Dinner

February 6, 2008 | Filed Under Main |

Being stuck between the office and the hotel as I am, you can imagine that my culinary exploits are pretty limited. But let me share them with you:

The hotel has three restaurants and I visit them on a rotating basis. One restaurant is buffet style and consists of lamb and rice dishes and chicken and rice dishes, Indian tandoori, kabobs, salad items, and the like. It’s pretty good usually. My issue has been beverages. I can have water, tea, soda and the occasional fruit juice. I saw that they displayed “sparkling” juices so last night I decided to order one of those. It was as if I ordered their finest champagne. It was served by three of the staff with great flourish and the bottle was set in a champagne bucket at my table. Very amusing.

Another restaurant is a faux Italian item that can be very hit and miss. Meats and soups they do very well, the pizza is so-so and some of the pasta dishes work. But when they are bad…! I ordered pasta with oil and garlic (once as a main course and once it came as a side) that was intensely spicy! Impossible to eat. They must have soaked it in red pepper oil for days. Don’t order anything with ricotta cheese – they don’t know what it is. And don’t even ask about the “cannoli”! Honestly, no restaurant should serve an item they have never even seen before. Blech!

The best restaurant is the faux Brazilian place. It serves meat. You can have your meat in tapas configurations. You can have your meat separately, with potato and vegetable. Or you can have them come to your table with big skewers and lop off pieces of meat for you until you beg them to stop. All cooked to perfection. They also do a fine gazpacho soup. That’s where I’m headed tonight.

Recently, I branched out a bit and walked down the street to this little place I saw. It’s a burger joint – literally. For a mainly Arab clientele, they serve burgers, fries, wings and shakes. You can also sit and smoke the water pipe (shisha). And they show sports on a big screen. Works for me. All that was missing is the beer…

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