seating they have, it still gets jammed packed!

Õc Ðào - Annexed Seating Area

We settled ourselves on red plastic chairs and low tables that were more appropriate for the size of Wee Scotch and his little friends than five grown adults.

I arched my neck to stare at the selection of snails from the table next to ours – I couldn’t wait to start ordering! I was so excited, I forgot about sitting al fresco and sweating in the sweltering heat.

Table next to ours

The menu was all in Vietnamese so didn’t make one iota of sense to me but my mom’s friends did all the ordering so I just sat back and waited for the food to arrive.

Look at the choices! There are about 27 varieties of shellfish on the menu and we barely made it through one-third.

Õc Ðào Menu

We began our snail fest by first ordering two things that I have grown to love since traveling to Vietnam: young coconut and bread.

Not being a big fan of coconut (whether in milk, cream, or shredded forms – the smell sometimes makes me sick), I’m constantly amazed at how much young coconut juice tastes nothing like it’s mature form. In fact, by the end of my month-long trip in Vietnam, I was ordering a young coconut at almost every meal so that I could drink its clear, thirst-quenching liquid. And a chilled coconut yielded much better tasting liquid than one at room temperature.

We also ordered some lovely bread which I could go on and on about but it really deserves a post on its own. For now, let’s just say that the bread plays a wonderful role in mopping up all the saucy goodness from the snail dishes.

As the snail orders began to arrive, we were provided with tiny two-prong forks to assist in prying out the snail meat, and two different dipping sauces: Vietnamese fish sauce (nuoc mam cham) and freshly squeezed lemon juice with finely crushed white pepper (my fave dipping sauce for bringing out the flavors of seafood such as lobster and crab – no clarified butter for me).

*   *   *   *   *

And here is what we ordered…

1) Õc Len.  These were served in a mild Thai yellow curry-like sauce.

To taste the meat of these snails, I had to learn and perfect a sucking action as the tiny forks could not reach into the openings. The first 2 I tried weren’t very succesful but by my third I got the hang of it.

Õc Len

2) Õc Mõ’.  Served stir-fried in sweet and sour sauce.

Õc Mõ'

3) Sò Ðiêp.  Grilled scallops sprinkled with scallions and peanuts.

Sò Ðiêp

4) Õc toi.  Large snails with a lovely smokey flavor from the grill. When I thought I had pried all the meat out, my mom could always find a few more pieces.

Õc Toi

5) Nghêu.  Clams in a very spicy lemongrass broth.

Nghêu

The broth was so packed with flavor that I started to use my small sauce spoon to slurp up its yummy goodness but then gave up on these tiny efforts in favor of my drinking straw.

Broth was slurping good

6) Sò Huyê‘t.  Small clams that were all closed and necessitated the use of one’s fingernails to pry them open. Defies the belief that closed clams should be discarded.

Sò Huyê't

I had been so focused on eating the snails and other shellfish that it wasn’t until this dish that I noticed the little bits of fried pork fat in the sauces. There are few things better than a well-fried piece of pork fat (and on that note, crackling too!).

With each bite, there was some crunch and there was some tenderness. These tiny morsels were insanely addictively good. I could not stop eating all of it. Okay, I did eat ALL OF IT.

Hey, I was on vacation. Screw the calories and possible artery clogging properties. Nothing was going to stop me from eating ALL OF IT. Mmmm…pork fat, come to mama!

Allow me to zoom in on more of the fried pork fat heaven.

Fatty goodness

7) Õc huong .  Snails flavored with dry chilli.

Õc Huong

8 ) Chem Chép.  Mussels that were more tender, less chewy, than the New Zealand variety. The meat was soft and plump with a briny oyster-like flavor.

Chem Chép

9) Õc Ðo.  Possibly the largest snails on the menu. The meat was tough and chewy – grilled with a sweet and spicy sauce.

Õc Ðo

Õc Ðo

Our table was one big mess by the end of our meal as the dishes weren’t cleared in order to tally up the plates for the bill. Amazingly, with all this shellfish around, we were only annoyed by two flies (yes, I counted). In Dubai, even when the weather is nice to sit outside, Scotch usually opts for indoor seating as we are often besieged with flies often even before the food arrives. Perhaps we landed at Õc Ðào at the right time of day or year.

Oh, the bill came to a whopping 790,000 VND.

