My first buffet lunch experience in Qatar after the lockdown

  After a stressful  exam period  we planned to go for a trip to the desert . But while  the weather was wonderful  during the week  for the weekend it became gloomy and  the wind blew heavily  . We had to remain  in the city .

  So it was the kids idea  to  eat out   somewhere  we have not been for a while . When they mentioned Ponderosa restaurant I was sure that it was closed .

But to my greatest surprise  it   has been back in business since  December .

Some things changed  ,however .

• The restaurant became darker   due to the partition wall that surrounds  the buffet table .
• You are not allowed to serve yourself but a waiter will put the food  you ask for  on your plate while you are standing nearby
• they  do not serve a la carte -  they only have the buffet for the time being 
•  the buffet is bit smaller than the usual -  for example they had only one kind of  salad dressing  -no salamis 
•  you can still find a great variety of food  = I know for the kids it is so important -  the dessert table was usual - ice cream , ummali , sponge cake , custard  and compotes 

      

  That was our nearly normal buffet  experience  . The staff was helpful and  ready to serve the food from the table swiftly . They even made suggestions  on what to choose . So it was even better than before . But  I missed the  a la carte  options .  We arrived around  12 and there were only a  few customers . By the time we left  at 2  pm  it was full  .

 I know  that it is so difficult  for the restaurants  to survive after the lockdown period  but they should maintain their toilets .  Broken tiles and    door frames  made a really bad impression ! 

Food Festival 2017 - 29th March – 8th April

Qatar International Food Festival,2017

Location: Hotel Park – In front of The Sheraton Hotel Doha

29th March – 8th April

What to expect :  unique dining options, celebrity chefs entertainment, competitions, and activities for the whole family

Everything you need to know about #QIFF2017's delicious offerings and signature activities:https://t.co/vAxVkZ1MlH pic.twitter.com/JUbirAO1cv

— QIFF (@qiff_) March 23, 2017

#QIFF2017 is being held at Hotel Park in front of @SheratonDoha. Ample paid parking is available.
For directions: https://t.co/EuabG1RrUN pic.twitter.com/1dVgulx8hB

— QIFF (@qiff_) March 24, 2017

Join us at @qiff_ and enjoy stellar short films on March 30th, 7 PM at Hotel Park – In front of The Sheraton Hotel Doha! Screening is free. pic.twitter.com/bThzIYQHHa

— Doha Film Institute (@DohaFilm) March 27, 2017

Learn more here  

Zaatar W Zeit restaurant - Doha Rayyan

I just happened to be hungry when in Al- Rayyan and  I stumbled upon this small eatery . It had some retro feel -  the waiter offered us to pull down the spring blinds as we were sitting near the windows . The napkins were decorated  with the restaurant's logo .It was printed on recycled paper . Before the food was served we got a little sachet with hand cleaning gel .
 The menu's selection is not very big . Salads /pizzas /wraps /manakesh -desserts .  We had a zooza salad  and a traditional pizza  and finally ktiramisu . The salad came in a large transparent bowl  with a lots of  lollo rosso  , potatoes slices ,boiled eggs ,beans ,tuna ,olives ,tomatoes ... mustard vinegar dressing .It was a good start. The pizza   dough was quite thin - it came with cheese  and sauce  and  some meat and mushroom . It was tasty but not that typical Italian taste - rather like a home  made  one! The ktiramisu came in a little cup -  this is their " heavenly version " of the famous sweet treat . I could not find out why it was different . It was simply good .
All of those reminded me a bit the eateries of the  Hungarian railways in the 60's  when I would travel with my dad . Might be it was because of Lebanon ?I remember I heard a lot about it in my childhood and I always wished to visit it . As I wished to visit other places in the Middle East like   the beautiful ancient  lands of Iraq , Yemen , Gaza ... all are bombed or being destroyed in other ways . My thoughts went far  from this simple  Lebanese restaurant ... where we had a casual , urban lunch ,,,
 I might try their breakfast in the Souq Waqif one day . They got terrace and the weather still allows us to enjoy outdoor breakfasts .

 Did you know ? Zaatar is a spice mix in Arabia .
 Zeit is the name of the olives in Arabic ...

