Weslodge recently opened its doors to the public at JW Marriott Marquis, Business Bay. The opening was much awaited after the grand preview held for the media which served just a trailer of what the menu really offers. Since I couldn’t make it to the preview, I bagged a reservation on its second day! Yes, blogger advantages! Continue reading “A Canadian Treat! – Weslodge, JW Marriott Marquis”
Tag: American
Happiness Comes In Small Packages – The Gingerbread Box
Everyone loves surprises! Especially those that include sweet treats. Yes, they might not be good for your body, but a little treat sometimes doesn’t hurt, does it?
I have a major sweet tooth and people who know me well know how I become during the last course of any meal. Dessert can be what I start and end my day with….every day. Continue reading “Happiness Comes In Small Packages – The Gingerbread Box”
Smokin’ Hot – Big Smoke Burger, Al Safa
I am a huge fan of burgers. Ask me to have a burger every day, and I’d do so gladly. So when invites to American burger places arrive, you can say that I am more than a happy person. Continue reading “Smokin’ Hot – Big Smoke Burger, Al Safa”
Zomato Meetup Serendipity 3
I’ve been so busy lately that I’ve barely had time to catch up with my social media handles and blog posts. Hopefully, I’ll be posting more than before, keeping myself balanced with at least 2 posts a week. Continue reading “Zomato Meetup Serendipity 3”
New Menu Launch at Friday’s
Friday’s at Dubai Mall held an event for bloggers on Thursday, where new items from their menu were launched. These featured a range of apple hickory smoked dishes. Continue reading “New Menu Launch at Friday’s”
The Hot Dog Stand
Making quite a hype on Instagram lately, The Hot Dog Stand is a new concept launched some months ago. Since everyone I know has been giving it good reviews, I decided to pay a visit myself. The place is quite small and wouldn’t be suitable for large groups. Although, they do have an outdoor seating area when it gets crowded indoors.
The Hot Dog Stand serves Angus Beef or Chicken hot dogs, with three choices on the menu and another one where you can make yourself a hot dog with your preferred toppings. Add in fries, coleslaw/ beans salad and a drink, and you have a huge combo.
We chose The Mexican hot dog meal with Curly fries, Pink Lemonade and coleslaw. Our next combo was The Monster with onion rings and lemonade. We also tried out their popular dish; jalapeño poppers and 3 way pasta which contains their secret recipe chili.
My favourite was the Monster. First, it’s quite big so we had to cut it up into two. Beetroot and potato sticks, different toppings but turned out to be good. The jalapeño sticks were great! Being a lover of cheese, loved how it oozed out.
Sadly, what I didn’t like was the pasta. Topped with shredded cheddar cheese. You need to wait till the hot pasta melts the cheese down. Unfortunately, mine didn’t do that. I’m assuming it was since I was sitting outside and it was quite cold at the time.
The customize your hot dog for AED 17 was good. There are a number of options to choose from. Pineapple, sauerkraut, guacamole and nachos being some of the varied choices available.
Lastly, we tried the Churros I kept hearing about. Thinner than I expected, and lesser in quantity, these are served with chocolate and caramel sauce.
The verdict: Great for home delivery and takeaways. The pricing is affordable so you don’t feel a pinch in the pocket when you’re done with your meal.
Build Your Own At The Counter
Now, this was a visit I was waiting for. And, a review worth writing. The Counter is one of the few places that made me realize why I am a food writer. I love food. I really like how you can experiment with it, put strange things together and make them taste amazing. And the best part is, you can never get bored of it. Food understands you.
Getting back to the topic…The Counter recently opened up at the Dubai Mall and is located opposite the Ice Rink on ground level. We chose their seating area outside, which is right under the umbrellas in The Village. Such a pretty sight I must say.
The Counter basically lets you customize anything you please – their burgers or burger in a bowl (a healthier alternative), your smoothies and shakes. They also have ready made options for the unadventurous, but I’d really recommend making your own stuff here.