Sounds like a lot but it equates to $38 for 5 of us. A bargain at less than $8 per person. Crazy cheap in my books for all that food.

Oc Dao Receipt

Unlike Americans, I’ve noticed that the Vietnamese and Chinese are very stingy about their napkins. But moist towelettes seem to be ubiquitous at all the restaurants – though you are charged for how ever many you use. However, I still prefer a nice large DRY napkin and tend to bring my own.

But one advantage of the moist towelettes is that they are printed with the names and addresses of the restaurants so I took pictures of them as a way to record the places we ate at.

I *think* this was where we were. I can’t believe I left my iPhone at home that day and thus couldn’t google map it. But my mom’s friends say that the taxi drivers should be able to take you there.

Õc Ðào Restaurant: 212B/C79 Nguyen Trãi, P: Nguyen Cu Trinh, District 1, Saigon. Phone: 0909.437033.

Related posts:

1. My Saigon – From Past to Present
2. I Finally Ate at an Emirati Restaurant!
3. A First Taste of Uzbek Cuisine @ Gulnaz Restaurant & Cafe

Pho Vendor on Auntie's Street

The house used to smell like leather tanning all the time. It was an awful smell. But the cow skin was so fresh that the meat was often still attached – we would use it to supplement our meager food rations.

Since arriving in Saigon, the stories about my childhood and those of our family have been streaming out from my mom, Grandmother, and Aunties. I didn’t pay much attention before but now that I can put some visual context to the stories, I’ve been asking more and more questions. I didn’t know my family were leather tanners!

Your great-grandmother originally had 4 plots of land here. We needed the space for the leather tanning business. We sold 3 plots many years ago. Then bought 1 back recently to expand the current house.

I try to get more details out of my mom but the language barrier makes it difficult. She doesn’t know the English terms to explain the leather process and I don’t understand the technical Chinese terms she uses.

This is where you fell down the stairs when you were barely one year old and I had to call out to your mom and dad to take you to the hospital.

My grandmother has told me this story a million times before in New York but this is the first time I can actually visualize where it really happened. I looked in the direction of her pointing finger at the central staircase and tried to imagine how frightened my parents might have been. Especially in light of Wee Scotch’s two trips to the Dubai Emergency Room for head trauma.

This is my eldest daughter from America. She’s come to visit with me and has brought her son as well.

My mom still knows a few people in the maze-like neighborhood where Auntie’s house is. A few neighbors will greet us each time we leave the house. Since Auntie lives in the Cholon district of Saigon, many speak Chinese although I do not know how to make conversation with them so I just smile shyly and shuffle along with Wee Scotch. The streets around us are free of litter and I notice that each morning they are swept by the shopkeepers or homeowners with triangular straw brooms.

Wee Scotch paying respects to the departed on Remembrance Day

The pho [rice noodles in soup] is freshly made. Not dried and packaged like in the States.

Auntie has bowls of Pho delivered almost every morning for breakfast and everyone can’t help but remark about the fact that we are eating freshly-made noodles. I am amazed that the noodles are delivered in real bowls complete with chopsticks, spoons, and dipping sauce instead of in disposable takeout containers with plastic utensils. After the meal, the bowls and chopsticks are placed outside the house for collection by the Pho vendor.

Bowls of Pho arriving for Home Delivery

We couldn’t afford shoes as children and used to run around barefoot in the streets even with the glass factory next door. Sometimes, we would help the workers paint and decorate the little glass jars. They’re used for gas lanterns in areas that don’t have electricity.

One of the owners of the glass factory on Auntie’s alley allows me into her shop to take pictures of the glass-making process. She has known Auntie since they were small children and has taken over the family business along with her sisters. Inside, workers old and young bear the oppressive heat to churn out large glass jars and small glass lanterns. Outside, straw baskets lined with more straw are piled high, ready to transport the finished glass products.

Glass Factory on Auntie's Street

Baskets to transport the finished glass products

The city is going to pave our road one day so our house could only be expanded to a certain point. The government says any day now but that could mean another 5, 10, or 20 years. 

Auntie’s front gate is always locked – she said someone once snuck in and stole her motorbike. As I walk around the uneven cement street, I notice that many of the houses have their front gates open since they also serve as storefronts. Their owners or tenants mill around – in flip flops or barefoot – sometimes napping on a chair or right on the hard ground. Everyone seems to own a motorbike and indeed every house has a ramp so that the bikes can be pushed into the house for safekeeping.

