The Chocomonarch – Desserts’ Craving satisfying Gem!

This chocolaty gem located in Ghurair centre is the best place to be at, if you are a CHOCOLATE LOVER!
The café offers a wide menu of Belgian Chocolate delights which will surely get you back for more. These are in form of hot & cold beverages, chocolate goodies and many more desserts!

On my visit, the café was 90% filled with most being the family crowd which was a good impression as it proves to be a family friendly one. We tried some of their delicious Belgian chocolate offerings – Choco Monarch Pancake, Crepe Brownie, Monarch Special Brownies and Chocolate Lava.

Choco Monarch Pancakes – A stack of mini pancakes topped with fresh fruits and drizzled with 3 types of melted chocolate. This particular dish can be easily shared among 2 people. It’s presented with a stack of 4-5 pancakes topped with fruits such as kiwi, strawberry, pineapple and banana. The balance of fruits with this super chocolaty pancake was done very well! A dish worth trying on your visit.

Crepe Brownie – If you are a brownie lover, then you can’t miss on this one! A delicious crepe stuffed with sumptuous brownies and topped with 3 types of melted chocolate making it the yummiest crepe! The combination of layer of 3 chocolates and brownies just made my day! Being a brownie and chocolate lover, this crepe satisfied all my chocolaty cravings!

Monarch Special Brownies – The Choco Monarch signature brownie filled with chocolate layered with 3 kinds of chocolate served along with a scoop of icecream of your choice. There were basic icecream choices such as strawberry, vanilla and chocolate – we chose for the chocolate icecream to go along with this delectable brownie. This one will definitely turn out to be a kids’ favorite!

Chocolate Lava – Lastly, we hopped onto to this chocolaty heaven called the chocolate lava. As expected, this was a hot chocolate cake stuffed with lava chocolate and topped with 3 kinds of melted chocolate and served along with a cool scoop of icecream. We chose the vanilla icecream for this particular dish. This was my FAVORITE among all the delicacies I tried. The combination of hot and cold was perfect! This cake is WORTH WORTH TRYING!

Moving on to the beverages, the place offers a variety in cold as well as hot beverages. We tried the Monster Milkshake and strawberry milkshake from the milkshakes section and a warm cut of hot chocolate from the hot beverages.
The Monster milkshake was a simple chocolate milkshake topped with whipped cream, oreo and a chocolate stick. If you are a chocolate lover, this description itself will convince you to try this shake! Definitely a super chocolaty and delicious one!
The beverages were up to mark and quite satisfying for the price it’s been offered.

All in all, the café is worth a visit especially if you are a chocolate and dessert lover. A one stop solution to all you dessert cravings

Under 500 – A healthy joint!

With all the increasing junk eateries out there, Under 500 on the other hand, aims at providing healthy options with great taste! Under 500 is an innovative, healthy, home-style café concept that offers a wide selection of delicious, wholesome and healthy meal options under 500 calories.

I visited the place to try some of their options. Their wide menu includes some delicious grilled burgers, soups, salads, risotto and much more! We tried the Kale & Lentil Soup to start with. The soup was well prepared with fresh tomato, onion and carrot. Absolutely loved how delicious and nutritious this soup was!

Moving on, we tried their vegan options: Loaded sweet potato, Wild Mushroom Risotto and Baked Falafel.
Loaded Sweet Potato: This dish for all the sweet potato lovers out there! A delicious dish with crispy baked sweet potato filled with five-bean chilli and fresh jalapenos. A healthy yet a super yummy dish!

Wild Mushroom Risotto: Being a mushroom lover, this dish was quite inviting for me. A simple dish with creamy risotto topped with sautéed wild mushrooms! The best part of this dish was yet it sounded and tasted like a fatty dish; it was less than 500 calories. Hence, NO GUILT! A dish worth trying especially if you are a mushroom lover!

Baked Falafel: This was my favorite meal amongst all the options. Oven – baked and herb – loaded falafel along with paprika couscous, roast carrot, zucchini, cauliflower, shredded red cabbage; topped with tahini and lemon dressing on the side – this dish tasted as delectable as it sounds!

To end with, I tried the Slimmed down Brownie which was presented well on a platter with various berries and herbs. The brownie was super moist and yummy – this really din’t feel like a brownie with under 500 calories; however, was a healthy one too! All the healthy freaks out there who had stopped desserts to stay healthy – you need to try this option! Worth every bite!

