There are some places and destinations which you can visit over and over again and never get tired of. For me, one such place is the largest mall in Dubai (currently), the Dubai Mall. Whenever I visit this mall, I am always in awe of the beautifully designed spaces. I am intrigued by the new places to eat and shop at and excited to eat all my favorite foods again at this mall. I truly believe that even if you visit this mall for a week, you will not run out of things to eat and do here. Let me tell you about my perfect day at this lovely mall when I visited Dubai in October 2022. We took a taxi from my hotel and reached the mall by 11:30 am. I wanted to spend an entire day here to eat and see as much as possible.
The visit started with me enjoying the views of the stunning spaces at this mall. The huge Ice Rink with skaters enjoying themselves thoroughly with a multi-storeyed viewing area.
The Souk gave me the feeling of an authentic Middle Eastern Market.
The Fashion Avenue with its massive pearl string ceiling lighting was so aesthetically pleasing!
I viewed the marvelously blue and intriguing Dubai Aquarium area with its massive new OLED screen, which holds the Guinness World Record for the Largest OLED screen.
And the Dubai Mall Waterfall in all its magnificence, cascading water from a soaring height dotted with diving figures of Dubai's pearl fishermen. Everywhere I looked there was something to discover or marvel at.
Then it was time to start eating! I first went to Yamanote Atelier, a place I hadn't tried before as I was intrigued by the finesse of their Japanese-style patisserie. In their display were a variety of delicious-looking Japanese cheesecakes, assorted cheese tarts, custard pies, sweet buns and delightful savory pastries in flavors that were quite unique. They also had many Halloween-themed treats. We tried the feta and olive croissant and the hello kitty Nutella sweet bun and they did not disappoint. The pastry was buttery and flaky on the croissant and the sweet bun was like biting into a fluffy cloud filled with Nutella! My stomach did a happy dance lolz.
I then headed to another place I wanted to try on the same level called Hafiz Mustafa 1864, a dessert shop famous for its Middle Eastern treats. This store was beautifully designed with gold arches and columns along with blue mosaic elements. Scores of freshly baked baklava adorned the display cases just after the entrance. The staff was very helpful and gave me a free sample of their delectable baklava. I loved the pistachio baklava and the walnut chocolate baklava. Safe to say it was the best baklava I have ever had in my life. Another great thing about this store was that they vacuum-packed the box so that we could take the baklava back to India and it still stayed fresh.
After that I headed for a proper sit-down lunch at one of my absolute favorite restaurants called Eataly. Eataly is an Italian chain that combines all the best culinary delights of Italy under one roof. From being able to purchase authentic Italian food products to a variety of restaurants and cafes, Eataly truly brings the spirit of Italy to you. We dined at La Cucina Di Eataly which had a range of antipasti, pasta, soups, pizzas and Italian desserts.
We started off our meal with Mole Cola a traditional Italian cola brand similar to a Coke but a little less sweet. We then gorged on bruschetta del Bosco - grilled crispy rustic bread with buffalo ricotta and grilled mushrooms which was topped with thin savory shards of parmesan and arugula. And arancino ai Funghi, fried Sicilian balls stuffed with porcini mushrooms and fontina cheese.
We then requested to have the square parmigiana pizza displayed at one of their cafes and they gladly obliged. The crust of the pizza and the richness of the Italian tomatoes in the sauce was to die for.
We ended our meal with a traditional tiramisu and an affogato which was topped with some sinfully thick whipped cream. This restaurant never disappoints, the meal was absolutely lovely.
We then headed to browse some more stores. We enjoyed the Apple store which overlooked the Dubai Fountain area and was one of the most beautiful Apple stores we've been to. We checked out some street-wear and sneaker stores where we got to view some really rare sneakers on display. We checked out all the electronics stores out of which Virgin Megastore is my husband's favorite because of the sheer variety on offer.
After browsing for some time, it was time for me to try another food item on my list. Even though I was still full, but this item was on my list and I had seen so many videos about it on Instagram I had to go try it out anyhow. Plus it was a dessert so I was like - what the heck let's do it! This place was called Chocomelt, this chocolate cafe became a viral sensation on Instagram and I tried one of the most Insta-worthy desserts there called Baby Dynamite. It was layers of Oreo brownie, chocolate fudge and vanilla ice cream, topped with a peanut butter caramel ice cream stick. It was served with a generous drizzle of milk chocolate sauce. To be honest being kind of full and also being let down in the past with viral food sensations turning out to not taste as great as they look, I wasn't expecting much. I took the first bite and Oh My God symphonies went off in my head! The combination of the creamy milk chocolate sauce, with a slight savory touch of the peanut butter ice cream combined with the sinfully gooey oreo brownie, fudge and vanilla ice cream sandwich was a match made in heaven! My stomach was full but this creation was so tasty I couldn't stop eating it! I thoroughly enjoyed this experience.
After browsing for another hour or so, we stepped out to watch the famous Dubai Fountain show. It was evening and so the rush was a lot and many people had already gathered at various vantage points at the fountain to get good views.
As there was still time for the show to start (and not being a fan of standing in rush-filled areas) I decided to cover another point on my list which was the Time Out Market located at the Souk Al Bahar, directly opposite the Dubai mall. Time Out market is a concept by the famous website 'Time Out' which houses a collection of unique and gourmet food options under one roof. It was like a sophisticated version of a food court. There were these elegantly designed food stalls with shades of black and white, with huge mess hall-style wooden tables and chairs. Cuisines ranged from Balkan, Indian, Italian, Japanese, Barbeque, Signature burgers, Neapolitan-style pizzas, Lebanese, Portuguese, Vietnamese, Chinese and more! It also had a lot of dessert options and drink options at its signature bars.
While walking through this amazing space, we stumbled upon the best surprise of all. It had an outdoor terrace dining area as well directly overlooking the Dubai Fountain! Here we were able to get some exceptional views of the Dubai Fountain and Burj Khalifa without all the rush. After enjoying the show, we started checking out the options we wanted to eat.
My husband missed Indian food so we decided to start off with a veg platter. It consisted of veg seekh kebab, chipotle paneer tikka, veg samosa chaat, raita, papad, chutney and a Malabar paratha (Indian bread) from Masti Restaurant. This was a sort of tasting plate with small portions but the flavors were absolutely wonderful. We loved it so much that we went for a repeat order of the Samosa Chaat. Already having consumed so much food throughout the day and yet having another place I had to try out for dessert, we just finished the meal by trying out one last small thing which was a tomato and mozzarella panzerotto from Fulvio's. Overall I do feel that the Time Out Market is a must-visit.
Now the rush had grown in Dubai mall and to me, that was a signal that its time to leave as I do not like too much of rush. I took one last look at the Burj Khalifa in all of its glory with its twinkling lights before entering the mall again.
But I couldn't leave without checking out my most loved dessert brand - the world-famous Magnolia Bakery. This is a popular bakery chain from New York which has some of the most delectable cupcakes, cake slices, banana pudding and cheesecakes. I took a takeaway of a german chocolate cake slice, the famous banana pudding and a carrot cake slice all of which were absolutely yum.
There were some things that I missed out on, I wanted to try out a bubble tea from Latea and I wanted to visit Infinity Des Lumières (art museum), but this gives me the incentive to visit my favorite mall once again later! I know many people will recommend the "At the Top at Burj Khalifa" experience, but I find it too touristy. I'd rather recommend spending that money at the Atmosphere Grill and Lounge at the Burj Khalifa and having their famous gold cappuccino. Anyway, my visits to the Dubai Mall are always so memorable and wonderful. I am glad to have had another perfect day there.
Thank you for reading❤️
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