SF Hound in Dubai on sort of a budget--dinner advice, please!

[plainfood]

Need advice on not expense account, not nightclub, nice casual attire dinner spots for older female hound from SF + adult daughter from London. No offal, please! Staying at Le Meridien Minah Seyahi Beach Resort.. We'll be taking a taxi. Just to make it more interesting, I'm doing Atkins Diet and my daughter's on Weight Watchers. Backsliding is ok but we're eschewing sweets.
Dubai lovers, please clue me in!
Thanks in advance.

[Roland Parker]

I'm an American expat in Dubai.

What kind of food are you looking for? There's a huge range of offerings in this city, mostly but not all good (avoid pizza and Chinese is very much a hit or miss). The best inexpensive offerings will be Lebanese mezze and Indian/Pakistani food.

Le Meridien Minah Seyahi is right next to Dubai Marina, which has a popular beachfront dining area called the "Walk" that features predominately Western style restaurants at Western prices. However there are two good options: Sarai (Syrian twist of the Lebanese mezze, excellent), and Barbeque Delights (Pakistani food, which is heavy on the grilled meats and daals, but is excellent). Both are reasonably priced.

If you want to venture further afield, a perennial favorite is Ravi's in Satwa. Cheap but excellent Pakistani/Indian food. It's a 20-25 minute taxi ride from your hotel.

You won't have to worry about offal in Dubai. It's more common at the cheaper Pakistani places but it will be very clearly labeled on the menus. I don't think I've ever seen an offal dish in my three years in Dubai.

Near you is the Mall of the Emirates, which has a number of excellent restaurants. There's a Moroccan place near the Armani store that's worth the visit. A new extension of the mall now features a ring of mid-high end dining options, including Asha's, which is a neaveau twist on modern Indian cooking and very popular among the professional Indian class in Dubai. I find the food lighter and more enjoyable than the traditional heavy curries of traditional Northern Indian restaurants.

[plainfood]

Thanks for writing! We ended up making dinner of the excellent protein-heavy snacks at Club Level Happy Hour at Le Meridien three nights in a row. Shelesh gave us excellent service, remembering what we drank after the first night. My daughter did take me to the BuddhaBar one night which was utterly gorgeous (the lighting makes every guest look great!) with rather mediocre food. Excellent service, though. We shared a Tempura Appetizer and my daughter loved her sushi. I made a bad choice and had some wok-seared beef dish with lots of baby corn (which I find disgusting, but that's me). Wine prices were too high to order a second bottle. I was glad to have visited BuddhaBar but next time, and there will definitely be a next time because we both love Dubai, I'll follow your suggestions. By the way, the Barasti Bar on the beach is outstanding on Thursday nights. It's a mega-version of The Ramp here in San Francisco. Cheers!