Arabian Days: Day 6

Day 6 was Shopping Day. C had called for a taxi to pick A and me at about 11:30. The cab was punctual to the dot and A and I set off for Doha City Center (the mall we’d visited on Day 2) We rambled through the mall only stopping for a doughnut break at Dunkin Donuts (not as nice as Krispy Kreme!). I LOVED some of the shops for the expensive-but-exquisite goods they stocked (baby wear, for one! ) and some for their amazing-stuff-at-reasonable-prices, like the Home Center. I think I can happily furnish my entire home from the stuff at Home Center – the furniture / furnishings / knick-knacks are gorgeous AND affordable!

Lunch was at about 2:15 at Nando’s (in the mall on the foodcourt floor – so many restaurants, such les time!)- an international chain of restaurants famous for its spicy Chicken Peri-Peri. We feasted on the CPP as well as chicken wings and then set off for a 2-hour jaunt through Carrefour. Had another satisfying shopping spree – the 2 hours just flew by!

We refreshed our happily tired selves with juices from Al Mandarin, a juice store in the mall famous for its juices and shakes. I sampled the Avocado shake – a rich, thick concoction which was supposed to be avocados, milk and sugar but which tasted very much like a thick vanilla shake. I slurped away at it for AGES, but the glass refused to empty!! It stayed put at 9/10ths full!

C picked us up at about 5 and we headed home. I was introduced to a new drink today courtesy C (he’s been very keen on initiating me into alcohol!) We sipped on our drinks while watching Nakshatranche Dene on their home theatre system (with Bose speakers!) After relaxing over the drinks (how sophisticated does that sound!!) we left for the Souks – a complex of winding lanes and shops built just 1.5 years ago to resemble the old markets of the Middle East. It must be said, that it’s a job well done! The souks appear very real - the feel of the hanging lamps suspended from beamed ceilings; the lanes and alleys squeezed between shops selling souvenirs, hookahs, carpets, spices, birds, animals etc. is true-blue Arabia.













After loitering about the souk (rather like Diagon Alley with an Arabic twist!), we reached Tajine, a Moroccan restaurant that was our dinner destination (after gawking at the multi-coloured mirrored splendour of an Iranian restaurant and an ATM disguised as a hut)



Tajine is HIGH on ambience –like Khyber in Bombay. The atmosphere is overwhelmingly Arabian Nights – nobbly, rough-textured clay walls only partly illuminated by the golden light filtered through intricate latticed lamps, brass artefacts, antique mirrors, arched,stained-glass windows and rhythmic Arabic music in the background.
We had Tajine (Moroccan lentils), Briouat (Moroccan samosas/pastry triangles stuffed with either cheese or veggies), a lentil soup, Moroccan flatbreads, salted olives, a chilly-olive dip – and get a load of this – Tanjia with baby camel!! (A bland stew with baby camel meat – the only flavour coming through was of asafoetida) The camel meat was very similar to mutton, but a bit more stringy. The dish wasn't all that tasty, but the sheer novelty made the experience exhilarating!





The evening was rounded up by moving to Tajine’s open terrace and smoking an apple-flavoured sheesha (hookah), sipping mint-flavoured tea (yum!) and nibbling on Moroccan biscuits – all under a cloudy night sky and with the pulsing strains of Moroccan music in the background!