Restaurant Review: Al Nafoorah Al Qasr, Dubai

24/03/202530/06/2026wareontheglobe 1 Comment

Our dinner ended with this fantastic Baklava Cheesecake.

Dan and I really love, love, love Lebanese cuisine. We have been to some great Lebanese restaurants (including this incredible one in Amman, Jordan –Fakhreldine), and we always try to eat at Lebanese restaurants when in the Middle East. We had one proper dinner evening in Dubai last year on our way to the Maldives. We made a dinner reservation at Al Nafoorah Al Qasr.

Dan at Al Nafoorah Al Qasr.

Al Nafoorah Al Qasr is located inside the Jumeirah Al Qasr, Madinat Jumeirah hotel – only about a 10 minute Uber drive from our hotel on the Palm Jumeirah. And like the Jumeriah Al Qasr, Al Nafoorah Al Qasr is a gorgeous restaurant. Having both indoor and outdoor seating, the interior of the restaurant is centered around an olive tree and is immaculately decorated. The outdoor seating is along a man-made waterway, complete with tourist sightseeing boats, with views of the Burj Al Arab. We sat outside and had a perfect table overlooking the Burj Al Arab, as seen above.

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The Layover: Dubai Edition

19/03/202530/06/2026wareontheglobe Leave a comment

The view from the second level of The View at The Palm.

I had a 30 hour, overnight layover in Dubai in November en route to the Maldives. This was not my first visit to Dubai, so while I wanted to “feel like I was in Dubai”, I did not want to revisit its most popular tourist sites. I also wanted to concentrate my time on the Palm Jumeirah, or the artificial islands made in the shape of a Palm tree, as I felt like I largely missed this area on my last visit to Dubai. This article explains how I passed the time on my layover!

A Google map of The Palm islands.

LANDING IN DUBAI – 8:30 PM.

I flew direct to DXB from New York’s JFK on Emirates. We were supposed to land around 8:00 PM, but our flight out of New York was delayed and we didn’t land until about 10 PM. I had optimistically made a dinner reservation at Little Miss India, a wonderful Indian spot on the Palm Jumeirah, but that had to be cancelled (honestly, I don’t think that I would have made it anyway as the last seating was at 10 PM). After deplaning and clearing Immigration and Customs, which was so quick, we Ubered to our hotel, the St. Regis The Palm Dubai, and arrived around 11 PM.

Made it back to Dubai!

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Airport Lounge Review: Marhaba Lounge, Dubai International, Terminal 3, Concourse B

11/03/202530/06/2026wareontheglobe Leave a comment

The Marhaba Lounge, Dubai International.

Dan and I spent a little over two hours in the Marhaba Lounge in Dubai International (DXB) Terminal 3, Concourse B in December 2024, after spending a week in the Maldives and a few days in Dubai. While we were sad to leave, the Marhaba Lounge provided a decent send off. We arrived in the Marharba Lounge before 6:00 AM (we had an 8:30 flight) and had a pleasant, albeit crowded, experience. We would certainly return.

Dubai.

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Airport Lounge Review: Al Dhabi Lounge by Lounge, Abu Dhabi International, Terminal 1

19/01/202430/06/2026wareontheglobe 1 Comment

This post reviews our experiences at the Al Dhabi Lounge by Lounge – Abu Dhabi International’s only Priority Pass airport lounge at the time (it has recently been removed from the PP network but may return). Dan and I used Abu Dhabi International’s Al Dhabi Lounge three times last year (including when we flew in in the above cover photo, that’s the F1 track in the pic), and we had a relatively OK experience each time. I wouldn’t kill yourself to visit this lounge, but if you have a decent layover and no other options, it probably makes sense. While it can get crazy during busy periods, the Al Dhabi Lounge is a sizeable space with edible food and decent drinks, in addition to good wifi and complimentary showers.

Abu Dhabi city! This was it decked out for the World Cup.

THE AL DHABI LOUNGE

The Al Dhabi Lounge is located in Abu Dhabi airport’s Terminal 1 at the end of a very long corridor, which is accessible via Terminal 1 and Terminal 3 without re-clearing security. We walked to the lounge from Terminal 3, and it probably took us 15 minutes walking at an average pace. The Al Dhabi lounge is open 24/7, and it is open to almost all travelers as long as its not full (i.e. anyone can buy a day pass to this lounge). The Al Dhabi Lounge’s entrance is located on the ground floor, and the lounge is directly above it. A check-in desk, which is shared with the Abu Dhabi Airport Hotel (read about our stay there here), check guests in pretty quickly, although on one of our visits there was a looong line (due to the F1 race and the World Cup in Qatar). Once checked in, guests go up one floor to a second check-in desk, where they check in once again, LOL. Information, including wifi passwords, are provided at this second check-in desk. Once cleared on the second floor, the lounge is to the right and the hotel is to the left. Guests cannot enter the hotel without a reservation, so no safety worries if you are staying there!

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Restaurant Review: Beirut Sur Mer, Abu Dhabi, UAE

15/02/202330/06/2026wareontheglobe Leave a comment

Beirut Sur Mer is a fun, local restaurant set right off Abu Dhabi’s famous Saadiyat Beach. Dan and I dined here on our last night in Abu Dhabi before flying to the Seychelles. We choose Beirut Sur Mer because (1) we looove Lebanese food(!) and (2) I saw it on a IG influencer’s page and it looked delicious! The pictures ended up holding true – this was a great dinner.

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