Friday, October 31, 2014

Dubai - To Do (28Oct2014 Dubai Mall and Burj Khalifa )

Dubai - To Stay
Dubai - To Do
Dubai - To Eat
Dubai - To Do
28Oct2014
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Dubai Mall/Burj Khalifa
Getting There
By Train Takes approximately 20-30mins with a track change. Dirhams 22 Round Trip
By Taxi Approimately 15min Dirhams 100 round trip



A gigantic mall mimicking pretty much a mini-america. All of your favorite US chain eats, from Shake Shack, Cheesecake factory, Magnolia Bakery and much more. Click here for ABBA review of must try eats in Dubai mall. Hot American Favorites. Don't try you will regret type.
The signage pretty much summarizes the major features of the mall. All of which are incredibly impressive.


The huge fish tank right smack in the middle of the mall.
There's even a zoo with crocodiles in there with a cover charge as listed below.

 Burj Khalifa
 
*Source from Wikipedia* Burj Khalifa (Arabic: برج خليفة‎, "Khalifa Tower", pronounced English /ˈbɜrdʒ kəˈliːfə/), known as Burj Dubai prior to its inauguration, is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and is the tallest man-made structure in the world, at 829.8 m (2,722 ft).
An awe inspiring piece of architecture comprising of residential, commerical and hotel entities. It's best if you view it in the night to catch their nightly water and light show. Amazing piece of ingenuity.

Click here for ABBA location of Dubai Mall, The Dubai Mall - DownTown Dubai, Near Souk Al Bahar Bridge - United Arab Emirates

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U.A.E - Dubai, To Eat (28Oct2014 Karachi, Shake Shack, Magnolia Bakery)

Dubai - To Stay
Dubai - To Do
Dubai - To Eat
Dubai - To Eat
28Oct2014
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Karachi
(1km walk from Traders Hotel)
ABBA Tip:- Karachi, and other nearby eateries provide free delivery with NO Minimum orders to hotel. Hotel conceirge service provides contact. Don't have a menu? No worries, just make mention of what you feel like eating, and they will make up the order.
An average work man's joint. Apparently the lower floors are not allowed to women. The upper floor, pictured right has a pleasant demeanor and service staff are tentative and offer restraint on orders when it goes slightly overboard.
 *Masla Tea is top notch.
A right amount of spice with just the right amount of sweetness.*
*Complimentary salad acting more as a pallet cleanser.* 
 *Their naan bread ain't the light variety that one is often used to.
More of a denser pita bread. Best to order a few and not one each.*
*Dubai's version of Fish and Chips. The Fish is really similar in flavor profile to that of deep fried fish done Malay style. A little on the dry side.*
Really good mutton dish. It does have that somewhat broiled, smokey flavor to the meat
with tender tendons cooked all the way through. The spiced gravy is not overtly salty either.
 Ladies fingers
*Foil wrapped fried chicken. A little on the dry side, but easy and delectable to pick up and eat. Everyone went for a chicken tika each! Perfect spice rub down and goes perfectly with the Naan*
 *Their Lasi is sedap! Not the amazingly, slightly spiced lasi I've had before 
in chained restaurant Bikanervala (Click here to see ABBA Review of Lasi from Bikanervala). But a good lasi. A great drink to have to nullify all those spiced meats you just had and to end the night on a sweet note.*
 
AED40 Each.
Not pictured were Butter Chicken, by far the best butter chicken I've had. Creamy, sweet and juicy pieces of meat inside. A cauliflower dish which was strangely a little tart and chapati order.
This is one of those age old joints that has been in competition with Silver Eagle (yet to be reviewed) for the stomachs of patrons. A similar long feud between Cafe De Klos (Click for ABBA review Vs Castells in Amsterdam (click for ABBA Review).
A cosey environment, tentative service staff who comes with some restraint to prevent over ordering. Good value for food with free delivery at no minimum order, this is a great place to come to for Dubai eats 101.
Shake Shack
at Dubai Mall 
(Located on 2nd floor opposite waterfall)
Another one of those food battles. Its Shake Shack Versus Five Guys. In-N-Out burger (Click here for ABBA review) doesn't rank as close to these two titans.

After finally tasting it, I can finally see the allure of it. A meat patty with the right amount of caramelization and salty goodness. Presumably dipped in lard/oil after the patty is flat top grilled is probably the only way to seal so much flavor into the beef patty. To add to that, they sandwich it between a butter smeared, sweet bread. A small sinful package that's absolutely divine. Now to try 5 guys and see who comes out ahead. 
Standard original Burger, AED35. Prices with drink come to about USD14, standard USA pricing. 
Click here for ABBA location of Dubai Mall
Magnolia Bakery
(at Dubai Mall Ground Floor)

Magnolia Bakery is a famous bakery in New York and it is known for its Banna Pudding. The closest description of it, is that it taste like an Americanized version of the filling from Tokyo Banana (Click here for ABBA Review). A little lacking in the its delicate finishing, however, it is creamier, chunkier and slightly sweeter.
At AED15 for the smallest tub, we absolutely demolished the serve in minutes as it was that good. Don't buy will regret categorization.
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Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Hong Kong - To Eat (21Oct2014Lei Garden)





Hong Kong - To Eat
21Oct2014
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Lei Garden
950m from Park Lane Hotel
 
 
Ordered On
21Oct2014

Superior Standout dishes:

Crab soup Xiao Long Pao
  
The most mind blowing Xiao Long Pao I've ever tasted. Everyone only had one each as we were sampling a variety of dishes, but this small little spoon sized, golden sachet of wonder won top spots in everyone's list by the end of the meal.
Lotus Rice
 
A personal favorite of mine. The lotus rice was done somewhat al dente with a fair sprinkling ingredients. Serving size wise, its not like the usual Lotus rice orders in that it's super-sized family style. An order was enough for a table of 10. 
Sweet dessert soup, probably double boiled with red dates with star fruit

 
*Lightly sweetened and a unique sweet.
This was in limited supply made by Lei Garden*

Rest of dishes were pretty much quality Dim Sum
with a end price tag to match for the elegant Lei Gardens. 
Char Xiao Pao
   
Prawn wrappen in crispy bean-curd skin. 
Carrot cake
 
Chee Cheong Fun Pork and Prawn
 and Xiu Mai
  
Har Gao
  
Fried Cuttlefish Fish
  
Salt Egg Custard Bun
  
*Very nice and delicate custard bun,
however it was unanimously agreed that it lacked in salted egg* 
Chicken Feet
   
Milk Tarts
  
Brinjal with bonito flakes
  
*A very slight twist on a simple dish. The egg plant lacks deeper marination and seasoning. Think Agidashi tofu, but with Brinjal.
Signature Fried Pork Ribs
  
*Very fatty, oily piece of deep fried pork, in a light batter. 
Thank goodness for the tea served with.*
Overall, it was in agreement the standout dishes and the definite star was the crab Xiao long Bao served at the opening of the meal. Good dim sum but with the price tag. The rest of the dishes were could probably par or just edged out the other dim sum joints reviewed in Hong Kong.
Fed 9, Total: HKD2090
HKD232HKD/pax 
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