Auntie’s neighborhood, like all of Saigon it seems, is one bewildering maze with one alleyway branching into others. There is a mix of residential and commercial – just on her alley alone is a small shop where we bought our mobile SIM card, an internet cafe that seems to be always packed with youths, two three four pho vendors (each bowl costs about $0.50), a small pharmacy, and at the end of the alley is a cart selling Bánh Mì (Vietnamese baguette – I like mine filled with meat, paté, cucumber, cilantro, and pickled veg) for $0.75.

Pho Vendor on Auntie's Street

See that three-story school across from our street? That used to be the tallest building around and now it’s one of the shortest. If you get lost, just try to find your way back to that school.

I take a picture of the school because my memory can’t seem to retain any of the Vietnamese words. Speaking the language is even worse. My attempts are similar to Joey learning to speak French on Friends and am constantly frustrated at my inability to properly pronounce the sounds. I wonder if this is how Scotch feels when he tries to speak Chinese.

Soon, our four generations consisting of Grandmother, Mom, Wee Scotch and me will begin our tour of Vietnam by flying north to Hanoi and slowly making our way back south to Saigon. I’m sure I will continue to hear more stories of not just mine, but their childhoods and those of their parents as well.

More than forty years ago, when I was about nineteen and before I met your father, I traveled with a group of Buddhist monks to see the countryside. It was an affordable way to travel and along with two other nursing friends, we traveled with the monks from Saigon to Danang to Hue. Those were the days we were young and carefree.

Related posts:

1. Scrumptious Snails in Saigon @ Õc Ðào Restaurant
2. Inaugural Week, Day 6 – Ginger and Scotch Chilli Martini
3. I Found Bubble Tea!!!
4. Dubai to Ho Chi Minh City
5. Burj Al Arab – Turtle Rehab Center

Last week, with the arrival of my grandmother in Ho Chi Minh city (HCMC), just a few hours after my own arrival from Dubai, there were four generations of my family together: Wee Scotch, myself, my mom, and my grandmother.

My mom and I were born in HCMC and although she’s been back a few times to visit family, this was the first time I had stepped foot on Vietnamese soil since we fled Saigon as “boat people” (in the late 1970′s) when I was only one year old.

Growing up in New York City, I had no concept of what life was like in my place of birth except from the stories recounted by my parents and relatives. I was not taught the Vietnamese language as our ancestral tongue was Cantonese and back then, not many could foresee the importance of being multilingual. The only thing I knew about Vietnam was the food but even that was limited to what my mom could cook or what we would order at Vietnamese restaurants.

It was a dark and stormy evening when we arrived in HCMC last Saturday. I can only imagine how treacherous that weather would have been for us three decades ago when we were stranded at sea for months before being rescued and brought to a refugee camp in Malaysia where we would spend many months before being accepted by US immigration officials.

But that day last week, I was ecstatic to see rain after a particularly long dry spell in Dubai. More excited was Wee Scotch, who had been reading about rain, thunder and lightning in his little storybooks, and kept urging me to take him out from our sheltered location into the storm.

As you can see from the video, the terminal lights were flickering on and off as if threatening to lose power completely. Palm fronds swayed back and forth tumultuously and I worried that the whole tree would topple over. Surely this weather is typical and the trees are strongly rooted?

Auntie later told me that by the time she returned to the airport, a few hours later to pick up my grandmother, many of the trees had been knocked down by the storm.

On the short cab ride to Auntie’s house, aka home-base for the next 4 weeks, I could hardly see anything except rain splashing onto the windows.

The weather in HCMC is the same as Dubai at the moment (highs of 90 F / 32 C) except more humid. I had been warned by my mom that there was no A/C in Auntie’s house except for the bedrooms.

Lucky for us, the rainstorm had brought about cooler weather and a respite from the hot and humid air. The night breeze was cooling and oh-so-refreshing after a long day’s travel (a 2 am flight is never any fun especially with a toddler).

When we finally arrived at Auntie’s three-story house, I carried a weary Wee Scotch up to our new room on the top floor. If heat, humidity, pollution and crazy traffic congestion was going to prevent me from exercising and running outside, at least I could achieve buns of steel from climbing those flights of stairs every day.