Qatar International Food festival 2015

 24 - 28 March
on the first day : 5pm until 10:30pm
the other days :  1:30  to 10:30 pm Qatar International Food Festival is an annual event that consists of five days of gastronomic alfresco eating, drinking and cooking, as well as family fun and entertainment.
In MIA Park

What to  expect ? 
48 stalls 
international zone (31 stands),
Qatar/Turkey zone (4
stands),
 Qatar/Turkey (3 tents)

 Instagram Market(10 stands).

.....
Welcome and Stage zones 
....
 live cooking zone with Massimo Capra from Italy
Bhatia from India
Nobu from Japan
Qatari chef Aisha al-Tamimi
.....
a high tea lounge zone 
.......
top Qatari chefs demonstration
.....
 water zone , Barbeque Donuts,Dinner on a Dhow
.....
 health zone ,Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar's health truck,

 Al Safwa Farm
 ,organic vegetables
.....
singers , music bands 
....
Dinner in the Sky Zone
Chef
Vineet Bhatia  and  Chef Nobu 's dishes will be served

......
Daad Abu Jaber and Salma Soliman from Fatafeat tv channel
......

Cultural partners :Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage,Qatar - Turkey year of Culture ,MIA , Doha Film Institute ,

Dinning out with coupons

We have had nearly one year experience with dinning with coupons . We used Qgrab coupons and Mybook vouchers .
Qgrab is something that you have to pay in advance . That is only a problem when the staff is so much unwelcoming ...It happened to me at the Horizon Manor Hotel in July 2014 .The booking was a nightmare and I wished to cancel all the dinner but I have already bought 7 coupons ! Luckily during our dinner everything went smoothly .

Avenue 23 cafe offered breakfast but when we went there with our Qgrab coupons on a Friday morning they were shocked " Breakfast on Friday morning? We got no chef at this time !People are sleeping on Friday mornings " How much they are wrong ! Nice , relaxed Friday morning breakfasts are more and more sought in Doha !No wonder that more and more restaurants are offering it !

The other terrifying experience with Qgrab coupon was the breakfast at Casa Paco .It was advertised as Spanish breakfast but they served nothing special and even that came in very small portion with  stale bread .Well ,after reading the reviews I understood that I should not have bought at all any coupons before reading about the place .

We had nice dinner once at a posh Chinese restaurant and breakfast at the Mercury hotel - iftar  at Ramada Encore  -all with Qgrab vouchers .

MYbook vouchers are the things " Buy one get one free " . We used it for a lots of meals /ice creams ,cafes and at most places they were fair with us . However some restaurants were not fair at all . For example Crepaway in Salwa road denied us the voucher use as it was the time of the " football world cup " and they decided not to allow it . Though in the rules of the voucher book only major holidays are mentioned "Eid , Christmas ,New year " when the vouchers can not be used . At Roger's Diner we were not allowed to use more than one voucher at a time .One place issues 3 vouchers and there were no restrictions in the rules about using them at once or three different times . This Roger's Diner offered one free sandwich /one free salad / one free burger in case we buy one .The waitress told us the manager said only one voucher can be used at a time -we must return another time to use the other ones . We had our salad then we decided not to return here .
Some restaurant do not understand the concept of the vouchers . That they give discount and let the guest be happy with a half price dinner . They can win new customers this way .If they set up unfair rules or they serve something miserable they are the losers .
Biriyani huts had on their menu " tiger or jumbo prawn curry " -we got small prawns and a very small portion ! A handful of cocktail prawn !
The other tricky thing about using BUY ONE GET ONE FREE vouchers is the bill . They calculate the cheapest item . It happened to us that we had family breakfast and we had two identical meals with my husband. We believed that we eat at half price then they calculated the kids smaller and cheaper meal . So we asked for two separate bills . This way we really ate at half price .
But the waitress looked very angry . At some places you are served this half priced meals with great pain like the waitress herself will loose money ...

The bottom line is : 1 . if you go to a restaurant that you do not know -read reviews about it !
2. always call them and let them know that you want to use your vouchers
3 .let the staff know that you want separate bills if you happen to eat out with people who do not use vouchers

Eating out with vouchers is a great adventure ! It took us to places that we would not visit otherwise - we tasted dishes that we had never tasted before !Qatar has every kind of restaurants ! And for most of the times it was a real deal !

Coupons I used and reviewed above was  Qgrabs and Mybook

Thai snack restaurant - debunked myth

I had read so many good things about this restaurant before .On the tripadvisor it had been called the best budget restaurant of Doha . I had high expectations .

At least to eat something tasty ...