We started started with our shakes, one with “Butterscotch, Nutella and salted pretzels” and another one with “Oreo and brownies” for my younger sister. I loved the former and couldn’t help ordering another one. The consistency of the shakes wasn’t too thick so they didn’t make you feel too full. You can easily have one shake with fries and your burger. (depends on the burger you’re ordering)
Another guest of mine tried their smoothie consisting of “Mint and kiwi with orange juice and frozen yoghurt (low fat)”. This combination was quite good too, wasn’t expecting yoghurt to go well with these citric fruits.
We then ordered their starters – Sweet Sriracha Chicken Wings, Parmesan Fries, Crispy Onion Rings, House made Chili. Went a little crazy I know…

From the lot, we LOVED the chicken wings. What’s not to love about these? The Sriracha sauce on the wings was flavourful and went well with the spicy ranch dressing on the side.The Parmesan fries were another hit, loads of cheese melted on the top. We just couldn’t stop with one bite.
We built two burgers and tried a burger in a bowl. The burger in a bowl was made with Mixed greens, one pound chicken , mozzarella, dried tomatoes and coleslaw with Caesar Salad (Desperate attempt to eat healthy didn’t work. Who puts mozzarella when you want to cut down?)
For the burgers: One pound beef, Jalapeño jack, turkey ham and dried cherry tomatoes with a whole wheat bun with ranch sauce and ginger dressing (tried topping this with our onion rings. Creative right?)
One pound beef, cheddar cheese, jalapeños, coleslaw, beef bacon strips and hamburger bun with Pesto and steak sauce.
The verdict: Since we chose ingredients of our liking, we ended up falling in love with our creations. And why not? We found the hidden chef in all of us. For first timers, the meat comes in three different sizes; 1/3lb, 2/3lb and one pound.
And lastly, after an enormous meal we came to our last course. Our server suggested the Big Ol’ Cookie and House made Cheesecake for us.
The cookie was soft and warm and the ice cream on top made it a pleasant experience. The cheesecake, on the other hand, was the only thing I was probably not fond of. Like the usual ones, this wasn’t easy to cut into and the cheese seemed frozen.
Hungryoungwoman recommends visiting The Counter, where you can let your creative side come out.
An All American Brunch At Denny’s
American diner Denny’s, held the launch of their second branch in the U.A.E. For those who don’t know, Denny’s has been in Dubai from quite some time. Located in Al Ghurair Centre, Al Rigga.
The second branch opened about a month ago, and since I couldn’t make it to the opening, I was invited to try their menu on a day of my choice. The area was quite easy to find, right opposite Times Square Centre on Sheikh Zayed Road. And if you’ve been to Bertin Bistro, that makes it all the more simple for you.
Being a Saturday, I saw a lot of families in for brunch, or an early lunch if you’d like to call it that way. We decided to settle down with our drinks, a chocolate milkshake and a Groovy Mango smoothie. Both of them thick in consistency and enough to fill you up. So don’t go overboard with these 😉
Our brunch started with Nachos loaded with minced meat, onions and tomatoes with a huge dollop of sour cream. I like that they allow you to order half portion, and it’s big enough for two. Our Gold Fried shrimps were mediocre, I don’t know what I was expecting, but the description on the menu was way better than it tasted.
Already half stuffed, we decided to stick with one main course, and of course we tried the Build Your Own Burger. Ours constituted of a beef patty, cheddar cheese and bacon strips in a sesame seed bun. We asked our beef to be medium done. This came with some onion rings, perfectly crispy with no oil dripping.
The burger was good, meat prepared the way I liked it and juicy to bite into. How could we not get fries with this? We asked for a Smothered Cheese Fries from their appetizers. These were full of cheese and crumbled bacon. Obviously delicious!
With our bellies full, we thought of skipping dessert. Fortunately, our server didn’t let us go without trying their Red Velvet Cheesecake. This massive slice of cake was topped with cream cheese and four layers of red velvet cake stuffed with chocolate chips!
