I was in Dubai 30 years ago as a guest of the Emir and back then it was a quaint Arabian outpost. Today is it an almost maniacal scene with so many tourists, but also with some of the most insane prices anywhere. While we are staying at the exclusive Burj Al Arab in a magnificent duplex suite(I won it in a travel quiz), I was quite shocked that last night we had a light dinner at the rooftop bar, GILT, that cost almost $200 for a sandwich which we split and two glasses of wine!!
Sticker shock aside we thought we would step outside the hotel tonight for another light bite(breakfast is huge, so we skip lunch) and headed to the nearby Medinat Jumeirah also owned by the Emir(Sheikh/Prime Minister/royal family) as the Pai Thai restaurant came with very high recommendations. The food was wonderful, the ambience great and the prices a tad lower than the hotel as the total bill rang in at $200US for a bottle of inexpensive rose, an appetizer plate for two to share and one main course which we shared with a side of the best Coconut Rice on earth. Photos on FB!
The Villa Garrel rose was $100 or so and the Norwegian bottled water rang in at $10 a bottle. Luckily the starter of Kong Wang Ruam Pai Thai was a huge platter with Shrimp Cakes, moist Chicken sate, crisp veggie spring rolls, super yummy purple chicken dumplings and a not so spicy Green Papaya Salad (with apple?!).
The main course we split was a nice Kana Nuea Nam Man Hoy or wok-fired beef with oyster sauce, Thai broccoli, garlic and mushrooms which was nice, but needed a tad more spice. The Coconut rice that accompanied was a revelation.
I realize that this is the playground of the rich and not-so-famous, but I can say we are glad to be headed to India tomorrow where the pocketbook will surely not suffer and the palate will be tingled.
