Dubai attractions are listed in many guidebooks and websites. Even a novice tourist can tell you off the top of his head what the next famous places to see are after the Burj Khalifa and the Burj Al Arab.
As we both have many years of experience of living in the Emirates, we thought you might find it useful to share our favourite places with you. So we're not writing about the big-name attractions in this series, but the places dear to our hearts.
So let's look at a bookshop and a restaurant first. One for the mind and one for the stomach.
Kinokuniya at the Dubai Mall
As a book lover, you can read on paper or the increasingly popular e-book. We have a 1:1 split, one of us is oldschool and reads a real book, the other can find anything online at the speed of light, so her suitcase won't weigh 3 kilos more on the way home, and e-books are very often cheaper than 3D.
But this bookshop is a book lover's paradise. Besides the Arabic section, which is naturally present, English books make up the bulk of the store. Whether it's cooking, psychology, sports, self-improvement, history, fiction, there's no subject that isn't offered in full on long shelves.
And the stationery section is beyond any paper lover's dreams. Sometimes I feel it would be safer to stay outside.
Even just walking around this realm is a great experience.
Texas Roadhouse at the Dubai Mall
Big eaters are sure to find happiness at this restaurant, as it is a steakhouse. You can eat brutal sized cuts of meat with side dishes in perfect harmony of flavours.
We are small eaters, yet we are obsessed with this place. Their corn tortilla soup is phenomenal, inimitable. And of course, all types of meat, fish and crab are prepared extremely deliciously.
You can crunch on salty peanuts or snack on sweet bucchi with herb butter until your feast arrives.
When the waitstaff rocks out to country, that's just icing on the cake. Afterwards, you can walk out with a full belly and check out the current fountain wonder.
