In Australia you would be hard pressed not to come face-to-face with a sizzling sausage. At any given time, BBQs and grills are being fired up in car parks, sports grounds and even at high end events and links of sausages being prodded and poked all in the name of fundraising. Yes, we Aussies love a sizzling sausage. Sausage sizzles are a fundraising and community event. Consisting of a gathering where a barbequed sausage is served on a slice of white bread or on a bread roll, and may be accompanied by tomato sauce, mustard, and sometimes barbecued onions. All ingredients are usually purchased as cheaply (or donated) as possible, so…
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Stringing Me Along – When String Cheese Goes Gourmet
String cheese as it is known to most of us, is a fairly new revelation to me. Most Australians my age (cough) are unfamilar with the commercial string cheese we see in supermarkets now. When I was a kid, we did have Kraft cheese sticks, which were a different texture entirely. They were processed cheddar cheese, extruded into plastic and sealed with tiny metal rings. In hindsight, those metal rings were a choking hazard. Speaking of hazard, after four hours in the lunch box, these sticks had also turned nuclear, or mushy. Moving to the Middle East I discovered the commercial American string cheese, as well as the local variety…
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Dining in the Dark – Preview of W Doha’s Sensory Journey
They say that dimming the lights can heighten your other senses like taste and smell. As a woman of a certain age (cough), I find it also hides a multitude of sins. When the team from W Doha invited me to try their own version of dining in the dark, I was very quick to confirm. Excellent food, mood lighting…what’s not to love. While it wasn’t conducted in complete darkness (rather the stunning Extreme Wow Suite), the experience was still unique. The seven course menu, presented by their executive chef Kim and developed for the evening, took us on a journey of the hotel’s culinary strengths. Each course a different couple was blind…
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Tapas Bravos – Restaurant Review of Aceite at the Melia Doha
There are few things that can make the world better again than fried cheese and copious amounts of sangria. Which is why when the invite came to try this new restaurant, I literally ran towards it screaming. Spanish food is literally surging in Doha right now. With the excellent El Faro at the Marsa Malasz and now this gem, Aceite at the new Melia Doha. On a Thursday night in July, it was busy with big groups of work people enjoying the tapas and a drink as well as couple and of course two hungry Australian sheilas. Plied with a very hypnotic sangria tapas style starters of cheese and chicken croquettas along with…
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Seoul Food – Review of Yee Hwa Restaurant
You know those moments. Where you have been living in a city for a long time (let’s say eight years) and you think you know everything about it. Every nook and cranny. Then, you discover something new and you shout it from the rooftops and everyone else is like “Um yeah. Thanks Scoop.” That happened twice this month. The first time when I discovered Chillis did home delivery. When the delivery guy came to my door with a bag of deliciousness, I commented on how I was surprised he found my building. The delivery guy shot me a withering look and said: “Yes Madam. Everyone orders from us here.” Boom.…
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The Goan Rate – 48 Hours in Goa
Sometimes a gal just has to get out of the city. And at just three hours away from Doha, with its European heritage, spectacular beaches and yes, tasty food Goa is the perfect quickie escape. I gathered up the gang and headed to Goa last weekend, in search of good food, cheap spa treatments and a dust free environment. Goa is one of those destinations that can truly surprise you. It’s kind of India Lite. This was my fourth trip to Goa and unbelievably my 12th to India. They should give me residency or a lifetime supply of dosa anyway. Fresh off a 5am flight and a sprint to Immigration to…
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Breaking the Fast at Eatopia
Let’s be honest, breakfast for me is usually some toast, topped with maybe a slice of cheese or Vegemite scoffed down at 530am as I rush out the door, praying my car will start that morning. This is why I love weekends, when I can indulge in a decent breakfast, cooked by an expert and also catch up on all the gossip. Eatopia, which opened recently in The Gate Mall in Doha, seems to be all things to all people. Offering different cooking stations as well as a cafe, deli, fresh produce counters and a supermarket, they recently launched a new breakfast buffet and invited me along to test it.…
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Fine Dining With a View – Review of La Mer’s Blind Tasting Menu
I’m about to clock up eight years in Doha. I’m not going to bore you with the expat habit of saying how fast it’s gone, how things have changed etc. What I will talk about are the things that have become a constant. The irritating being the sandstorms, the whingeing expats and the bad driving. The good constants being friends, special people in my life, my job, this blog and the opportunities. There are also the physical constants – those places you have been going to for years, that are a part of your life. One of those places is the Ritz Carlton Doha. Always elegant and welcoming, I have always…
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Get Your Gourmet on at the Qatar International Food Festival 2015
It started very small a few years ago, but the Qatar international Food Festival has grown in stature each year.It’s now one of the best organized and most anticipated events in Doha. It’s back again for 2015 from 24 to 28 March at the Museum of Islamic Art Park again and looks set to be equally as good as last year. you can find out information about the various activities on offer here. But I’m pretty excited about the Dinner in the Sky concept this year which is offering a “Taste of Business Class” from Qatar Airways premium menu. I will be posting updates as they come, but you can keep…
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Life on the Blogging Wedge
When I started this blog what seems like an eternity ago, my main motivation was to channel my love of food into something more productive than sitting around and talking crap with friends. That someone other than my mum and my friends (to be polite) would read it is still shocking to me. Today I have readers all over the world and many in my home city of Doha, Qatar. There has been some discussion in Doha social media circles recently about the relationship between bloggers and social media “influencers” and brands. In a smaller market like Doha, this is inevitable. I see it every day on Twitter and on…
