Food, Fun and Entertainment at Dubai Food Carnival | Lady & her Sweet Escapes

Feb 24, 2014

Food, Fun and Entertainment at Dubai Food Carnival

A foodie festival has just begun! Last weekend, Dubai Food Carnival kicked off the 23-day Dubai Food Festival 2014 with a bang! The newest food, beverage and entertainment extravaganza was on the list of events I shouldn't miss this month, so I was over the moon when I received a media invitation. My blog's official photographer (aka my husband) and I were given passes that we could use any time during the 2-day event. Our initial plan was to spend three hours of our weekend at the carnival, but with so many things to do, so much more to see and so many food to try, Ed and I decided to stay a little longer... until our 3-hour carnival plan turned into an 8-hour foodie getaway!  
  
Dubai Food Carnival at Dubai Festival City


FLAVOURS
On a sunny weekend of "gastro-tainment", it was just right that we arrived as early birds with empty tummies! The Dubai Food Carnival is a venue where all the flavors of the world come together! Dubai Festival City's open arena was lined with over 100 food and drink stalls; some are my favorites, some are restaurants which I have yet to try. We wandered, checked out every stall and happily nibbled free food samples. I had a freshly prepared gourmet meal at Pullman Hotel's stall for lunch and a delicious "posh fish finger sandwich" from Ghaf Kitchen's 1962 vintage Citroen catering van for dinner. We were in food haven! 

Food Tents at the Dubai Food Carnival
"What shall we have for lunch?" was a difficult question at Dubai Food Carnival.
Carnival Rowe at the Dubai Food Carnival
Carnival Rowe: a pop-up restaurant of Chef Silvena Rowe, one of UK's top female chefs 
Miyabi Sushi and Bento at the Dubai Food Carnival
 The Geisha welcomed us at Miyabi Sushi and Bento's stall 
Mellow Yellow's mouthwatering wraps
A new cafe to try: Mellow Yellow in Uptown Mirdif (look how mouthwatering their wraps are)
Gourmet Burger Kitchen at the Dubai Food Carnival
sampling out Gourmet Burger Kitchen's fries and dips... yum!
Rumi Cafe at the Dubai Food Carnival
bite-size goodness at Rumi Cafe's stall
Ghaf Kitchen's vintage catering van at the Dubai Food Carnival
Ghaf Kitchen's charming vintage catering van serves delicious British food around town!
Holland House's Mini Pancakes at the Dubai Food Carnival
fresh and hot mini pancakes at Holland House 
Shabu Shabu at the Dubai Food Carnival
Shabu Shabu hot pot drew a lot of attention
Hotel Restaurants at the Dubai Food Carnival
Hotel restaurants have stalls at the carnival too!
Pullman Hotel's Mushroom Risotto
Here's my lunch: lovely and super delish Mushroom Risotto from Pullman Hotels and Resorts' stall 
Wok It Restaurant at the Dubai Food Carnival
Wok It served authentic Asian street food at the carnival. Gotta visit their main resto soon! 

FUN
Dubai Food Carnival was an event for all ages! While the adults were busy trying out different cuisine, little tots went wild at the giant inflatable slide and carnival rides. The atmosphere was very festive. We bumped into some jugglers and mascots, got wacky snaps at Mentos' photo booth and tried our luck at Pullman Hotels' mini game in which I won a cute little teddy! :)

Play Area at the Dubai Food Carnival
Dubai Food Carnival was a fun-filled family affair! 
Pullman Hotel's mini-game and cool prize at the Dubai Food Carnival
A carnival isn't complete without games and prizes! I won a cuddly bear at Pullman's mini-game!   
a world-class performer at the Dubai Food Carnival
 Jugglers and performers entertained the visitors at the seating area.  There was never a dull moment!
Nawaf of Mandilicious at the Dubai Food Carnival
 Nawaf of Mandilicious was always ready for photo ops!
Mentos Photo Booth at the Dubai Food Carnival
our funky Dubai Food Carnival souvenir from Mentos


FLAIR
Dubai Food Carnival offered non-stop world-class entertainment. In between the food tasting and fun games, we comfortably lounged on the bean bags to watch the live shows at the main stage. We were able to catch the very interesting Bloggers' Forum at the 360 stage and Chef Sanjeev Kapoor's cooking demo at the Chef Dome. Like the food selection, the entertainment was very diverse as well. I got to witness a Sumo wrestling match, a Capoeira Mob performance and various cooking showdowns all in one day! Visitors who longed for a cool relaxing vibe went to the Bubbly Lounge to listen to the live acoustic band, while those who wanted a good laugh gathered around the main stage to watch the hilarious stand-up comedians, followed by the upbeat cacophony using kitchen items. 

Chef Sanjeev Kapoor at the Dubai Food Carnival
Chef Sanjeev Kapoor: "The Face of Indian Cuisine" at the Chef Dome 
Bloggers' Forum at the Dubai Food Carnival
famous food bloggers, editors, chefs and F&B directors at the Bloggers' Forum 
cooking competition at the Dubai Food Carnival
a father-daughter team at "My Dad Can Cook" competition 
Sumo Wrestling at the Dubai Food Carnival
One... Two... Three... Sumo! 
BBQ Cook-off at the Dubai Food Carnival
Fire up the grill! Country vs Country BBQ cook-off at The Great Yalla BBQ
live acoustic band at the Dubai Food Carnival
live acoustic band at the Bubbly Lounge 
capoeira mob at the Dubai Food Carnival
amazing Capoeira performance at the main stage
Fireworks display at the Dubai Food Carnival
A grand 15-minute fireworks display ended our fun-filled day at the carnival. Truly a weekend well-spent!

Fret not if you've missed all the fun. There are more Foodie Events in the coming weeks! You can have a Taste of Peru at Madinat Jumeirah from February 26 to March 1, 2014. There's the celebration of meat and music at The Big Grill in Emirates Golf Club on February 28, 2014. The grand food festival, Taste of Dubai in Dubai Media City Amphitheater, returns on March 13 to March 15, 2014. For complete event listing, visit Dubai Food Festival's website here

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