We tried the following selection of chocolates and dates, which cost us thirty Riyal.

Dates

• Khidri with Candied Orange Peel
• Kholas with Caramelised Pecan

Chocolates

• Date Tea Ganache
• Dark Pistachio Piemont
• Dark Coated Traditional Nougat
• Date Rocher White and Dark
• Dark Pecan
• Date Fig Roll Milk and Dark

The dates were sweet and very rich. The chocolates were well presented with and the date and fig flavours were interesting. Overall it was a fun experience.

Update Monday 26 September 2011
Those that received the Bateel Bianca Boxes at our reception would now know why we did this tasting.
In them were the following chocolates;

• Dark Pistachio Piemont Ganache (Origin Chocolate)
• Dark Rosewater Marzipan (Origin Chocolate)
• Kholas Caramelised Pecan Milk (Date Chocolate)
• Date Rocher Dark (Date Chocolate)

I would also like to thank Mohammad Bagher Pashmi, manager of the Dubai Mall Bateel who was very helpful and professional placing the order. Didn’t mind at all the twenty or so emails I sent him.

The cosy, family run restaurant in Mt Hawthorn was our first introduction to Balkan food. Given that Travis and I had been there once before, this time round we thought we would try the mixed platter for two which consisted of samples of a variety of dishes:

cevaps – grilled rolls of beef minced meat
pljeskavica – veal meat patty flavoured with salt, onions and peppers
kobasice – smoked grilled, pork and beef sausage
shishcevaps – grilled rolls of spicy minced beef and
raznjici – skewers with cubes of chicken meat.

The platter was served with some homemade bread, dips and a salad – more than enough food for the two of us, particularly as our table had also ordered garlic bread and lepina (air dried beef and homemade bread) for starters.

Our friends ordered pizza, burek (layers of pastry filled with meat or other filling) and sarma (minced beef meat, rice, onions, herbs and various spices mixed together then rolled into large cabbage leaves).

Overall consensus was that the food was enjoyable, abundant (dishes were extremely huge!) and we were all simply very full post consumption. While we didn’t have desserts this time, we did try the baklava on our first visit which was delicious but the small slice didn’t quite satisfy my appetite for the sweet pasty!!

Feeling quite hungry we decided to share a sushi and sashimi platter for entree, followed by Patagonian tooth-fish for Travis and a hitori sukiyaki for me.  The tooth-fish was accompanied with enoki mushrooms, bok choy, kayaku gohan (mixed rice and vegetables) and leek.  My sukiyaki was made of wagu beef, vegetables, tofu and udon noodles. We also shared a pot of green tea between us.

The platter was delicious, beautifully presented and satisfied my fishy cravings.  We also enjoyed the mains, although Travis noted that the tooth-fish was somewhat oily (however he did acknowledge the health benefits of oily such fish).  All in all the food was enjoyable, service was friendly and the outing pleasant.  We were quite full and decided not to have dessert.   We finished the night at our friends’ house, playing poker and eating mango pudding.

We all didn’t know what to expect, and judging by their website; which needs immense improvement, we thought we would all be for an interesting experience, to say the least.

On arrival we were greeted by Helga (the restaurant owner) and shown to our table which was situated next to the fireplace. The interior was cosy with German flavoured decorations, and an obligatory painting of Beethoven above the fireplace.

The night started with customary very tall glasses of German bear made by the Weihenstephan brewery. For the entrée, we shared a Munich platter of meats and sausages which were all very nice. I ordered the Wiener schnitzel, and Sonya the chicken breast. Our friends ordered various other dishes.

After placing our orders was when things got a little weird. A few minutes later, the waitress informed us that they had run out of rib eye steak which forced a few of our friends to reorder. About an hour or so later, the waitress informed one of our friends that his pork shank had been overcooked, and if he would still like it served.

At around two hours from ordering, our meals finally arrived. The chef somehow managed to leave out the gravy, and included diced mushrooms only in a gravy jug accompanying my schnitzel. Our friend, who decided he would still like his pork shank, found it to be severely burnt on one side, but continued eating from the other. Finally, when we had all finished our meals, they brought out the bowl of fries we ordered, apologising and offering to remove them from the bill.

Overall, it was an interesting experience, and was fun to try something different for a change. The waitress was friendly, the interior nice, but the food a little too dear for the quality.