If you mention the word food you will always have my attention. Mention festival and food trucks in the same sentence and I am so there. This weekend marked the start of the Abu Dhabi Food Festival. Since it’s a few weeks yet before the Street Feast comes to the Corniche, I decided this would be the perfect excuse for a ROAD TRIP down to Al Gharbia to check it out.
So with the promise of delicious samplings of food and colourful food trucks, we loaded up the kids in the car and headed down to Madinat Zayed in Al Gharbia (the Western Region). It only took up about an hour and 20 minutes to get there from Abu Dhabi. The Street Feast is being held in Madinat Zayed Garden which is located just on the edge of town. There are no signs for it. We found it by accident, following our gut instinct telling us to drive just a little bit farther. With only 1 main road, Madinat Zayed is not too big. If you were to get lost, you would find your way quite quickly.
We weren’t sure what to expect and we were not disappointed. The park was a beautiful location – loads of green space and playgrounds. Perfect for keeping the kids occupied! The trucks can be found in the centre of the park. In total there are 10 food trucks offering a different specialty. Most of the vendors are from UK and surprisingly fairly new to the food truck business. Thankfully it was not too busy which allowed time for a chat.
I love food so I sampled as much as I could (just to justify the amount I ate, I must mention that I was at the park ALL day). Here are my favs and recommended places to stop when you go:
The Roadery: I started my day with with a Wagyu beef cheek Braco and a grilled Halloumi with Blackberry sauce Braco. What is a Braco? It is a British taco. A creation you will find only here.
The Cheese Truck: Stilton and steak sandwich. (So delicious the sandwich was gone before I could snap a pic).
ATE Streetfood: (A Taste Experience – Get it) This truck has the best sliders. But the two that you must try are the Pulled Lamb Slider and the Braised Ox Cheek Slider. The meat in both of these mini sandwiches was so tender and delicious.
Last but not least you MUST finish off your meal with Churros and Chocolate.
When it comes to soft drinks, LimeLine is one that everyone needs to visit. We had Qcumber which is a mixture of cucumber and sparkling water and Ice Tropez which is deliciously fruity. Both drinks are light and refreshing and the best part – the company is based here in the UAE!!! They do home delivery.
What to expect:
Each of the food trucks have about 1 -3 dishes on offer with prices ranging from 20-30 AED for individual portions.
Here are some of the menus to give you an idea of the variety available:
What about the kids? So your kid doesn’t like truffled mushroom with fried quails egg. No problem. There are kid favourites such as Big Apple Hot Dogs and pizza from Pizza Pilgrims. You will also find the UAE’s favourite ice cream truck Desert Chill on site. Kids sorted.
The Street Feast will be in Madinat Zayed until Feb 7. Next weekend 12- 14 Feb at Al Jahili Park in Al Ain, finishing off on the Abu Dhabi Corniche 19-21 Feb. By the time the Street Feast arrives on the Corniche, all the UAE based vendors will be there too – so it’s gonna be a big one. Make the most of the lovely weather. Take your family for a great day out at any of the locations. You may even see me back there!
