$3 dish, chef's menu: How residents 'devoured' Dubai's food festival

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With some delicious dishes for just Dh10 and a unique chef’s menus for affordable prices, UAE residents raced to make the most of the last weekend of the Dubai Food Festival (DFF).

For 13-year-old student Aydin Gayaz, the DFF was a time he got to visit a restaurant that has been on his must-visit list for a while. “I went with my family to Konjiki,” he said. “My mother had been once and when she described the food, I thought I would enjoy it. And I was right. It was a real treat to eat there.”

The favourite dish of the night for Aydin was the Dh10 dish beef tataki. “It was absolutely delicious,” he said. “I also enjoyed the truffle mushroom claypot rice and the salmon tataki, which were also for Dh10, but the beef tataki was one of the best I have eaten so far.”

Working closely with restaurants, F&B establishments and hotels, DFF brings together a diverse array of activations, special menus, events, competitions, and promotions that showcase Dubai’s wide variety of culinary hotspots. From Michelin-starred restaurants to pop ups, it provides eateries a platform to showcase their best dishes to diners.

Food trail

For Lebanese expat Anthony, who has been working as an engineer in the emirate for 5 years, the festival has been a great way of discovering new food.

“My friends and I have been visiting a new restaurant at least twice a week,” he said. “We usually catch up once a week at the beach or park but this time we have been meeting at new restaurants to try out the different offerings. We have also gone to the e& beach canteen a few times as we live close by. We tried the Chef’s Menu feature as well at Tresind restaurant. It was a restaurant I have wanted to go to ever since the Michelin guide was announced. We finally got around to it this year.”

According to Anthony, what he enjoyed the most was the Dh10 dish. “I love that feature,” he said. “You get to explore a lot of dishes that you would otherwise not have eaten. On the last day, my sister and I are planning to do a Dh10 food trail in Karama and try several different dishes.”

Chef’s Menu

This year, DFF introduced the Chef's Menu — where the head chefs of a collection of fine dining restaurants handpicked their most popular dishes to create a special menu.

Available between 1 to 12 May, each menu comprised a minimum of three courses, handpicked by the chefs. Diners also get the opportunity to engage with culinary maestros from each restaurant and gain insights into the artistry of their craft. Several leading chefs in the city including Rahul Rana of Avatara, Damien Duviau of Nobu Dubai and Alvin Leung of Demon Duck were part of the campaign.

The festival also showcased a Foodie Experiences campaign. From an experiential dining event at 11 Woodfire to food tours in Karama and Deira, the campaign offered a wide variety of eating out adventures to Dubai residents.