Apart from the healthy meal options, the eatery offers some healthy and refreshing drinks which are prepared fresh and contain a lot of nutrients.

Already a favourite amongst Dubai residents, Under 500 dishes up fresh, gourmet meals that help you stay healthy and fit with every dish designed to incorporate nutrient dense ingredients. Serving up a huge variety of wholesome and healthy meal options, bursting with nutritional ingredients, Under 500 offers a sumptuous a la carte breakfast, lunch and dinner menu.

Karak & Rigag – Hidden Foodie Gem in Mamzar!

This Emirati gem located in the food lane of Mamzar has a lot to offer with not a lot of stretch to your pockets. Karak and Rigag takes a contemporary take on local soul food. Open from morning to late at night, the place is perfect to visit for some delicious offerings!

I was here on a weekend; the eatery has a gorgeous outside swing seatings with just the perfect lighting. Since it’s a small gem, there are limited seats available; however, the entire look given to this place is amazing! Their menu is wide with a lot of varieties which will confuse as to what to order. The staff was kind enough to recommend us the best sellers! We tried the below dishes from the main menu:

Dynamite Shrimps: This delectable plate was something to die for. Being a dynamite lover, this one was definitely one of the best dynamite shrimps I’ve tried!

Rigag – Cheese & Zaatar and Vegetarian Pizza: Rigag is basically wafer-thin bread which can be prepared with different stuffings. The menu has over 15 choices of stuffing to choose from. The cheese and zatar rigag was an absolute heaven! The cheese used in this rigag went very well with the bread. The balance of cheese and zatar here was taken care of and turned out to be a delicious one!
The Vegetarian pizza on the other hand, blew my mind! After trying this particular rigag, I would be keener on eating this kind of pizza rather than the usual ones! An absolutely stunning one – since the bread is super light being a thin one – you don’t feel heavy after eating this pizza. However, at the same time it’s quite filling due to the stuffing in.

Chicken Seekh Kebab: These hearty kebabs here are a must try! The chicken kebabs were served warm along with breads to go along with which made it a perfect meal as a whole. The quantity of the dish was superb keeping in mind the amazing prices. The next time you are craving for some juicy kebabs, get in here and you won’t regret!

Cheese & Mushroom Fries: For all the Mushroom lovers out there, this is what you should try! I was weirded out with a combination of cheese and mushroom fries as this was the first time I was coming across a combination of cheese and mushroom fries. On the other hand, I was drooling reading the dish name being a hardcore lover of cheese, mushrooms and fries. Hence, we ended up ordering and the dish was up to expectations; however, I think the quantity of mushrooms could be a bit more. Super cheesy and heavy – this dish can alone turn out to be a dinner plate for a person. Try it if you are craving something really CHEESY!

Pink Penne Pasta with Chicken and Mushrooms: Can I say this was one of those pastas for which I’d come especially to this place! Literally, THE BEST PASTA i’ve had! The team prepared a delicious plate of saucy pink penne with sumptuous crumbs of chicken and mushrooms. I couldn’t think of even ONE fault to rate this pasta less than 10/10. A MUST MUST TRY when you visit this place.

We called for some drinks to go along with it: Lotus Milkshake, Blueberry Milkshake and Strawberry Mojito. I LOVED the way the milkshakes were presented – extremely appealing that I din’t feel like ruining it. My fav among these was the Lotus shake! I have previously tried some lotus shakes wherein the taste of Lotus comes out to be very less and tastes milkier. However, this lotus shake was one of those where the taste of lotus could be identified easily – entire justice was done to this piece. Highly recommend to try this one!

We ended the meal by trying some of their desserts: Kinder Jar, Brownie Crepe and the Lava Cake. All the desserts were simply YUMMY! In addition to the taste, the presentation of all the dishes was marvelous! If I had to choose the best one among the three, I’d recommend you to try the Lava cake which was served hot and filled with chocolate along with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!

The place has a lot to offer in terms of choice of rigag like Cheetos, Nutella with banana or hot dogs. Other highlights at Karak and Rigag include the delicious chebab (Emirati pancakes) and hearty shawarma sandwiches. To end your meal on a sweet note, the crispy luqaimat dumplings and crepes never disappoint.