Each year, Epic holds an Anniversary dinner around this time of year, and since the goal is to have Epic Middle East mimic Epic US as much as possible, the crew decided an Anniversary dinner of their own was in order. A Dhow Dinner cruise was organized for last night (Saturday evening). The weather was perfect - not too hot or windy and we set off at 8:30pm.
We arrived at the dock and got right onto the boat. These Dhows are wooden boats that were used for pearl diving and fishing in the past and now serve as a tourist attraction. We started the evening upstairs with a 'cocktail;, which here means a mix of fruit juices over ice - no alcohol in this Muslim country. As we pulled out of the dock, we had a great view of the shoreline buildings.
After some dates, nuts and our cocktails, we headed downstairs to the main area for dinner. The dining area was nicely furnished and we sat down to a beautiful table setting. I think we counted 5 forks, which should have been a clue that we were in for a feast! We started with a plate of Arabian appetizers - humous, tabouli, smoked salmon, shrimp cocktail and babba ganouch - lots of food and really yummy!
Then came what we thought was the main course, a lobster tail (lobster from the Gulf we found out), a fillet of hammour (a local fish) and some tomato pasta - YUM! And we were stuffed ... AND THEN they brought the main course! Mixed grill of chicken, lamb and kababs over rice. Luckily, the meat was pretty dry so it wasn't too hard to resist. Then a nice and light chocolate dessert and a local desert that was some kind of mashed sweet potato with some interesting spices in it. I'm a fan of sweet potato, but didn't find this dish too appetizing.
After dinner it was back upstairs to enjoy the ride back and have some mint tea. Here are a few photos of the happy Epic crew.
So, while not exactly like Verona, I think everyone had a great time.
We arrived at the dock and got right onto the boat. These Dhows are wooden boats that were used for pearl diving and fishing in the past and now serve as a tourist attraction. We started the evening upstairs with a 'cocktail;, which here means a mix of fruit juices over ice - no alcohol in this Muslim country. As we pulled out of the dock, we had a great view of the shoreline buildings.
After some dates, nuts and our cocktails, we headed downstairs to the main area for dinner. The dining area was nicely furnished and we sat down to a beautiful table setting. I think we counted 5 forks, which should have been a clue that we were in for a feast! We started with a plate of Arabian appetizers - humous, tabouli, smoked salmon, shrimp cocktail and babba ganouch - lots of food and really yummy!
Then came what we thought was the main course, a lobster tail (lobster from the Gulf we found out), a fillet of hammour (a local fish) and some tomato pasta - YUM! And we were stuffed ... AND THEN they brought the main course! Mixed grill of chicken, lamb and kababs over rice. Luckily, the meat was pretty dry so it wasn't too hard to resist. Then a nice and light chocolate dessert and a local desert that was some kind of mashed sweet potato with some interesting spices in it. I'm a fan of sweet potato, but didn't find this dish too appetizing.
After dinner it was back upstairs to enjoy the ride back and have some mint tea. Here are a few photos of the happy Epic crew.
So, while not exactly like Verona, I think everyone had a great time.
hey renee!
ReplyDeleteloving your blog. hope to see you at a coffee again soon. can u tell me where to reserve and catch the dhow cruise? my husband and i are insterested in taking one and you made it sound fabulous.