Wee Scotch's Travel bed

With Wee Scotch settled into his travel bed, I was ready to start exploring the neighborhood but I knew that that was not an option until the storm had passed.

Exploring would have to wait for another day.

Scotch was supposed to join us on this trip but due to last minute work demands, we had to cancel his plane ticket. In the middle of Skyping with him to let him know that we had all arrived safely, the electricity went out.

I worried that we’d be without power for days as had happened to me in NY last summer with Hurricane Irene. But amazingly, power was restored within a few hours (thank god because my iPhone was down to 20% power and without it, I feel like my right arm has been cut off).

As I settled down to sleep, all I could hear was the wind howling, shutters banging, and the crashing of heavy rains on corrugated rooftops. We left the windows open and it was so nice to feel fresh air blow across my body.

Hoping that the storm would soon pass, I drifted off into a travel-weary sleep.

Related posts:

1. Chinese Grocery Stores in International City
2. Wild Ginger @ Deira City Center
3. Dubai to Praslin
4. Dubai!
5. Hashing in Dubai

After more than four years of living in Dubai, I still have so much to learn about the people and culture of my host country. Since I am motivated by food more than anything else, my journey into learning about Emirati culture began in June 2008 when I started my Emirati home cooking project - I would have started by eating at a restaurant but there weren’t any bona fide Emirati restaurants in Dubai at the time.

In the last year or so, a few Emirati restaurants, and even an Emirati bakery, have opened up. I was very excited to try them all!

My first visit was to Al Fanar Restaurant and Cafe – described on their Facebook page as “the first and only restaurant to offer authentic and traditional Emirati cuisine in the Emirates.”

According to the Al Fanar website:

Al Fanar (the local term for the kerosene lamp used to light the homes in Dubai at the old times) is here to feed the curiosity of visitors; a haven for the locals: an iconic showcase of exotic culture and exquisite taste.

Steps away from the Intercontinental Festival City (I normally only schlep to Festival City because of IKEA), and right alongside the man-made waterway known as Canal Walk, lies the juxtaposition of tall buildings and modern shopping mall with traditional wooden structures and replicated scenes of Dubai in the 1960s.

The outdoor dining area of Al Fanar contains majlis-style seating where, along with members of the Girls Supper Club, I sat shoeless and cross-legged, surrounded by diorama-like scenes of olden-day Emirati life: a Bedouin with his flock of camel and goats; a donkey loaded with kerosene to light the lamps of the town.

I did not see this for myself, but there is apparently an old Land Rover that is parked, ready to unload goods from a long haul. There are also regular tables and chairs for those who prefer not to sit in the majlis.

Al Fanar restaurant - outside by the majlis

The indoors dining area replicates the central courtyard of a traditional Emirati home. It reminded me very much of traditional Spanish courtyards.

To give a sense that the setting is meant to be outdoors, even though we were indoors, there is an enormous tree at the edge of a long wooden dining table.

I sat in this courtyard with Scotch and his parents a few weeks after my first visit to the restaurant. Wee Scotch was also there to help us eat the abundance of food that I would inevitably order.

Scotch’s dad shared with us that when he entered the restaurant and caught sight of a flash of tartan, he thought the servers were wearing kilts.

In another room adjacent to the central courtyard was the a replica of a Merchant’s Court Yard and old souk.

If anyone has been to Epcot’s World Showcase (part of Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL), don’t you think this restaurant would fit right in with the other showcase countries (of which there are currently eleven with Morocco being the only MENA country) because of all its highly authentic setting?

Well okay, if you can overlook the lack of booze. And the fact that the staff aren’t Emirati but are instead from other Arab nations (showcase countries in Epcot are staffed by citizens of their respective countries).

Scattered around the restaurant were old artifacts like a black heavy-looking charcoal iron and this “Kajoojah” that was used in the old days for making embroidery.

It really seemed like a lot of thought and effort was put into restaurant in terms of exterior, menu, and even website design.

[UPDATE: click here for the behind-the-scenes article on the design and construction of the restaurant. Thanks to the author, Devina Divecha, for sharing!)

"Al Kajoojah" - used for making embroidery

And now on to the food!

Thanks to my Emirati cooking project, many of the items that were available on the menu looked familiar to me. I don’t think I saw the term “bezar” or “bzar” written on the menu but many items were described as “flavored with Arabic spices” which I assume refers to bezar, a spice mixture that is central to Emirati cooking.

