I was celebrating my 29th birthday couple of days back and on the same evening I was immersed in my phone to find a good restaurant to go to for a dinner. Not that Dubai has very limited choices, but we wanted a place we had never been before and Indian restaurants were something we were not looking at. Also, Little A would accompany us so lounges and bars weren’t an option. After reading some reviews, we marked Reem Al Bawadi as our destination. It is located at Jumeirah 3 on Jumeirah Road.
This was my first time here and hubby’s second. He had been here before few years back during Ramadan and was not very impressed with the congested seating. We still wanted to give it a try incase somethings would have changed over the years. When we entered the restaurant, outdoor seating had a very beautiful natural feel with open dining and artificial flowers and leaves neatly arranged. Our biggest mistake was not reserving a table on the telephone thinking we would get lucky since it was a weekday. We were proven completely wrong. The outdoor (as well as indoor) area was full with people, mainly surrounded by families or couples all devouring into lovely food and sheesha. We were informed that it was our choice to wait but it may take a long time for a table to get empty. Reem Al Bawadi captures the essence of basic arabic tradition with staff dressed in traditional clothes and classic wooden finishing done like that of a Bedouin house. The staff took us inside from a huge passage way where they had their bakery and own line of jams and sauces which was decently priced. We finally found ourselves seated on a table from where we could get an outside view plus get some natural air.
Coming to the food part – it was pricey as compared to other lebanese restaurants like Al Arz, Al Reef, Al Hallab or Al Mallah we had regularly been to several times. We called for simple Lebanese dishes like Beiruti hummous, Cheese Manakeesh for Little A and Meat Arayees. We were particularly impressed with Arayees – it was crisp as it should be from the outside and had lovely flavors on the meat. Beiruti hummous is our current favorite – it is made traditionally like any other hummous but is flavored with parsley and crushed garlic. They initially served us cold breads which were later exchanged for hot ones when we asked them to do so. Their mezze collection of vine leaves, olives, tabouleh, fatoosh and mutabbal were too sour. I may try their falafel collection if I happen to go there next again. Only thing I despise of all these restaurants is the amount of potato fries they serve with any dish, which if not consumed goes into the trash. May be they could ask the guests if they would like to eat it, makes sense isn’t it?
Beiruti Hummous
Cheese Manakeesh, every child’s favorite
Scrumptious Arayees
If you are a sheesha lover, they have it available right inside the restaurant. We didn’t had a sheesha that day which is why I cannot say anything on it. I found our server a bit distracted. He kept hovering from our table to another without even completing the order. If you know arabic, you will be at an advantage but since we do not know the language much, we had to keep pointing on the menu for anything we wanted to call for. We wanted to call for a fresh juice which the sever found very difficult to understand, so we gave it a miss. What made our experience more decent was the polite and gentle restaurant’s manager coming and talking to us. He stood beside our table and had a general conversation for about 15 mins. We came to know from him that he was a Yemeni and missed his native land as much like any other expat.
I can never miss taking a picture of a glass!
Our total bill came to 170 aed for 2 adults and 1 child. As I mentioned before the letdown of Reem Al Bawadi is the pricing for the food they offer as compared to other Lebanese joints. It is best suited for special occasions because of their lovely ambiance and lively atmosphere which you may not get in any other Lebanase restaurant.
