Eating vegan in Dubai has finally become an ‘in thing’. Thankfully there are many restaurants that offer fresh, healthy food choices for those who follow a plant based diet. With Ramadan around the corner we were pleased to be invited to try out a vegan iftar menu that promised to be delicious too. Here’s what we think of it..
It’s that time of the year again. Time to pray, disconnect, introspect, cleanse and be mindful. And while you practice the fasting routine next month, we recommend you to be mindful after the moonrise too by practicing mindful and healthy eating. If you eat a plant-based diet or are planning to adopt one, we have good news! You can continue being vegan when you eat out during Ramadan too with a new, one of a kind vegan iftar menu (coming soon!) at Common Grounds. We sampled the menu and everything we tried was as good on flavor as it was on the nutrition index. We loved the part that someone has come up with vegan options to break your fast with.
The multicultural facet of this large-hearted city has been redefined yet again. This time by a café serving up Aussie-inspired food by crafting a vegan menu to cater to all those fasting during the Holy month. Guess that’s how the café is called – Common Ground.
This open café at the Mall of The Emirates has an earthy vibe with wooden accents and green shelved walls. Good to know that they serve up breakfast till 4pm and they practice produce-driven cooking with bold flavours.
The vegan iftar menu is a three course meal. We begin with the grilled corn flatbread with a topping of smashed avocado, sweet potato cubes, garnished with pumpkin seeds and chickpeas. This was one winner of a starter with that smoked chickpea crunching to perfection with each soft bite of the corn bread. Up next arrives a colourful panzanella which is a salad of asparagus, marinated tomatoes, with white radish slices and olives, served with whole wheat sourdough bread which is delicious though the tomatoes could be less tangy. For mains, there’s a risotto with pine nut puree, shitake mushroom, lemon and Arabic pangratata and a vegan burger with a sourdough burger bun, lemon ketchup, chia and umami mushroom burger patty. It was this bowl that will make us comeback here with roasted cauliflower, coconut oil, puy lentil curry, green tomato and tamarind sambal. It was hearty, delicious and every bit of it reminded us of home cooked soul food! For dessert they have a sorbet of coconut, pineapple, basil sugar and lime leaf.
Everything we tasted was big on flavor even though vegan. Recommend it to a vegan fasting friend of yours or go there even if you are an aspiring vegan who likes to have a delicious fare.