Dubai Food Tour by Bicycle

DUBAI FOOD TOUR BY BICYCLE | Exploring the Old Dubai Through Palates and Pedals

Dubai and I, we have an on-and-off relationship. My three-year tumultuous attempt to stay (or leave) the city that did nothing but love me was tiring but admittedly exhilarating. Because of this, to meet someone born and raised in Dubai is something quite astonishing to me.

“I will never forget you,” I told Lara as we biked side by side along Jumeirah Road. My amazement could not be hidden from my face as she talked about living in the city with her whole family, with absolutely no plans of moving to another country.

What makes her stay, I asked. “Because there is no reason for me to leave.”

“Not even the hot weather?” I probed some more. “No,” she replied, and she smiled the simplest and most gratified smile I have seen on someone’s face.

1ST STOP: BLENDS JUICE BAR

It was a bummer, to say the least, to have missed one stop because of unforeseen circumstances, but it was very thoughtful of the group to order an extra drink so I can still try what they had.

The first stop of the tour was Blends Juice Bar, a snack shop near the Umm Suqeim Park. I got the “Arabian Classic” – something was telling me that there’s got to be dates in this mixture somewhere, and boy was I correct. Well, what better way to start a Dubai food tour than by putting a spotlight on its well-loved fruit, right?

See, in the few years that I had been living in Dubai, I have never come to like dates. However, this drink was a game changer. Blended with almond, milk and low-fat yoghurt, the date drink definitely found its way to me. It had the right amount of sweetness that additional sugar was no longer necessary.

2ND STOP: SALT

We proceeded to the second stop of the tour. Situated along the sandy shores of Kite Beach, ‘Salt’ caused quite a stir particularly in social media this year with the release of the mysterious hashtag #findsalt. The concept was a brainchild of two Emiratis looking for a new dining experience in Dubai.

In this stop, we were served the “Hook” – Wagyu beef sliders made complete with the incorporation of melted cheese, jalapenos and lettuce, all of them tuck in soft butter buns.

A few burps after, we moved forward to the next destination.

As we pedaled forth to another restaurant, we stopped for a…