Reem Al Bawadi – Mohammed Bin Rashid Blvd – Downtown Dubai

Reem Al Bawadi is a restaurant that you can find in all the key areas in Dubai starting from Deira all the way to Jumeirah Beach road in Dubai. They have atleast 9 restaurants in UAE. The restaurant is always looking grand from the outside and inside and is a perfect place for those in search for authentic Middle Eastern cuisine. I felt the pricing is a little more on the higher side.

Reem Al Bawadi – seating with a view of Burj Khalifa

You can’t ask for a perfect spot in Downtown Dubai. At Reem Al Bawadi in Downtown Dubai, you could sit out the restaurant and enjoy your meal with fantastic views of Burj Khalifa. It would be wonderful to see new year fire works on Burj Khalifa from here. The interiors have been kept very traditional and you feel you’ve just entered an Arabic home.

Reem Al Bawadi Cocktail – AED 48 – mix of fresh fruit chunks and tropical fruit juice, topped with fresh ashta cream, crushed pistachio and honey

From left: Fresh Cocktail(AED 30) and Sweet Melon Juice(AED 27)

Our lunch started with their fresh juices. Reem Al Bawadi Cocktail is equivalent to a dessert or let’s say falooda. So heavy that you either share the majestic cocktail or skip your meal. But it’s beautiful and tasty as it’s looks. You feel good eating lots of fruits in it and at the same time you enjoy it as a dessert due to Ashta(Arabic cream) and honey in it. The fresh cocktail is more or less same as the Reem Al Bawadi cocktail except it doesn’t have fruit pieces, honey, Ashta or nuts in it. The sweet melon was a perfect thirst quencher as the cocktails were thick.

The creamy mushroom soup that came in a bread bowl made a statement. We loved it. The soup was thick, warm and nicely cushioned inside a bread bowl similar to the one at Paul Bakery.

Jarjeer Salad – AED 24 – Fresh rocket leaves, tomato, white onions, sumac, crumbly white cheese with lemon-olive oil dressing and pomegranate molasses

From left: Mohammarah(AED 24) and Hummus with Pine Seeds(AED 32)

From right: Mohammarah(AED 24) and Hummus with Pine Seeds(AED 32) along with Hot Bread

The Hummus and Muhammara were fantastic. One of the most genuine arabic dippers you can find. You hear by name everywhere in Dubai but the real ones can only be made at an authentic restaurant and Reem Al Bawadi makes a good one, with puffy soft Arabic breads come in as complimentary. The salad was different and yummy as ever. I somehow felt that the salad plate was disconnected from the salad. I am sure they can find a better plate for their salads.

Reem Al Bawadi Mixed Mezza – AED 125 – fried kebbeh, cheese sambuosek, meat sambuosek, spinach fatayer and fried calamari

The real talk were the hot appetizers. This platter should be a must order if you are here. My favourite would be the meat sambousek. The puff pastries were well done, light, crisp and just the way it should be. Only wished these hot mezza remained hot for a while.

The chicken Shawarma had a nice flavour to the chicken. I would give the chicken shawarma a five star rating for it’s taste of meat but the bread is a little stiff though.

Roasted Lamb Shank – AED 69 – Roasted lamb shank served with mashed potatoes and gravy

Reem Al Bawadi Mixed Grill – AED 85 -An assortment of lamb cubes, kabab halabi, shish tawook, Lebanese kafta, meat arayess and lamb chops

Believe it or not the best looking meat on the table which is the Lamb shank was actually disappointing. The lamb was not tender and didn’t feel it fresh enough. Although the manager assured me it was a freshly cut lamb brought in the morning. The mixed Grill was a nice plate of juicy meats specially the kabab halabi.

Oh yes, they have some wonderful desserts in their menu. Our mains were quite heavy so we had to settle with just one and we picked the very well known arabic dessert which was the Cheese Kunafa. The cheese was nice, warm and just the right sweetness.

We ended with a hot Moroccan tea and as you can see they pour it from a height. I should say this was one of the best Moroccan tea we’ve had. They’ve got their entire menu uploaded on their official website. Click here to visit their official website. Click pictures to see them in full screen view.