With Ramadan upon us, there is a much smaller selection of eataries that you can nip into for a bite when you’re out shopping and ravenous.  This is generally a bad thing in my mind. It was a near epic melt down when the restaurant I wanted to go to was shut!  In fairness, I hadn’t eaten in 24hrs as I had the most revolting omelette ever made from a cafe which will remain nameless.

Anyhoo… it turns out that the lack of choice can also be a good thing.  How, I hear anyone how knows me asking.  Well, because I have discovered Baker & Spice!

I was always baffled when people went to it’s Souk Al Bahar branch for dinner.  Firstly, it’s dry.  Secondly, I thought it was all salads and Jamie Oliver style food.  You know, that kind that has too many herbs thrown in for presentation or flavour, and you end up feeling like a field jumped onto your plate without anyone noticing.

How wrong I was.  Well, not entirely wrong – there are a lot of salads!  But the dishes we had were simply divine.

My friend and I shared the giant chicken cesar salad.  It was whole leaf romaine lettuce in a very creamy but light dressing.  The chicken was warm and perfectly seasoned.  There was a generous amount of parmesan shavings on top, and the croutons were apparently light and crisp without being overly oily.

Cesar salad was an absolute hit, and is making my mouth water just typing about it now.  You’d think it was a relatively simple dish, but no.  People mess it up all the time.  I could not fault this, except to say that it was slightly overly dressed for my tastes.  I like fairly sparing sauce, but I think I am about the only person who does!

Char-grilled broccoli cooked with lemon, garlic and chili was my choice of additional salad.  I totally got that right too!  I cannot imagine how tasty it would be fresh from the oven.  I love cold foods, don’t get me wrong.  But if it was THAT good when it was cold, the hot version must be mind blowing!!!

My friend ordered the Turkish tomato salad.  It’s their version of the classic caprese.  A giant ball of mozzarella surrounded by roasted and fresh tomatoes, with a pomegranate dressing that has the same look and consistency of a oil and balsamic mix.  Really very tasty according to the speed at which my friend ate it!!

And then the pièce de résistance…. the most delicious chips I have had in the UAE.  In fact, they may actually be in the top 3 globally!  Chunky chips served with a home made tomato sauce.  I don’t know what makes them so good.  I also don’t know if they are always that good or if they vary, but I will very happily go back and try them to find out!  As for the tomato sauce… well, anyone who knows me knows I cannot stand the stuff that Heinz etc. create.  But if they bottled and sold this stuff, I would be all over it!  Thankfully we were smart and ordered two portions because there is no way I would have been able to share!

I cannot decide if I am happy or sad that the nearest Baker & Spice to me has a different menu.  I think I am probably happy.  If it was the same, I would spend a fortune going in and picking up dinner every night!

I cannot recommend the food highly enough, and the staff are delightful too.

Yay for a new favourite!