Sunday, February 16, 2014
What to eat?!
Several people have asked the question "what do you eat?" "what's the food like?" So I decided to dedicate a blog entry to just that...food. It's quite interesting actually, I haven't quite figured out WHAT I do eat! Ha! Everyday something new presents itself in the cafeteria at the hotel (does not matter if I am at Fairmont Dubai, Fairmont The Palm or Fairmont Bab Al Bahr), they all have mystery food. Kinda like those days when you watched cartoons of the scary lunch lady scooping some mystery item onto your plate...yep that's my life now. I sincerely miss Florica and her AMAZING cooking! (That was our Cafeteria Chef at Fairmont Olympic).
The food centers much around Arabic food...and you ask, "what is that?" It's a lot of rice, bread...and more rice and bread, ha! Definitely some curry and other Indian like dishes. I still haven't quite figured it all out. I generally hit up the salad bar, get some rice and maybe chicken if it looks decent. Otherwise, it's all about eating out here. The whole culture is about going out, socializing, dining, and entertaining yourselves in this way. There are restaurants galore. I think you could spend 6 months going out to eat for every meal and still not dine in every restaurant. As you can imagine how competitive hotels are here, restaurants are the same. Lots of advertising, promotions, new menus, entertainment, you name it. It has to be different in order to succeed. AND there are new openings on weekly basis. It's exciting!
Grocery stores are similar to the states, except you aren't going to find an ounce of liquor, beer or wine in them! Ha! In order to buy alcohol, you need a alcohol license. In order to get one of these, you have to be in a high enough position in terms of employment. I am able to get a license and am currently working on it, but as everything else here, it takes time. I have to have a "permission" letter from my employer, as well as the owners of the area or land where the hotel is housed. Of course all of these items cost money as well. Being a Muslim country, alcohol is not looked upon as a positive. However, they have adapted in order to bring tourism and expats into work since they are accustomed to drinking. BUT most of my colleagues that have lower positions than I do cannot drink in their homes. Only if you have an alcohol license can you drink in your home legally. Crazy huh?! If you get caught without a license or buying for someone that doesn't have a license, there are severe fines and penalties. Kinda like going back to being under 21 and having to "spot" again...oh the joys.
As for actual grocery shopping, you can more or less find what you want in terms of items from the states. So far these are the things I have missed: crackers (like good ol wheat thins or something), PORK (you have to buy anything pork related from a special grocery store that has a pork section. Again, Muslims do not eat pork so that means no bacon, sausage, peperoni pizza, sliced ham...I didn't realize how much I missed this!) Mexican food (tough to find decent salsa and tortilla chips), fruits and veggies! Of course they sell these, but they have very little flavor and cost a fortune. Remember that I live in a desert where no crops are grown so everything is imported. Man do I miss my Ballard Farmer's Market and all the fresh produce! What I would give for a large crisp green salad, yum! However, I did find some good ol' Idaho potatoes this weekend! Imagine that! I had to buy the bag even though it was $7 for a small bag of baby potatoes. Who cares?! A little bit of comfort is always worth the spend :)
On the plus side, I've tried some cool new stuff like candied dates, Camel's milk (really creamy and yummy!) and lots of other things. It's also neat that when you go to the grocery store all produce and meat is labeled as to what country it has been imported from, so I feel like I'm a global consumer and learning lots about what countries produce goods.
Since this is Dubai you can find pretty much anything. So this is only the beginning of the food journey and I am sure I will experience many more restaurants and foods as time goes on. Enjoy the pics that follow! Bon Appetit!
The food centers much around Arabic food...and you ask, "what is that?" It's a lot of rice, bread...and more rice and bread, ha! Definitely some curry and other Indian like dishes. I still haven't quite figured it all out. I generally hit up the salad bar, get some rice and maybe chicken if it looks decent. Otherwise, it's all about eating out here. The whole culture is about going out, socializing, dining, and entertaining yourselves in this way. There are restaurants galore. I think you could spend 6 months going out to eat for every meal and still not dine in every restaurant. As you can imagine how competitive hotels are here, restaurants are the same. Lots of advertising, promotions, new menus, entertainment, you name it. It has to be different in order to succeed. AND there are new openings on weekly basis. It's exciting!
Grocery stores are similar to the states, except you aren't going to find an ounce of liquor, beer or wine in them! Ha! In order to buy alcohol, you need a alcohol license. In order to get one of these, you have to be in a high enough position in terms of employment. I am able to get a license and am currently working on it, but as everything else here, it takes time. I have to have a "permission" letter from my employer, as well as the owners of the area or land where the hotel is housed. Of course all of these items cost money as well. Being a Muslim country, alcohol is not looked upon as a positive. However, they have adapted in order to bring tourism and expats into work since they are accustomed to drinking. BUT most of my colleagues that have lower positions than I do cannot drink in their homes. Only if you have an alcohol license can you drink in your home legally. Crazy huh?! If you get caught without a license or buying for someone that doesn't have a license, there are severe fines and penalties. Kinda like going back to being under 21 and having to "spot" again...oh the joys.
As for actual grocery shopping, you can more or less find what you want in terms of items from the states. So far these are the things I have missed: crackers (like good ol wheat thins or something), PORK (you have to buy anything pork related from a special grocery store that has a pork section. Again, Muslims do not eat pork so that means no bacon, sausage, peperoni pizza, sliced ham...I didn't realize how much I missed this!) Mexican food (tough to find decent salsa and tortilla chips), fruits and veggies! Of course they sell these, but they have very little flavor and cost a fortune. Remember that I live in a desert where no crops are grown so everything is imported. Man do I miss my Ballard Farmer's Market and all the fresh produce! What I would give for a large crisp green salad, yum! However, I did find some good ol' Idaho potatoes this weekend! Imagine that! I had to buy the bag even though it was $7 for a small bag of baby potatoes. Who cares?! A little bit of comfort is always worth the spend :)
On the plus side, I've tried some cool new stuff like candied dates, Camel's milk (really creamy and yummy!) and lots of other things. It's also neat that when you go to the grocery store all produce and meat is labeled as to what country it has been imported from, so I feel like I'm a global consumer and learning lots about what countries produce goods.
Since this is Dubai you can find pretty much anything. So this is only the beginning of the food journey and I am sure I will experience many more restaurants and foods as time goes on. Enjoy the pics that follow! Bon Appetit!
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