Tag Archives: gourmet

Jun 11

Dubai Street Food

Image Source: timeoutdubai.com

Dubai has gourmet street food! Of course every country has street food and many have gourmet street food but it just seems right that Dubai would have 5 star dining experiences available on major streets and intersections.

Two of the more popular 5 star gourmet street food brands are Ghaf Kitchen and Moti Roti.

Ghaf Kitchen

Known as a 5 star restaurant on wheels, Ghaf Kitchen is unbelievable. Instead of your usual food truck, the brand uses a restored vintage Citroen H van. It has an unusual menu (for street food, that is) because it serves scallops, truffle salad, spinach cakes, and fish finger sandwiches, among others. The brand assures all its customers that their ingredients are from sustainable sources and everything is cooked fresh. If you are expecting street food prices, you might be a little disappointed though. You will have to shell out a little more for Ghaf Kitchen food but everything tastes incredible and worth the price.

Moti Roti

Moti Roti is Pakistani food that uses a lot of curry, chutney, and spices. However, it is not authentic Pakistani food rather a western version which makes it more palatable for tourists and those not used to strong eastern flavors. The food is served in wraps which is the Roti and you get a choice of different fillings. The filling choices are changed daily so you’ll never know what will be on the menu for the day. On some days, fillings may be made with okra or zucchini and on other days, you will be pleasantly surprised with eggplant and Kofta. Chicken is a regular filling. Every Roti is served with fresh salad and chutney on the side. Currently, there are 3 Moti Roti food stations around Dubai so they’re relatively easy to find.

If you happen to find yourself near Kite Beach, look for Beach Canteen which was a participant in the recent Dubai Food Festival. It was held last March 2014 at the Media City Amphitheater where almost types of food from around the world were available. It was a huge success that showcased the best of Dubai food, seasonings, and spices.

Nov 23

How To Choose Your Menu/Cuisine for a Food Truck

The trend in the food truck business today is to come up with a menu that looks, tastes, and sounds extraordinary. Selling tacos isn’t just going to cut it unless you put a twist to your tacos by using ingredients such as lamb, all vegetable, turkey, salmon, hot and spicy tuna, shrimp, lobster, etc to introduce new flavors to an old favorite.

Of course, you might want to take it in a different direction by offering better quality of staple food truck food from the time of the original food truck or chuckwagon. During the mid-1800s, chuckwagons were used to sell food to cowboys on cattle runs. Some of the meals served were cornmeal, bacon, salted or smoked beef or pork from an animal that had to be put down because it got injured. This would be a unique idea but only if you can come up with a modern menu to appeal to the food truck-buying customers.

Serve Your Specialty But Be Willing To Adjust

Food trucks saw a revival this past 4 years because there were chefs that got laid off and had to find an alternate source of income. Restaurants weren’t hiring so they went to the streets. And it has been paying off very well. Sales from 2011 from food trucks are over a billion and it is predicted to keep going up as more food choices are made available.

If you are a cook and you have your specialty, conduct a taste test targeting people who buy food from the sidewalks. If the feedback is unbelievable, go with it but if not, be willing to listen and make some adjustments.

Don’t Force Gourmet If You Can’t Deliver

Gourmet food trucks are the rave at the moment but only because they have excellent food. People will not buy gourmet food that is expensive and much worse, not worth their value. High-end food is not easy and the expectations are much more so it would be worthy to give it a great deal of thought before you go this direction.

It Must Be Good, Value For Money

These are the two guiding factors you have to follow when picking your cuisine and menu. Forget the fact that the food truck industry is worth over $1 billion or that customers are spending as much as $300 a week on food truck meals. Your food has to be delicious and as affordable as possible. You have to consider depending on volume sales unless you have a sure shot secret recipe that you can build a menu around. Again, it would boil down to the results of a taste test with your target market.