Dubai: Neighbourhood Food Hall in Motor City

When I was about to order lunch the other day, I tried a new Singaporean restaurant, Shiok, on Careem. I was craving Singapore Hainanese chicken rice, so I ordered from Shiok, but tried not to get my hopes up, as I’ve had some rather underwhelming versions in Dubai. Though to my surprise, a really nice, authentic (red sauce and all), Singapore Hainanese Chicken Rice showed up at lunchtime. I looked up the restaurant online, and it turned out that it was located in Neighborhood Food Hall, which is a new food court in Motor City. A new food court? That sounded promising, so Polle and I decided to drive over to check it out.

Neighborhood Food Hall opened three months ago and it is a great place for foodies. The vendors are a mix of well-established homegrown outlets and smaller vendors that you don’t find anywhere else in the city, serving up delicious food at a good price point in settings, that make you think of hawker centers in Singapore or the food courts you find in the big shopping malls in Bangkok. You order what you like from one or more of the vendors and then you sit down and enjoy the food at one of the tables at the center of the food court.

I only got to try a small selection of the restaurants in the Neighborhood Food Hall before I was too full to squeeze down another bite, but I’ll keep you updated, as I eat my way through the other restaurants. You can find more info about the different restaurants in the Neighborhood Food Hall, opening hours, etc. on the website:

Neighborhood Food Hall (next to Al Adel Mosque), Green Community Motor City, Dubai

Shio

It was Shio that got me to visit Neighborhood Food Hall after I had a really nice home delivery chicken rice for lunch. Shio is located in a quiet corner at the food court, and does not look like much, but the food is authentic, tasty, Singaporean food. I later found out that the owner is from Singapore.

Ordered chicken rice as home delivery, and it came with that spicy red sauce that you always get in Singapore, and that I’ve forgotten how much I liked. Had the laksa at the food hall and it was rich and creamy. Not as photogenic as the fancy laksa every other Asia fusion restaurant in Dubai serves up, but oh-so delicious. Rich, creamy and packed with good stuff under the surface. You can add  cockles for a fee.

Tacos Los Hermanos

Tacos Los Hermanos is known for authentic Mexican tacos, and when I was there, it was the two Mexican brothers, Isaac and Josue, who started Tacos Los Hermanos, greeting me from behind the counter. Isaac and Joshua are from Guadalajara, Mexico, which Isaac claims must be the most Mexican city in Mexico, as it is home to both tequila and mariachi bands. We ordered tacos with beef tongue, because everyone who has ever tasted beef tongue knows that it is some of the most delicious and tender meat you can get. Though the birria tacos also looked tempting, so I put them on the to-do list for the next visit.

Maru Udon

I had already ordered the laksa from Shio, but I just had to try the zaru udon, which is cold udon that you dip in a cold sauce with grated radish and spring onion. Really good udon, which was perfectly cooked and had that slightly springy texture that I just love. Will definitely try one of the more advanced udon bowls next time.