The Torch Hotel - The Flying Carpet Restaurant

After the disappointing experience of the Grand Heritage Hotel, my wife suggested that we head to the Aspire Hotel instead. Easy to park at that time of day (9am) outside Villaggio and we were shown to the second floor and the Flying Carpet restaurant.

The decor was a bit strange. You are sitting in a glass tube with sort of 1960's white furniture but with carpets suspended over your head. However this all seemed to work! We were welcomed, the place was not too crowded and we had our buffet breakfast.

Every need was attended to, I enjoyed my breakfast and there was everything that you could need. The cost was 135 Riyals a head but it was worth the price to push the boat out a bit.

The Head Waiter said that not many people knew that they were open. We were also told that the restaurants are generally fully booked so you need to make a reservation in advance.

A good experience and we will go back and try the restaurant sometime.



Grand Heritage Hotel - A mixed bag

This is a fairly recently opened hotel on the other side of the Aspire Park. It is easy to park your car there (for free of course) or you could do like we did and park your car by Villaggio and take a very pleasant stroll on the pathway round the football pitches.

We had a fantastic time at the Blue restaurant. We had taken the stroll route to get there and sat under a canopy outside on a lovely January day. I had the best Caesar salad I have ever had while my wife tucked into tomato and garlic soup with some chips. She enjoyed this too. The service was impeccable, we were given an Ipad as the menu (this was good fun) and we had a great time. The bill (including two small waters) was 158 Riyals.

Having had this good experience and chatted to the waiters, we decided to head on over there a couple of days later for brunch, this time in the restaurant called Flavours. Breakfast there is 135 Riyals and the hotel boasts 5 stars.

When we arrived there was no one to greet us so we just wandered in. The tables that were free (the restauarant seemed a bit small) were nearlyall dirty - there were other people's breakfast things on the tables. We wanted to sit at one table, the waitress ushered us elsewhere rather than clean the table. My wife called the waitress by her name tag only to be told that it was not her name tag. When we came to sit down at the "clean" table the chairs were dirty, covered in crumbs.

There only seemed to be the one waitress, although there were plenty of staff milling around reception. After this bad start, and only seeing one waitress, we decided to cut our losses and left. We took our business elsewhere.

Not to sure what to do now, Blue was fantastic but the breakfast experience was awful.

School Uniforms

My wife's friend has a shop that sells school uniforms and it is in the mall that is called:

VIK Uniforms (Very Important Kid)

and the fantastic website will tell you more about their offerings than I can.

This is the Website Link

So if you are looking for school uniforms, games kit etc, this is the shop to head for. When I have been there I have been overwhelmed with the number and types of uniforms available. I feel sure that they will have the uniform for the school and the size that you require.

Jewellry Shop in the Souk near the Bus Station

This is the jewellry shop that my wife adores going to. The stock on offer is pretty extensive for a fairly small shop but the main attraction is the owner who very patiently shows you the goods and explains them to you too. This also keeps me entertained while my wife chooses things as it is good to see a master at his craft.

What is the shop called? It is: DIAMOND MAGIC JEWELLERY - Doha Jewellery & Gold Center - Doha

It is just near the bus station that is the other side of the road from Souq Waqif. Worth a visit and trying to find the exact shop.

If (or maybe it should be when) you get lost the phone number is: 4442 3948

Getting your printing done in Doha

My wife had some splendid business cards printed at:

DIGITAL - PRINT CENTER - Souq Najd, Salwa Road

The shop is situated up from Ramada Junction on the Salwa Road and is on one of the parades of shops on the right before you get to the flyover. On the day we went they had a huge banner across the car park that they were inspecting, therefore no job too big or too small.

The phone number is: 4443 3099

Hummus Recipe

One of the specialities of the Middle East, you can make your own at home fairly easily.

I saw the following advert for this in the Giant Supermarket:

For those of you wishing to make your own rather than supermarket bought, here is my wife's receipe (that someone gave to her) that I can personally vouch for:

Traditional Hummus Ingredients

For this recipe, you'll need:

• 15 ounce can chickpeas or garbanzo beans
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons tahini
• 2 cloves garlic
• half of a lemon

You will also need a citrus reamer.

Prepare the Hummus Ingredients

Drain a can of chickpeas and reserve the liquid. Extract the lemon juice with a reamer by turning it left and right. You may notice that the seeds from the lemon go into your lemon juice dish. Strain the pulp and seeds using a simple metal strainer.

Take two cloves of garlic and crush them with a side of the knife.

Blend the Ingredients

Now we are ready to assemble our dip. Put in a blender chickpeas, tahini, two cloves of garlic, and lemon juice. You should also add about 1/4 cup of your reserved liquid, and turn the blender on high.

You will notice that the blender mixes the bottom ingredients well but not the top. You can stop the blender, mix up the hummus, and turn it back on.

Add 1/4 cup of reserved liquid and two tablespoons of olive oil until you get the loose consistency of the dip. Turn the blender off. Now your hummus is ready.

Serve the Hummus

Put the hummus in a serving dish, then make an indent with a spoon and pour the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Sprinkle with paprika. You can serve it with pita bread or chips.