Maison Mathis - Arabian Ranches Golf Club, Dubai

[caption id="attachment_1442" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Maison Mathis Entrance[/caption]

A new belgian restaurant just opened at Arabian Ranches. It is attached to the Arabian Ranches golf club so it is better to search for the Arabian Ranches Golf Club as you will find lot of sign boards at Arabian ranches directing you to the golf club and you should find this new European styled restaurant. It's the first Belgian all day dining concept. Their vision is to get to you an exposure to their local food culture in Belgium.

[caption id="attachment_1445" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Airy dining room with white on white interiors[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1443" align="aligncenter" width="705"] have a private family meal[/caption]

The inside of Maison Mathis is as elegant as the outside with a stunning white on white interior with a hand laid tile floor in the belgian tradition and several distinct seating areas. You can opt to dine inside or outside facing the beautiful golf view overlooking the 9th hole of the neighboring golf course. Their club chairs were big and comfortable. They've got a lovely play area for your kids too.

[caption id="attachment_1444" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Comfortable club chairs[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1447" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Bar section[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1446" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Maison Mathis Bakery[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1437" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Bread and cheese station[/caption]

They put lot of emphasize on their breads. You will find their bakery on the right once you enter Maison Mathis. Their breads are fresh and homemade. They strongly believe they make the best breads in town and they make different types of it so don't forget to try them while you are there.

website: http://www.mm-argc.com/ 

Opening hours : 7am to 2am

[caption id="attachment_1448" align="aligncenter" width="705"] golf sticks put to rest while they dine at Maison Mathis[/caption]

The official opening of Maison Mathis was held at night so the beautiful golf view got covered. Hence i revisited Maison Mathis once again on friday so i could show you some of their good views from the restaurant. When i went on friday i noticed one thing. The restaurant was mainly filled by golfers at that time and their kids enjoying the swing and slide while some of them were actually playing golf very seriously and if you don't play golf like me, you would probably start playing golf once you eat here regularly :p

[caption id="attachment_1449" align="aligncenter" width="705"] golf view[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1438" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Me with restaurant manager(middle) and senior chefs(sides)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1419" align="aligncenter" width="705"] kibbling with pea puree and tartare sauce[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1421" align="aligncenter" width="705"] steak tartare with truffle mayonnasie and lemon hollandaise[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1420" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Tomato bruschetta[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1427" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Inspectors: Me and a guest(Nishad Abdulla)[/caption]

So here I am at the official opening night of Maison Mathis at Arabian Ranches. They were basically showing off their cooking skills and quality by indulging us in little forms of their delicious menu. There were too many items I tried that night and it was difficult for me to recall names of all of it.

[caption id="attachment_1435" align="aligncenter" width="705"] steaks on fire![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1424" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Mini beef burger[/caption]

From many of their items I ate, some of them really caught my attention like the quality of beef in the beef burger was fantastic. Really good beef and even my friend who came along enjoyed it very much. Their smoked duck with beetroot and nuts was lovely too. I never would have ordered by name but once I tried it, I kept hunting for it in the crowd.

[caption id="attachment_1433" align="aligncenter" width="705"] European shrimp cocktail with grey shrimp[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1431" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Oyester[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1429" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Lobster Bisque shooters[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1430" align="aligncenter" width="705"] smoked salmon with herb infused cream cheese[/caption]

I didn't find any fish as such but they did have seafood items such as salmon, prawns and oyster. The European shrimp cocktail with grey shrimp was really tasty from that list.

[caption id="attachment_1426" align="aligncenter" width="705"] the lobster cocktail[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1423" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Quail egg filled with smoked mackerel creme[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1422" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Tomato mazzarella with fresh basil[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1428" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Desserts - Mini lemon pie, Mini chocolate brownie, Mini eclair, fruit tart. cinnamon roll[/caption]

You can also buy their pastries from their bakery shop(The same place where you find their breads). I enjoyed all of it, nothing to complaint about. I ate quite a bit of their Mini chocolate brownie, fruit tart and Eclairs as I couldn't settle with just one of each.

[caption id="attachment_1436" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Desserts - Mini lemon pie, Mini chocolate brownie, fruit tart. cinnamon roll[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1441" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Me[/caption]

Click on photos below to see them in full screen view.

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Congratulations Noori Shaikh!

