Friday Brunch in Satwa

One of the coolest authentic adventures I've had here was the Friday I ran errands in the Pakistani neighborhood near my apartment and stumbled into a really great brunch. Brunch in Dubai is an "institution." They can be over the top, or quite reasonable. I first stopped to look at the neat snacks (chatt) in the window at Vandna, but then realized that inside was interesting too.

There were a few tables with people eating, and I figured out that the food was something I wanted to try. Luckily, there were a couple of options on a very straightforward menu. Pointing and affirmative nodding is how I communicated through this tasty meal.

I was brought a series of dishes, and a man came around and kept offering more bread, rice, curries, or "Ayran" the yogurt drink seen in the metal cup.

Eating got a little messy, because I used only the bread and rice to scoop up all the food. But as in many restaurants in Dubai, I was given a box of tissues instead of napkins. All of the food was very tasty, even though I'm not entirely sure what each of these dishes are. My favorite was the brown sugar and bean-- that might have been dessert, but I ate it along with the spicy dishes. The bowl of white, that is an entire bowl of sugar, which I might have wanted to stir into the yogurt drink, but who knows what it was intended for? I sampled it all, it was very good. The guys there were really nice. Just before I left more families started to come in and it got busy. The men were coming home from mosque and it was time to eat. I can see why the place became crowded.