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The first thing that one would notice about Dubai is the sheer scale of everything, the malls, the ongoing constructions and the restaurants.But being the foodie that I consider myself to be, I shall only talk about food. Though I always wonder if one can sample all the variety of cuisines that any place can offer in five days, I must say that I did my level best to sample the varieties on offer.

For my first day in any new country it is my ritual to try the local flavours. For my first day in Dubai, I decided to try the Irani food. And after tasting their Irani cuisine, I found myself wondering why our Irani restaurants never serve anything like that. The chelo kebabs paired with a humongous naan and rice were terrific. The kebabs here have a typical Arabic/Aghani flavour and there was no hint of chilly.

On the second day we decided to take a stroll down a walk in the downtown Burj area which faces the Burj Dubai and the Dubai mall. There are restaurants surrounding the man-made lake with a great fountain show every 30 minutes which served hookahs.

At the walk near the Dubai marina which boasts of the finest collection of restaurants we had a delightful meal at a fast food joint which specialises in wraps. The Haloumi cheese made a great filling for the vegetarian wrap and the lamb kebabs were awesome. We also had some lovely Arabian coffee — a light black concoction with cardamom and cloves, a little like the Kashmiri kahwa — in a cafe next door.

On our third day we had dinner in downtown Dubai at a Chinese restaurant called Hakka. I must admit that I was very disappointed at the below average meal. The mushroom which was recommended by the steward for my vegetarian wife was inedible. And we suffered the same fate with the kung pau chicken suggested by the waitress.

We had a similar experience at Toscana, an Italian restaurant, where we had margarita pizzas (limp and rubbery), fried calamari (again limp and rubbery), risotto for my veggie wife (average). Our choices both the times turned out to be wrong. I believe that most restaurants in popular destinations can be classified as either local restaurants or tourist restaurants. Sadly these restaurants fit
neither category.

Even though I was mostly disappointed with the dinner selection, I must admit that the breakfast in Dubai is a lavish affair which earned the whole family’s unstinted appreciation. Most of the hotels have a lavish spread with fresh juice and smoothie
bar, which made my kids and wife’s day.

The Swiss style muesli soaked overnight in milk with fresh coconut shavings and no sugar, no fat was a novelty which has
become a part of our daily breakfast routine.

The meal that made the Dubai trip great for me was our meal at Pierchic at the Al Qasr Hotel. This restaurant is built on a jetty or rather the jetty has been built for this restaurant which specialises in seafood. Great though the food was I had to shell out a bill which still has me reeling in shock. The last day we had a meal at Souk Madinat. To get there we had to travel in an abra (an
electric dhow boat).

I feel that Dubai has the charms to hold your attention for 3 to 4 days as after that you yearn for some nature-made and not
man-made structures.

Another great thing about Dubai is that it is the best for a family holiday even if you have small children. Everything is super safe for a child-friendly holiday. The lifeguards do not leave their spots for love of money. The go-karting track at the Autodrome is fantastic, with all safety standards like fire suits compulsory even for kids.

Though the destination was a little off the beaten track for a foodie like me I can safely say that we managed to cover quite a bit.