Thank you everybody for participating. Had a great time reading all your entries. Some were serious and some were funny. Most of them emphasized on how much they love seafood but Noori made the same point with a sense of humor. Some of you who haven't yet subscribed, do subscribe to my blog and do post comments on my posts when you can as they do help gain some extra points for you in close situations.

Great answers. Keep it up All!

-Rubeen

Ocean Basket - Seafood restaurant - Mirdiff City Center, Dubai

[caption id="attachment_1342" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Men in Jeans: Me with the owners of Ocean Basket (From left: Manny and George lazarides)[/caption]

It's been a while that I've visited a seafood restaurant. So here I am at a new seafood restaurant in Dubai called Ocean Basket located at Mirdiff CityCenter and before I continue I would like to highlight that there is a chance for you to easily win 300dhs dining voucher at Ocean Basket restaurant. More details at end of post...

[caption id="attachment_1335" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Interiors of ocean basket restaurant[/caption]

It's actually their second branch in Dubai. The first one is inside Dubai Airport - Terminal 3. I love the theme of this restaurant as in the colors, the fonts used in their menu page, the drawings and most importantly I understand their menu. Menu is well designed, they have pictures besides each of their item with pricing and description making it easier for someone like me who is a part time sea food lover. Note I am talking about the menu available at the restaurant. You might not find pictures on their menu online. You can check out their online menu here.

[caption id="attachment_1327" align="aligncenter" width="705"] on the house - homemade chilli, tartar and garlic sauces along with bread and butter[/caption]

While you wait for your drinks you are given a nice basket of bread, butter and 3 homemade sauces which is chilli, tartar and garlic sauces. Chilli was definitely dangerous, you just couldn't eat too much of it. Our order started with fresh juices. We ordered Watermelon, strawberry and lemon n mint. Strawberry was tasting best out of the three. Rich and pure.

[caption id="attachment_1328" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Fruit juices - Dhs 20 - Lemon and mint, strawberry and watermelon[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1329" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Village salad - Dhs 25[/caption]

The village salad came in a lovely big white bowl. The giant slab of cheese on top and that little bit of olive oil flowing on top got me moving. The salad was surely dressed well and was good to begin with. We had quite a bit of interesting items as starters too:

• Calamari starter - Dhs 30


• Halloumi cheese - Dhs 29


• Garlic and cheese prawns - Dhs 50


• Mussels in lemon and Garlic - Dhs 39

[caption id="attachment_1332" align="aligncenter" width="705"] calamari starter - Dhs 30[/caption]

Calamari here is a fried one but they do have different versions of calamari for you. You could try their fried, grilled or Cajun. Cajun came spicy and I loved that one. Halloumi cheese was super. People on the table wanted more of it. The sauce that came along for prawns and Mussels was special which gave extra taste to them.

[caption id="attachment_1331" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Halloumi cheese - Dhs 29[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1351" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Garlic and cheese prawns - Dhs 50[/caption]

Of course they give you chopsticks for you to easily hold them and eat but I was more comfortable with fork and knife, I skipped the chopsticks. It's cool to see people using chopsticks but you need to have that patience if you haven't used a chopstick before. Once you know how to use it, nothing like it. Maybe I should start practicing before I start embarrassing myself using the wrong tools at the wrong place. Also noticed their menu gave you some tips on using chopsticks :)

[caption id="attachment_1330" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Mussels in lemon and Garlic - Dhs 39[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1367" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Sushi for 2 - Dhs 140[/caption]

We tried the Sushi for 2

• 8 pieces of salmon california rolls (A rice roll filled with seaweed, avo & fresh salmon, sliced to bite)


• 8 pieces of tuna fashion sandwiches (Miniature rice sandwiches, filled with layers of fresh tune and nori)


• 6 pieces of prawn nigiri (Fingers of Japanese sushi rice topped with prawn)


• 6 pieces of crab stick maki (A palm sized snack made of sushi rice and crab stick, wrapped in a seaweed cone)

I enjoyed all of it specially the prawns one. Nice thing about eating sushi is that it's light and it feels great in your stomach.

[caption id="attachment_1338" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Da full deck - Dhs 320 - 30 prince prawns, mussels, calamari, calamari steak strips and line fish[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1337" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Da full deck - dhs 320 - Calamari in focus - 30 prince prawns, mussels, calamari, calamari steak strips and linefish[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1340" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Da Family platter - Dhs 170 - 12 prince prawns, calamari, 4 pieces of fish[/caption]

The tray was literally full and loaded with seafood. The fish(Nile perch) that came along it was really nice. There was another fish that i tried as well which was soft called cream dory but i enjoyed the nile perch more. Prince prawns would easily come off their skin and into my fork :). It was a great meal.