American chains that provide all day breakfasts (yes, you heard me right!) and good food are hard to come by. Add huge portions that are worth the price and friendly service, and you’ve found your new favourite American brunch place!
Spoilt for Choice at Tony Roma’s
Tony Roma’s is not new to people living in the U. A . E. Being appreciated for good American food, the restaurant is a favourite of many. An invitation to visit their branch located in Wasl Vita was received with extreme happiness by me.
Tony Roma’s has just launched a few new items on their menu, and I recommend them entirely. We started our meal with a few drinks, of which I liked my berry mocktail.
Our appetizers included the much loved Kickin’ Shrimps, Chicken Quesadillas and South Miami Fried Shrimps.
I really liked the Kickin’ Shrimps, though I would like for it to be more fried and crispy.
The Fried Shrimps were most favoured of the three. Crispy shrimps went well with the Tartar sauce. And well, the dish had fries and who doesn’t love them?
Moving on, the main course, we started with the Carbonara. This was probably the least favourite dish of mine for the evening. I felt the dish as a whole could do a lot better flavour wise. It felt very bland to my taste buds. Also, I personally feel the presentation of the dish could be worked upon too. Maybe serve it in a bowl instead? It would be easy to scoop out.
A Primetime Burger, Beef Ribs and Rosemary Chicken was also ordered. And the winner of the evening was clearly the chicken! Soft, juicy and perfectly seasoned. Served with coleslaw and boiled veggies. This is something you must order!
I am a great fan of barbecue sauce, so the beef ribs won me over too.
After a rather heavy but fulfilling meal, we ordered the Tony Roma’s special, New York Cheesecake and Chocolate Brownie Sundae (I can never finish a meal without a bit of chocolate 😉 )
Loved the creamy texture of the cheesecake. The strawberry sauce wasn’t overpowering and managed to help retain the original flavour.
All in all, the new additions are worth trying. The branch located in Wasl Vita allows for a good area to sit back and relax with friends and family. To top it all, the servers are quite friendly and very helpful when it comes to suggesting their dishes.
Until next time…
Much More Than A Steakhouse – Ruth’s Chris
Located on the swanky side of Dubai Marina, Address Hotel to be exact, Ruth’s Chris obviously manages to higher any passer-by’s expectations. With their high draped curtains and chandeliers, it makes for a perfect spot. Be it a formal or an informal meal.
I chose to start my meal with drinks for myself and my partner. I really liked my berry drink. It had the right amount of sweetness, though I would have preferred it to be a bit tart too. From the choices that the appetizers provided, we ordered Ruth’s Chop salad and Grilled Prawns.
Loved the Ruth’s Chop Salad, especially the onion rings on top that provided an extra crunch to the dish.
No words for the Grilled Prawns honestly, they didn’t even need a sauce.
For mains, we went for the Stuffed Chicken Breast and a New York Strip in a burger. My favourite here was the chicken stuffed with garlic herb cheese and lemon butter.
https://instagram.com/p/88qkYpuqre/?taken-by=hungryoungwoman
Watching the cheese oozing out was delightful to watch, Served on the side was creamy spinach which was quite rich. (Click on the link to watch video)
Coming to the burger, the bun could have been softer. The fries were a bit soggy, but the fillet inside made up for it. Thick, juicy and succulent.
The punctual staff brought in our dessert right after we were done with our mains. Creme Brulee and a Chocolate Coffee cake slice.
Being a coffee lover, I liked the latter dish. The chocolate and coffee with the berry sauce on the side, was a winner!
The business lunch menu at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse is quite economical. Priced at 109 AED with decent portions and a three course meal, it’s a steal. Hungryoungwoman recommends the Stuffed Chicken and Chocolate Coffee Cheesecake.
Until next time. xx
Disclaimer: Though I was a guest at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, all opinions expressed are my own and they stand honest and unbiased.