Dubai Master Thread

[Dan]

Its usually advised to wear something loose fitting AFAIK

Shouldn't those be removed under water whenever possible? Have to imagine that would be a lot more practical at night...

[efflpetzel]

We did do the kosher jeep tour and while the guy running it is one of the nicest people you'll ever meet I personally found the activity to be pretty boring.

Its not worth doing it with him at the moment, its 5 times the regular price & the only difference is the separate kosher buffet table

The food was so-so at all of the establishments but the fact there are even Kosher options to begin with is in and of itself amazing. I pretty much lived off Elli's Cafe for breakfast/lunch and the Butcher's Burger for dinner and did Bamidbar a couple of times. All of it was satisfactory but I wouldn't call any of it 5 star dining. The one place I did go out to eat at that I would say avoid was Mosaica. I feel bad having to say it but there were two other unsatisfied parties there as well and the food was really, really bad and took forever. I didn't complain but the other parties did and the owner came out and fought with them. It was prety awkward.

I had a great experience in Bibi's cafe for breakfast & The kosher place for dinner, agree with you on Mosaica, the decor is really nice but that's where it starts & ends, outrageous prices for garbage food

Apparently the govt shutdown the mikvah out of "precaution."

yup, without anyone saying it explicitly  I had the same understanding that the gov drove Chabad underground, daily shachris is in someone's apartment & Shabbos is in a different area each week

[imayid2]

Shouldn't those be removed under water whenever possible? Have to imagine that would be a lot more practical at night...

I don’t think it’s necessary in such a situation

[Dan]

I don’t think it’s necessary in such a situation

Obviously an ocean is a b'dieved, but that's not what I was told if it's possible to do discreetly at night.

[imayid2]

Obviously an ocean is a b'dieved, but that's not what I was told if it's possible to do discreetly at night.

But in this case at night was dangerous, so it would be more advisable to wear something because otherwise there’s the worry that one might rush and not immerse properly.

[Dan]

That's why I was curious what makes it dangerous.

[Heartbrand]

I didn't get too involved in the "why" behind the night time being too dangerous or what not; it may have just been that night as we were there when they had the flooding and maybe in general they do it at night? There was a lot of fear it seemed in getting into the details about anything involving the Jewish community from locals which is weird because on the outside I never felt any danger or anything whatsoever and the hotel we stayed at even had a kosher meal option, albeit the frozen ones, and were more than willing to help accommodate us on Shabbos.

I will add that since I made this post we found out my wife left her engagement ring at the hotel and now the hotel is making us provide proof of purchase of a ring from 17 years ago to have it sent to us so that will be interesting to see what happens.

[sorotzkin9]

Its not worth doing it with him at the moment, its 5 times the regular price & the only difference is the separate kosher buffet table


I had a great experience in Bibi's cafe for breakfast & The kosher place for dinner, agree with you on Mosaica, the decor is really nice but that's where it starts & ends, outrageous prices for garbage food

yup, without anyone saying it explicitly  I had the same understanding that the gov drove Chabad underground, daily shachris is in someone's apartment & Shabbos is in a different area each week

Chabad Website and jewishuae are down as well. Ill assume the gov shutdown the Armani because its literally in the center of things.

[ReadsTheT&C]

Chabad Website and jewishuae are down as well. Ill assume the gov shutdown the Armani because its literally in the center of things.

Jewish Council of the Emirates down too. Nisht git

[Heartbrand]

My understanding from the locals is the government is trying to simply be cautious to avoid any potential acts of violence or what not against Jewish targets in response to the conflict in Gaza. Who knows though. Either way I didn’t feel any danger on my trip though again I wasn’t walking around advertising my Judaism.

[tavster]

Ill assume the gov shutdown the Armani because its literally in the center of things.

What makes you think it's a government shut down and not closure due to lack of Israeli tourists?

[sorotzkin9]

What makes you think it's a government shut down and not closure due to lack of Israeli tourists?

How come that was the only restaurant to close down? Bamidbar only opened after oct 7 obviously there's enough kosher traffic there. It also happens to be located in the Burj which is the hottest and most public place in town. I remember walking in the main entrance surrounded only by arab sheiks, so it can definitely make sense they didn't want it there. Again this is just IMHO.

[efflpetzel]

How come that was the only restaurant to close down? Bamidbar only opened after oct 7 obviously there's enough kosher traffic there. It also happens to be located in the Burj which is the hottest and most public place in town. I remember walking in the main entrance surrounded only by arab sheiks, so it can definitely make sense they didn't want it there. Again this is just IMHO.

All the other kosher restaurants are also seriously struggling, the amount of Jewish tourists is a fraction of what was pre Oct 7

[travellove]

Will be in Dubai in about a month inshallah. I know some kosher establishments closed down now after 10/7. Which kosher restaurants are still operating, and what about grocery/supermarket?

Thanks.

[travellove]

Bump. Thanks.

[Dan]

Will be in Dubai in about a month inshallah. I know some kosher establishments closed down now after 10/7. Which kosher restaurants are still operating, and what about grocery/supermarket?

Thanks.

Email chabad?

[PlatinumGuy]

What makes you think it's a government shut down and not closure due to lack of Israeli tourists?

It was government owned. Unlikely the decision to close was financial.

[travellove]

Email chabad?

I went on their site. It gives a WhatsApp number. I WhatsApp'd them. In the past, I've never gotten response from Chabad (South Africa and Morocco among others). Let's see if this time will be different.

Thanks

[travellove]

I see everyone is trying to come up with creative ways to get into Burj Al Arab. I see they have a guided tour for like $65 per person. Haven't seen this mentioned here. Am I missing something?

[Ploni3]

Any updates on  if anything kosher is open?