[caption id="attachment_1341" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Dozen Prince prawns stir fry- Dhs 70 - 12 pieces of prawns and stir-fry vegetables[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1336" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Calamari 3 ways (Grilled, Fried and Cajun) - Dhs 65[/caption]

Above you can see the three types of Calamari I was telling you about earlier. Extreme left is the spicy calamari which I enjoyed the most among the calamaris. The rice you see here is a little blank in taste for me.

[caption id="attachment_1334" align="aligncenter" width="678"] Peri Peri sauce of Ocean basket - Dhs 15[/caption]

I thought peri peri only came from Nandos but here's another one. A piri piri sauce to match your seafood. Even the packing looks more or less the same but this sauce can only be found at Ocean Basket restaurant. So if you want to buy one of these, you don't find them from supermarkets but instead you buy directly from Ocean basket restaurant.

[caption id="attachment_1339" align="aligncenter" width="705"] My plate of fish(nile perch) and prawns[/caption]

Ocean Basket restaurant official website: http://www.oceanbasket.com/
To win 300dhs dining voucher at Ocean Basket restaurant. All you have to tell me is:

Why do you think you deserve to be treated at Ocean Basket restaurant?. Write me in all the funky way you know ;)

You can either e-mail me your answer with your details (Answer, Full name, Mobile number) to rubeen@outlook.com or you could fill up the form below. The competition ends in 2 days and winner will be announced on saturday(14th December) night!

Fill up and 300dhs Ocean Basket dining voucher could be yours :)

[contact-form][contact-field label='Full Name' type='name' required='1'/][contact-field label='Email' type='email' required='1'/][contact-field label='Mobile' type='text' required='1'/][contact-field label='Why do you think you deserve a treat at Ocean Basket restaurant?' type='textarea' required='1'/][/contact-form]

Al Hadheerah - Desert restaurant - Bab Al Shams - Meydan Hotels

[caption id="attachment_1275" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Grilled meat[/caption]

This is my second buffet mentioned on my blog. One good part about writing buffet is that I don't need to spend that extra time finding and writing pricing on individual items since it's pay and eat all you can . But then the downside is there are too many items that I need to show you.

[caption id="attachment_1288" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Hot breads getting ready and served for everyone on their table[/caption]

Hadeerah restaurant is more about the experience u get with your dinner. Its the journey to the desert, the unique ambience of the desert, the stage program using camels, horses and goats. Thundering private fireworks just for you. Horse/Camel riding and henna painting. A good collection of meat to choose and eat.

[caption id="attachment_1299" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Fireworks (3-4 minutes)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1294" align="aligncenter" width="705"] horse show - men fighting with their horses[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1293" align="aligncenter" width="705"] camel show[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1297" align="aligncenter" width="705"] part of the show - goats running[/caption]

Your buffet is also inclusive of free camel rides, horse rides, henna painting. If you've not visited the burdubai museum then need not worry. They have a similar heritage setup here as well so u get an understanding about the national traditions. At the end u speak more about the experience than the food to your friends.

[caption id="attachment_1303" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Heritage show [/caption]

The drive to Bab Al Shams in the desert is very special. It's just you, your car and sign boards that say beware of animals(such as camels, deers crossing the road). Very lonely and infact after a while you get a little scared of might come out of the trees. No buildings and no humans on your way. Probably this is the road when your girlfriend will hold on to you tight!

[caption id="attachment_1261" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Meet and greet service at the entrance[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1262" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Sand art - Dhs 100 to have your name in it and take souvenir home[/caption]

At the entrance of Hadheerah restaurant you are invited by lantern, horsemen and stretch of shops where you can buy souvenirs for you to remember. The first place I got stuck was at the sand art shop. He was trying to convince me to buy his sand art. He could have my name written in a bottle using only sand for 100 Dhs. So in this photo he demonstrates his skill by drawing a camel using sand.