Within minutes of sitting down to dinner, on both occasions we were presented with complimentary bowls of beans to snack on. First, were these broad beans which I stared at with apprehension because there’s just something about the texture of beans that irks me. The mush factor, maybe?

But I gave these a try. They were cold, soft, but not inedible. I don’t think they would have won favorite dish of the night but they were at least healthy.

"Bajella" - Broad beans

The next time I came for dinner the complimentary item was garbanzo beans or chick peas. They were served in a bowl with ice. Again, I gave these a try and lo and behold! I actually liked them.

They weren’t overly mushy at all but had almost a slight crunch to them.

"Dango" - Chick peas

Both times I dined at Al Fanar, there were many other Emiratis there as well including the husband of one of my dinner companions. He and his friend were kind enough to let me be my usual nosy self and poke my camera at anything and everything they ordered, including this “Shorbat Dajaj,” or chicken soup, served with lime wedges.

I couldn’t bring myself to ask for a taste but K (pictured below) pronounced that taste-wise the soup was reasonable but nothing special. I have to wonder if anything from a restaurant can ever compete with his mom’s home cooking.

An interesting note about the crockery – I was informed by K’s wife that his mom has the same set of dishes with the floral rose design.

"Shorbat Dajaj" - Chicken soup

This simple mixed salad was nicely flavored – I just love the spicy flavor of arugula/rocket.

"Salatat Al Fanar" - Mixed salad with special Al Fanar dressing

Like biryani, this dish known as Samboosa was “imported” from India and adapted into the cuisine by using Emirati spices.

The outside pastry was puffy but not oily looking (nor oil tasting) at all and gave a nice crunch upon each bit. The inside was full of flavor and I couldn’t believe that something vegetarian could taste so good. I can only imagine that adding meat like ground chicken would make it even more satisfying for carnivores (me!).

Racking my brain but I can’t remember what the dipping sauce was like.

"Samboosa" - Deep fried pastry with potatoes and mixed vegetables

We ordered a couple of grilled seafood appetizers and this prawn platter was devoured so fast this was the only photo I could get!

"Robyan Mashwi" - grilled jumbo prawns

Both the grilled squid and prawns were amazing – nice smokey flavors and I loved that the sweetness of the seafood was brought out by the grilling method.

I think I need a lesson on what to do with the accompaniments though. I am referring to the rocket and the tomatoes. Are they just for decoration or do I eat them in the same mouthful as the squid?

"Nagar Mashwi" - grilled squid

At my second visit we were presented with a few specials of the day and I opted to try the “habool” or fish roe. Maybe because of the oddity of it but I was the only one who enjoyed this dish and nearly ate the whole platter by myself.

It came battered and deep-fried and had a texture like chicken breast. There was not much flavor except for the battered crust.

"Hobool" - Fried fish eggs in special Arabic spices

I saw omelet on the menu and thought, “why not?” It looked more like an egg scramble and disappeared within seconds of hitting the table. It was moist and well-flavored. A very homey, comfort food kind of dish.

"Beidh wa Tomat" - Omelet with tomato and special seasoning

I don’t know the official name of this flat bread but we were given baskets full to accompany our meal. It was crispy with a hint of sweetness.

Bread

Hint of cardamom. That would be an understatement for the chicken biryani that we ordered. I think my taste buds are slowly getting used to the liberal use of cardamom in Emirati cooking but some did find it overpowering. I thought the dish was a bit dry as I normally find most biryanis – whether Indian or Emirati.

"Beryani Dajaj" - Chicken served with rice, onions, lentil beans, raisins and almond

Machboos must be my favorite Emirati dish so far. It is a traditional chicken and rice dish flavored with bezar and the chicken is cooked in the same water used to cook the rice thus flavoring it like a stock. Onions, tomatoes, and dried limes called loomi are also used. I’ve made this dish twice myself (you can read about it here) before finally tasting an authentic version at an Emirati home which was prepared with more expertise than my own amateur attempts.

Between the two rice dishes that were ordered – biryani and machboos – the machboos rice had much more flavor and was not dry at all. But I can’t say the same of the meat. Although the meat in the lamb machboos was moister than the chicken version, it was also much bonier.

