Marina, Dubai Festival City. April 2011
Of Belgian Beer, the Hard Rock Cafe, and an Opera House
On a visit to Kuala Lumpur years ago to visit my dear friends, the I's, MI insisted we go to an open air pub in the trendy Mont Kiara district for Belgian beer. Sometimes I felt like life was a big game of playing catch up. How was it that during the Belgian beer craze I got left behind? Well, I do believe it hit places other than Milford, PA first. It took a few more years before "Blue Moon" became a thing in little Milford. Anyway, I had Belgian beer on tap with MI and, as per usual, we had a good time. Was it my favorite beer ever? No. Was it refreshing in the late tropical afternoon, of course, yes.
Move forward a few years and I was in Dubai with MWK scoping out fun places to go for a drink. The rule in Dubai was generally (but not always) that a place serving alcohol must be attached to a hotel. There were a few stand alone places like the Irish Village, but maybe even that was considered part of one of the many hotels nearby. At any rate, I was looking for a place for us to drink beer on tap and the Belgian Beer Cafe came up in my search. It was in Dubai Festival City. MWK had never been. We looked for it on the map and it was not served by metro. Much to his chagrin, we ended up taking a taxi there (he felt paying taxi drivers was a gross misuse of funds for some reason even though taxis are strictly regulated in Dubai - one rarely gets ripped off). We found the bar/restaurant in a newly developing complex far inland along Dubai Creek. There was a nice marina and some stunning views of Downtown Dubai across the water (although at a distance). A mall, an Ikea, some residences, and the Belgian Beer Cafe were all loosely attached to the grand Millenium Hotel. The beer cafe's large outdoor seating area at night gave superb views over Festival City, the Creek, and Downtown Dubai in the distance. That was my first introduction to Dubai Festival City and, as a bonus, I was riding the crest of a beer trend I learned about in Kuala Lumpur.
My trips to Dubai became frequent and MWK and I got bored with our usual haunts along the Dubai Metro corridor. We went back to Festival City a few times just to break up the monotony. On one of those visits we passed by a site for the future Dubai Opera House. Having seen the one in Muscat by that time, I was intrigued. I thought the appellation "Opera House" had come to mean something different from the original in the Middle East. I wondered if any actual operas would ever be performed there? Apparently, yes, according to their online schedule! Years before it opened, we saw the land being prepared for the Dubai Opera House. It eventually debuted in 2016, but I haven't returned. Since then my KSA ex-colleague and friend, IEC, has attended a performance and said the venue was spectacular. Add to my list at least to visit the lobby of the Opera House in Dubai.
Back to Kuala Lumpur visits once again, I found myself often stopping by the Hard Rock Cafe for a beer or two. I always received great service at the bar and the bartenders remembered me even though my visits were months, even up to a year, apart. I really liked the feel of the place and the staff explained that HRC prided itself on superior service. After that I became something of a fan and started patronizing Hard Rocks any place I found them. It was true - sitting at the bar in a Hard Rock Cafe one will most likely receive excellent service and a lot of attention.
There had been a Hard Rock Cafe in Dubai along the metro corridor, but by the time of my first visit to the city, it had mysteriously shut down. No details on that, but I wondered why a place like Hard Rock would close a branch in a rising star like Dubai. A few years later HRC reopened in Festival City. The timing coincided with a visit to Dubai with Owais (my ex-student from KKU) as his graduation gift. It allowed MWK, Owais, and me to try Hard Rock in Dubai. The interior was standard, although we did not sit at the bar. Owais was in total awe of the place having grown up in KSA, the son of a Pakistani imam (Owais did not drink). MWK just smiled knowingly. I had taken him to Planet Hollywood a few years before and Hard Rock was pretty much the same set up, different theme. Needless to say a lot of money was spent, but we all had a good time. It was worth it as we were celebrating Owais' graduation.
My last visit there was with WMF from Dohuk. We had a few days in Dubai and I made sure we went to Hard Rock as part of the grand tour. We happened to be there on a live music night and W was enraptured. In Duhok, live Kurdish or Assyrian music is quite common, but never Western Music. I think it might have been his favorite thing we did in those few days we spent in Dubai. The guy really was a "live music" lover. I was just happy to see him smile, which was an unfortunate rarity.
Dubai Festival City, truly a "build it and they will come" place the Emiratis carved out of the desert. On my first visit with MWK it showed potential, but was not really all that happening. Now with the Opera House complete and even more hotels in the complex, it is a bonafide destination within Dubai. What an interesting experience to watch a place grow into its prime!
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