Iftar review: BouBouffe, Shaikh Zayed Road

The bright lights of the UAE’s many fancy Ramadan tents can get monotonous. First world problems, I know. But if you’re an expat away from family socialising over iftar on a regular basis, sometimes all you want is a homely, hearty meal at sunset.

Lebanese brasserie BouBouffe on Shaikh Zayed Road in Dubai has created an iftar menu that’s all about comfort food. The offering is not vastly different from what you’d expect from a Lebanese restaurant, but the focus here is on home-cooked goodness served with a smile. The chain’s signature Lebanese Burger is not on the iftar menu, sadly, but it’s likely you won’t miss it at all because the set menu is quite extensive. You can still order it for an extra price.

Food is served a la carte from a broad choice of drinks, soups, salads, hot and cold mezzes, main dishes and desserts. My top picks include the sambousek, or the Middle Eastern samosa, a fried pasty stuffed with minced meat. I have never liked fatayer, so I gave that a miss. The kibbeh was amazing, though. But the crowning glory in the mezze selection was the cheese sambousek — crispy on the outside and gooey goodness on the inside. My friends and I ordered seconds for that. We would have gone for a third but there was a lot to get through. The salads and mezze selection itself is a complete meal.

But if you’re looking to up your protein quota, the main courses have it. We chose the oriental stuffed lamb and the oriental chicken, both served on a bed of rice cooked with minced meat. It’s authentic, a bit too meaty for my friends, but I loved it.

The dessert selection was pretty standard — Othmalieh, kunafeh, katayef — but all very good. Don’t miss the kellaj, usually made only during Ramadan, filled with cream and then topped with syrup. So, so sweet but so, so good.

The details

Where: BouBouffe, Shaikh Zayed Road, Dubai (Also in Yas Mall, Abu Dhabi)

Price: Dh110 per person.

Timings: Sunset until late

Call: 04-3943196