[caption id="attachment_1263" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Rotisserie chicken - they'll cut you the portion you need[/caption]

Once you reach at the door of Hadheerah you are guided and taken to your seat. Ofcourse you get to choose your seat. But right at the entrance starts the grand buffet as well so you start looking at the food than your seat. So above is the first scene of my sight when i entered Hadheerah. It's the rotating fat chicken.

[caption id="attachment_1278" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Hadheerah singer[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1271" align="aligncenter" width="705"] special arabic dance - In this his costume is lit[/caption]

You are seated facing the stage. The stage program goes in this order: singing, dancing, stage show and then comes late, the erotic belly dancer :p.

[caption id="attachment_1270" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Mocktails - Dhs 32[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1272" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Mango mint Lassi - Dhs 32[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1266" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Fruit juice bar[/caption]

My drinks were a combination of mocktails and a mango mint lassi. It was a new type of Lassi so I thought i'd order and see. It was a pretty looking lassi but I enjoyed the mocktails more.

[caption id="attachment_1264" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Soups[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1265" align="aligncenter" width="705"]Appetizers - manakish[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1269" align="aligncenter" width="705"]Appetizers - Falafel[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1307" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Appetizers[/caption]

I was very careful when I was choosing the appetizers. I wanted to ensure there was enough space for the meats at Hadheerah.

[caption id="attachment_1274" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Grilled meats[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1290" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Grilled Lamb chops[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1281" align="aligncenter" width="705"] My plate of meat - mutton kebab in focus[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1280" align="aligncenter" width="705"] my plate of meat - lamb chop in focus[/caption]

One good part about their buffet is everything is made fresh. Say if you wanted any of the meat then you would choose the piece and qty you like and then they grill in front of you while you anxiously wait seeing your meat sizzle on that grill. They had a big variety of grilled meat to offer too. So one of the best part of eating at Hadheera for me was I could see my food getting cooked right in front of me. I guess this is one of the advantages having buffet in open space. You can enjoy LIVE barbeque.

[caption id="attachment_1277" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Grilled Fish - red snapper[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1291" align="aligncenter" width="705"] My plate of meat[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1292" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Crabs getting ready[/caption]

One tip I can give you is among this grill, fish takes the most time to get ready. If you plan to have fish then i'd recommend you to go to the fish section first so while your fish gets ready you can go around other tables and start collecting. For a well done fish it should take atleast 10 mins minimum. It's good you don't hurry else you will get half cooked fish :p They have different types of fish as well like hammour, red snapper, sea bass etc. I ate the red snapper. I had only one issue with this fish, there were too many thorns interrupting me :(. So you need to be a little careful when you eat red snapper.

[caption id="attachment_1287" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Ouzi - rice and lamb[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1286" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Chicken Biriyani[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1268" align="aligncenter" width="705"] chicken scrambled with vegetables[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1289" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Chicken and Mutton Shawarma[/caption]

I ate less rice too but ensured i tried the meat in the rice. I very much enjoyed the Ouzi. I had to skip the shawarma, I was running out of space already.

Pricing for buffet at Hadheerah restaurant:

Friday
Buffet rate will be AED 495 per person (inc. of water, soft drinks and Arabic coffee)

Saturday to Thursday
Buffet rate will be AED 425 per person (inc. of water, soft drinks and Arabic coffee)

Children from 5 to 12 years will get a 50% discount.
Children under 4 years dine with our compliments.

website: http://www.meydanhotels.com/babalshams/dining.htm

[caption id="attachment_1285" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Desserts - mahalabia[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1284" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Desserts - Date cake[/caption]



[caption id="attachment_1300" align="aligncenter" width="705"] My plate of Dessert[/caption]

Honestly in the desserts nothing enticed me well enough until i tried this combination of mahalabia and their fresh ice creams. I must admit their ice creams were really nice. I really enjoyed the chocolate ice cream. I normally don't have ice creams at this time but since my son wanted one I just tried from his plate and wow it was lovely. So i combined mine with mahalabia and it was fun eating.

[caption id="attachment_1308" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Hadheerah washroom[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1302" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Camel and horse riding area[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1301" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Falcon and me[/caption]

Don't forget to try their camel riding, horse riding, Henna painting and stroll through their heritage village. Also make sure you get a good camera ;) Birds are not that light as you think they are, you should try holding this falcon in their restaurant.

[caption id="attachment_1305" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Souvenir from Hadheerah[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1298" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Fireworks (3- 4 minutes)[/caption]

Click on a photo below to enjoy them in full screen view.

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