The interior of the place was shockingly low level . Very low ceiling with some pink paint and some posters advertising the Thai tourism and large -painted fans .

The guests were   strange fellows that one never sees in Doha . I just asked myself where all those people come from .Ethiopians or Americans in large group with one single female with them ,  old rocker looking Brits , some Far - Eastern people .

Their menu was very large .Illustrated . One dish cost from 20 -35 QR -the large steamed fish around 70 .One soft drink was 5 - home made ice tea 8 .

I asked for chicken noodle soup . It came quickly in a large melamine bowl . It was full of small pieces of chicken which clearly was not cooked in the soup -but looked like leftover chicken torn into small pieces .It was very disgusting -I had to force myself to eat it . It had no taste - I had to season it ...
The kids asked for fried fish - for 30 rials they brought some little pieces of fried  Pangasius fish  on a very small plate . The children
ate it quickly and they were still very hungry. I ordered two steamed rice for them - they served only one - then later they wanted to make us pay for three .
The curry was also very disappointing - having no taste - some tasteless gravy with very small portion of chicken ...

I am not a connoisseur of the Thai cuisine . But for similar prices I had already had much better meals at the Thai smile
restaurant at Al-Bida park .Sometimes I cook at home yellow curry in Thai style ...I have always thought that it was very amateurish dish - I just cooked chicken/beef cubes in coconut milk and Thai curry mix from the supermarket - but my beginner's tries tasted like gourmet specialty compared to this one.

It was not cheap at all - we payed 200 QR and we were still hungry .Next to us I saw a young Korean looking couple sharing one single noodle soup then payed . This way it might worth it .
I do not recommend this place to anyone . If you wish to have Thai food then rather look for the Thai smile restaurant .At least at the Al-Bida park they had a much better looking interior with tastier dishes and happier service .Now  that branch is closed as all the park did close but they have other branches in the city .

Eid buffet lunch at the Sarangi restaurant -review

It all started as a nightmare . I bought coupons for Eid lunch . It was valid for five days .I called them around midnight on the last day Of Ramadan to book a table . " you want to book now, madame ?" -"It is nearly one o'clock" it was 12 :20 - but never mind - all supermarkets and malls and restaurants open at this time in Qatar. I supposed that a hotel's restaurant is open at least for booking a table ."you can call after 9 am "
So did I . I was informed that there are no tables for the first day of Eid .If I want to have one I should submit a written application by sms. At this point I would have given up if it was not paid in advance by the coupons .Written application ? And only by sms ? Plus the unwelcoming voice ...I have never had so much trouble with booking a table . After the first sms I waited ten hours but no confirmation was sent .I called them - the same unwelcoming Indian man answered - he did not get my sms - then I sent it again - five minutes- no answer - called them again - finally it came through .
After this prelude I expected that the staff would be the same at the restaurant - but luckily everything was different..It was a spacious place . The windows looked on other buildings of the area .Some of them were old /others were nicer . - the waiters were welcoming and friendly .Actually very nice to our kids . The Indian instrumental music in the background was really soft and nice .
I started with a mushroom soup and I was amazed . It was very well made . Oh boy ! Later I read that this restaurant have award-winning chefs .It must be true . Some of their dishes were exceptional .I went on with salads which were OK and some grilled veggies .I was happy to find shrimps on the salad table and different sprouts . By this time a tray packed with grilled cubes of fish /chicken etc was placed on our table .It was included in the buffet price . They were excellent .When I finished my entrees and grilled cubes I was full . And I have not seen the main course table yet ! I went there just out of curiosity . Irish stew /dolmas /butter chicken /rice /baked potatoes were the ones I remember .I tried some dolmas which was good and some baked potatoes - that was excellent . My husband was amazed with the molokhia sauce .
The dessert table was packed with traditional Arab /Indian sweets and some French pastry .I tried their fruit custard as my little son informed me that it was very good. Yes, he was faster than me with finishing the main course .It had wonderful natural vanilla taste . So rarely one can taste in Qatar .No artificial flavours- they must have been made of real eggs and vanilla ...Just like mom's ile flottant ...
Finally we had some mint tea .
It was the best buffet lunch of my life in Qatar . If only I could forget the booking procedure !

Red Lobster - Doha restaurant review

It is situated  in the center of the city . It is not a so friendly or picturesque area . From one side of the restaurant there is the huge traffic of Suhaim bin Hamad street   from the other side the rumbles of constructions of Al -Jazeera street .
 The gigantic buildings of Qatar rail on the other side of the street make me feel lost too . The lovely shaped restaurant is so much inviting ... and anyway I heard about their lunch deal on weekdays .

