Al Mallah Cafeteria, Satwa, Dubai - arrive hungry, leave happy

Everyone needs to have a "local" - a place where you know that no matter what you order, it will be fresh, it will be good and it won't leave too much of a hole in the wallet. Al Mallah Cafeteria is so good that despite the 40 minute drive and the parking nightmare in Satwa, it might just qualify as our 'local'. 

They don't do 'fusion' and they don't do anything fussy. Their menu is representative of any Arabic cafeteria that you could find anywhere across the middle east. The difference is, what they do, they do REALLY well. The only difficulty is getting a large enough group together so you can try a little bit of everything!

We started with some classics - zataar and meat manakish. Manakish is not dissimilar from a pizza base, but rather than having a sloppy tomato base, it is coated in olive oil and traditionally topped with zataar, a middle eastern herb concoction of oregano, basil, thyme and other goodies which dance across your tongue leaving just the slightest hint of spice. We have eaten a lot of manakish in our travels around the region and these ones rate quite highly - it helps when the distance from the oven to your dinner plate is only about 10 meters!

We had only just gobbled down the manakish when the food arrive en masse. Hummus, mutabel, tabouli, fattouche, the freshest of fresh falafel and a mixed schwarma meat plate (half chicken and half "meat" - which meat...one is never sure). Are you salivating yet? We don't tend to order the meat at these types of places. A large cone shaped pile of meat rotating on a metal skewer just doesn't seem particularly natural to me and often gives you the 3am dry horrors where you wake gasping for water. Although a little salty, the meat was fresh and a guilty pleasure that went perfectly with our otherwise reasonably healthy meal.
 
Although slightly overshadowed by the excellent food, the drinks menu should not be ignored  (if you can find the stomach space!). The lime mint juice was a hit and the mango juice was a meal in itself.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Loved it, will love it again, and recommend that if you are in the area you give it a shot. Look for the green tent on Al Dhiyafa Road, Satwa (not far from the gelato shop).

The Bill (for 3 very hungry people with lots left over):

1 x zaatar manakish - 5 Dhs
1 x meat and cheese manakish - 7 Dhs
1 x hommos - 12 Dhs
1 x mutabal - 12 Dhs
1 x tabouli - 14 Dhs
1 x fattouche - 13 Dhs
1 x plate of falafel - 12 Dhs
1 x plate of mixed shawarma meat - 35 Dhs
1 x medium Mint Lime juice - 12 Dhs
1 x medium mango juice - 12 Dhs
1 x water - 2 Dhs

TOTAL: 136 Dhs (approx US$34)

Restaurant address: Satwa, Dubai. About 30 metres from the big roundabout with the fountain in the middle.