Fans flock to the food festival
Fans flock to the Dubai Food Festival for a feast of flavours
An exotic mix of tastes, aromas and visitors is ensuring that the Dubai Food Festival is a massive hit. During this signature event of the Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF), taste buds are being given a treat from Malaysia to Mirdif until February 14.
The two-week event has witnessed a host of culinary activities featuring global cuisine as well as the participation of more than 20 well-known restaurant chefs from across Dubai.
The emphasis this year is on "the essence of a market place", undoubtedly the centre of the action as stalls sprawl from one end of The Square at Uptown Mirdif to the other.
Fresh and local produce is on offer, with everything from top quality ice cream to fruits and coffee, as well as food markets, cookery workshops, and tasting sessions amidst the bustle.
Restaurants from across the city brought dishes show-casing an astounding variety of traditionally inspired dishes from all corners including Sri Lankan, Filipino, Chinese, Mexican, Indian, Japanese, British, Egyptian, Lebanese, South Asian, French, and local.
While the food enthusiasts got stuck in to all the more challenging activities others browsed the stalls and sampled the delights on offer.
So what's still to catch?
- Record breakers: An attempt of breaking a world record on February 13 should bring in the crowds. The festival along with the ECG (Emirates Culinary Guild) will create the largest dessert buffet with a total of 2009 different desserts.
- Sampling Sundays: This event happens tonight from 5-7pm and shouldn't be missed. The evening provides visitors the chance to sample from a variety of cuisines for free.
- Buffet Tuesdays: From 7.30-9.30pm Buffet Tuesday provide a choice of 40 delicious delicacies for Dh40.
- Live Cooking Tents: Since its inception, the Dubai Food Festival has encouraged a broad range of restaurant participants, not to mention the diversity of restaurants from calzones to shwarmas, biryanis to burgers.
- Food Market: The festival isn't just about eating but also about the entire experience while strolling the streets of the festival. The Food Market is a great place for amazing buys.
- The Demonstration Area: Features a marquee that hosts a rolling programme of cookery demonstrations between 6-10pm every day.
- Competitions: A popular annual event, the competition is aimed at young chefs keen to demonstrate their abilities. All the ingredients will be provided and participants will have to prepare a dish from beginning to end. This happens each night from 6pm.
