While in Turkey, we were hectically searching for our cheapest flight route into India. After days of research, we found a relatively inexpensive FlyDubai flight from Istanbul to Delhi ($250), with a 15-hour layover in Dubai.
We loved this idea, as it gave us just enough time to briefly check out another interesting city at no extra transportation cost.
So what did we do with our day in Dubai? Eat.
Inevitably, we headed to the world's largest mall - The Dubai Mall. I had an incredible day of eating yummy vegan food, all at The Dubai Mall.
I decided to split up lunch into three snacks. We were shocked to find a Tim Hortons in Dubai of all places, so as proud Canadians, we felt obligated to sit down there for a bit (sidenote - great WiFi here).
Potato patty vegetable wrap with bbq sauce at Timmies in Dubai
Surprised to see a Timmies in the UAE - it was a nice reminder of home!
Missing all the gelati I enjoyed in Italy, I ventured to Il Gelato Di Bruno to get my fix of "senza latte" gelato. The only non-fruit flavour of vegan gelato they offered was dark chocolate, which was fine by me.
Dark chocolate gelato at the Dubai Mall - milk and egg free!
Not being quite satisfied after the gelato, we heard about an all-raw vegan cafe located in the Galaries Lafayette department store at the Dubai Mall. We went to Bestro and were first blown away by how expensive it was and decided not to have a full meal, but ended up each getting something really tasty.
Vic enjoyed the Thai-Roo green smoothie, which had pineapple, cucumber, kale, lime, coriander, and lucuma. I went for the raw chocoalte torte cake, and am I ever glad I did.
Victoria enjoying her green juice from BeStro in the Dubai Mall
The raw chocolate torte cake from BeStro - expensive but worth it!
For dinner, we were pressed for time to catch the bus and metro back to the airport, so we panicked and I ended up at Panda Chinese Restaurant in the upstairs food court. I had a sweet-chilli tofu dish, which was actually not bad, and Vic ended up going to a baked-potato bar (unfortunately we forgot to get a picture of it!).
Sweet chilli tofu dish at Panda Chinese in the Dubai Mall
Overall, our short, one-day visit to Dubai was filled with delicious vegan eats at The Dubai Mall. Inevitably, it turned out to be pretty expensive. Unfortunately due to time, we were restrained to the Burj Khalifa-Dubai Mall area. As a result, we were unable to try any traditional Emirati vegan cuisine. Hey - it gives us a reason to go back to the UAE!
Outside the Burj Khalifa (the world's tallest building) after one hell of a day of eating