But the rice I liked so much I ate it as a side dish with everything. Screw the plain white rice.

"Machboos Laham" - Mutton cooked with yellow rice simmered in meat stock with special arabic spices

We also sampled two of the kebabs – chicken (“Tekat Dajaj Emarati”) and mutton (“Kebab Emarati” ). The chicken photo (below) is a bit blurry but you get the picture (pun intented ).

Both kebabs were moist, tender, and nicely flavored.

"Tekat Dajaj Emarati" - Chicken marinated in arabic spices and yogurt

For the stews (known as saloonas), we ordered again a chicken one and a mutton one.

The “Saloona Laham bel Tamoor,” mutton stew with potatoes and lentil beans cooked in tomato sauce with dry dates and tamarind, was richer and better tasting than the chicken saloona. The difficulty with stews is that chicken (especially white meat) tends to get overcooked and becomes flavorless whereas mutton can retain its flavor better.

"Saloona Dajaj maa Adas wa Batat" - Chicken with lentil beans and potato cooked in tomato sauce, served with white rice or bread

I have a fascination with whole grilled fish but I’m often scared of ordering it on a menu because I’ve had so many bad experiences. Properly done, the spices or flavorings should enhance and not overpower the delicate taste of the fish, the fish should have smoky flavors from the grill, and there should not be more bones than flesh.

Al Fanar got it right with the hammour they served that night.

"Samak Al Tanoor" - Grilled fish marinated in special spices

And for the last entree, which looks like a repeat of the appetizer (but this was ordered on a different night) we ordered grilled prawns. I think the prawns that were used in the entree version were larger than the appetizer one. They were slightly overcooked but still very good.

"Roban Mashwi" - Grilled tiger prawns with special spices

And now we arrive at dessert. If it weren’t for my girl friends, I probably would never make it to dessert but thanks to their combined sweet tooth, we all had the opportunity to try the following…

"Asidat Bobar" - Pumpin pudding

…Pumpkin pudding that was seriously laced with cardamom.

…Lgeimats, which are fried dough balls that reminded me of you tiao aka yau ja gwai (Chinese fried dough in long sticks popular as a breakfast food with congee aka rice porridge) but sweet and more chewy. Again a very pronounced cardamom flavor.

Our leqaimat expert of the evening commented that they were indeed chewier than the ones she’s had before.

"Leqaimat" - Golden crisp friend dough balls coated served with date syrup

…Emirati donuts that we also dipped in the date syrup from the Leqaimat.

"Khanfaroush" - Emirati doughnuts

…tapioca pudding known as “Sagoo.”

And at the end of dinner when we were stuffed to the brim and could eat no more, we shared pots of mint tea. Rose water was offered for us to rub on our hands.

Mint Tea

We very much enjoyed the experience and the food though sometimes service was a little slow when we were sitting outdoors. The use (some may say overuse) of certain traditional spices (like cardamom and rose water) will take a little getting used to.

Price wise, we ended up paying about 60-70 dirhams ($16-$19) per person, so pretty reasonable. Many dishes were quite large and easily shared.

Setting-wise the restaurant is located in a great location along the water – perfect for the Dubai winters – and plenty of parking. It will be interesting to see how the business will be affected in the hot summer months when outdoor dining is not a comfortable option. If it starts relying on busloads of tourist for business (not a bad thing as the restaurant aims to showcase Emirati cuisine) I hope quality and authenticity of the food doesn’t suffer.

It would be nice to see some sort of guided experience as well – perhaps sessions on Emirati cooking or Emirati spice-tasting 101.

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Al Fanar Restaurant & Cafe, Canal Walk, Dubai Festival City Mall, +971 4 232 9966. Please visit their website or Facebook page for more information and sample menus.

There have been a bit of coverage on the emergence of more Emirati restaurants and Emirati chefs in Dubai – you can read about them here and here. Also, Eating the Emirates is a nice article by Geoff Pound that gives a good overview of Emirati traditions when it comes to food.

Related posts:

1. Finally a Dining Table!
2. Emirati Recipe: Fish Cakes (Sa-mak Koufta)
3. A First Taste of Uzbek Cuisine @ Gulnaz Restaurant & Cafe
4. Emirati Recipe: Chicken and Rice (Machboos / Fogga Dejaj)
5. Emirati Recipe: Meat fried with spices (La-ham nashif)