 It was a good idea to enter - that was my first impression . The place is the island of peace in the jungle of the city . Lovely interior evoking the life of fishermen  and sailors of New England . Different tools of the nautical life are also displayed .Live lobsters in a water tank .Three or four families are having their lunch with kids .
We did not come for a luxurious lobster meal - just for a simple lunch meal .
 It was only 35  rial . For this money we were given a three course meal .The first course was a creamy soup for me .It was too thick for my taste . So I added some water to it and some black pepper .It was better that way . Anyway - the scones which were served first were very good . I think in the US they are called cheese biscuits or cheese bread  . That came without order  - it is something that we call pogacsa in Hungary ....  childhood memories came to my mind then ... 70's 80's Budapest  cheap fish restaurant where the fish soup was served in cauldron and homemade  pogacsa came with it ...  for a price that even a middle class family with three kids could afford in the always expensive city ..... I think that does not exist anymore ...

 Then I felt back to the reality   - this is an American place in Qatar we write 2014 ...

 My main course the pasta with shrimps in Alfredo sauce . It was very  plain ... like a beginner housewife first try with this dish  - it was not a big portion but I felt I ate too much by the time the dessert arrived .The dessert with ice cream and brown sponge cake was a typical American sweet treat  that I always avoid but my kids ate it . The kids asked for different courses . Kids meal only for children under 12 year .They were given something to color and wax crayons .Nearly every meal came with French fries on their kids menu . That made my health conscious preschooler very disappointed .Shrimp popcorn was full of oil ... the fish sandwich looked fine but not eaten after   by them . The pizza as main course was better - they finished it all .

 Telling the truth I know that 35 rial was very little money for a three meal course but I expected something more delicious .

 I told to myself that I would return one day to taste a dish from  their regular menu and  not the value meal .
I can recommend this place if you are looking  for  a quiet place to escape  the urban noise .Their value meal  is  for you if you  do not mind  dishes in canteen style  with friendly  and polite service .

Museum of Islamic Art by almawad
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Talking about restaurants : a new one is going to open at the top floor of the Museum .My guess is that not going to be a cheap canteen style :)

Thai Smiles restaurant - Al Bida park

at long last a restaurant at Al Bida park . that was my first thought when I saw Thai Smiles near the mosque of the park .
It is a small place but very much above the standard of other eateries in the park. The interior decor is just my cup of tea , Burgundy walls with some golden floral motifs - it is fine art deco . The waitress is friendly and helpful . The noodles soup is fresh full of things that you would expect from a soup ... spring rolls were OK .We must come back one day to try their main dishes .. It has got excellent reviews and the location is wonderful with the park all around .Just the perfect thing for families with kids .
My best wishes to the staff .

I. Phone : 431 6466

II. Mobile : 696 6209

SUSHI MINTO
Avoiding the crowds during the Eid holidays is not easy in Doha.However the Japanese restaurant was nearly empty .It is a large area . I liked the retro interior with circles and oval shaped mirrors .The waitresses were wearing tie with sushi design on it !
I am not a sushi expert so I opted for a bento .It came in a medium sized box with a selection of sushis , mizo soup , noodles , green salad .It was nice for 55 rials .If you wish to select your lunch or dinner a la carte it is rather pricey but you can chose from a large variety of sushis . If you got QR 200 or more for a single dish then the Japanese chefs will make their dishes in front of you at the counter .
It is wise that they added some non -Japanese items to their menu .This way the kids found also something to their tastes !
A liter of water QR18 ,service 12 % .
It was a nice change !

got sushi by almawad
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Going to Oshi Sushi restaurant at Eid proved to be a great choice !As it is a new place at the third floor of the Royal plaza we managed to avoid the crowds .Only four five families were having Eid lunch and it was really relaxing there !The music , the beautifully and simply set table , the bento , the sashimi , the miso , the Japanese curry ... all made me feel as I was in Japan ... it was a reaL ESCAPE .
We were using fork and spoon - but also we were trying to use the chopping sticks .The hot, wet towels were meant to clean our hands before and not after eating .I learnt that only later when I was reading more on the Japanese cuisine !
I had the first raw salmon of my life and I survived !

bento by almawad
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