Perfumes List

Here is my list of perfumes that I tried. They are sorted by my “Heart” rating methodology.

* The list will be updated gradually.

  • 💝 Givenchy Gentleman
  • 💝 Narciso Rodriguez for Him
  • 💝 Cuir Vetiver by Yves Rocher
  • 💝 Comme une Evidence Homme by Yves Rocher
  • 💝 Bergamot & Basil Dermot O’Leary
  • 💝 Ombré Leather Tom Ford
  • ❤️ Earl Grey & Sandalwood Dermot O’Leary
  • ❤️ Noir Anthracite Tom Ford
  • 🧡 Vetiver & Cedarwood Dermot O’Leary

My “Heart” Rating System

  • 💝 Liked and Favorite
  • ❤️ Liked
  • 🧡 Neutral
  • 💔 Didn’t Like

Pickl Restaurant

* This will be updated in future because I visited the restaurant less than 5 times.
** Update: on July 4th 2019, I decided to postpone visiting Pickl after finding multiple bones on my Chicken Sando Burger … such a disappointment.

I Tried:

  • 💝 DBL Cheese Burger Meal with Extra Patty: Ordered with extra patty, the patties were really juicy, well seasoned and delicious. The cheese and the sauce were good. The house pickles were also great!
  • 💝 Normal French Fries: I’m not a fan of fries but since I ordered a meal I chose the normal fries as side … surprisingly, it was salted on the spot … and taste really good! I really like it.
  • ❤️ Chicken Sando Meal: Fried chicken with dill pickles and comeback sauce. Really good. The chicken size was made of a tender breast and it was big and moist, though I wish they just reduced the amount of the breadcrumbs coat.
  • ❤️ Bacon Cheese Burger Meal: Doubled beef patty, with beef bacon, cheese, sauce and house pickles. I think beef bacons were fried in coconut oil … I don’t know why but this is what I tasted. The bacons were a little salty.

Ambience & Aura & Vibe

  • ❤️ Ambience:
    • The interior is really good, I didn’t like the enormous double sided bar table in the middle of the restaurant, I wish it was a half side bar table facing on the kitchen or else … this was an absolutely bad idea in my opinion.
    • The clear windows of the kitchen allows you to see the chefs preparing your food … this is an extra point for me.
    • I didn’t like the cashier location it is near to the customers tables!
  • ❤️ Aura:
    • The staff were helpful. Unfortunately I got my order incorrectly but we comprised. I asked for a menu but they didn’t have, which was upsetting. They should provide a menu with pictures to see their lovely burgers. I find myself opening Instagram to chose my order.
  • 🧡 Vibe:
    • I visited the restaurant at 9 Pm on Wednesday, trying to avoid the crowds, but guess what? the restaurant was surprisingly crowded, tables were almost full. (yet no body was using the huge double sided bar table).
    • Customers were almost all Emiratis which I usually avoid. (Find the reason of: “Why I don’t like to visit places crowded by certain nationality or culture?”).

Location & Bounce & Returning:

  • 🧡 Location
    • Located in the Jumeirah Lake Towers, the location is good. Parkings on the other hand are a headache, they were not easy to find and not free.
  • 🧡 Bounce
    • I think this restaurant is made for “eat-go” style.
  • 💝 Returning
    • I will definitely return to this restaurant thus I might come only in the afternoon. **

Digesting:

  • 💝 Fresh and Safe. I thought I might have problem with the spicy pickles but I didn’t.

Price x Value:

  • ❤️ prices are good and justifiable for the received value.

Pictures:

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My Methodology of Rating Books

I carefully choose my books … I read about them first then I decided whether to have them or not. I do not consider myself as a good reader yet. My methodology of rating books is very simple, it consists of many different aspects which are listed below.

* English books will be reviewed in the English Blog and Arabic Books will be reviewed in the Arabic Blog. I might translate the reviews if I find the book very interesting.
** I read paper book. I might consider shifting to eReader in near future.

Language:

I will specify the original language of the book and mention whether it was translated or not. I will also mention the complexity of used language … was it easy or hard for me.

The Reason of Reading

I will specific why did I choose the book. for example:

  • A friend suggestion.
  • Solving a personal problem.
  • Self improvement.
  • Passing and enjoying free time.

Snippets:

In this section I will share some snippets I find interesting or helpful from the book.

Effects and Benefits

Here I will specify if the book affected me in any sort or changed something on me. I will also write the benefits I got from the book. you can say that this section is a moulded summary of the snippets written by me.

Final Rating (Hearts Rating System):

The final rating of a book will use my own “Hearts Rating System” which I use in many different aspects. So here the hearts will mean the following:

  • 💝 Liked and Favorite
  • ❤️ Liked
  • 🧡 Neutral
  • 💔 Didn’t like *this might very rare since I choose books carefully.

Just like a white paper, write what ever you want and I will be as written

Life is just a bunch of days … This is how long we are going to live. Oftentimes we see ourselves in a situations where our character is being misled by others. I tried to change that, but I couldn’t … And throughout time and experience I discovered that “They” built that version of me … and “I didn’t” do that! … So I decided to simply acting:

Just like a white paper, write what ever you want about me and I will be as written

Jamal Salim

My Methodology of Rating Restaurants

I write my personal opinion with a total respect and understanding of all the efforts given, thus my opinion represents me and my experience. My reviews represents how did I receive the food in many different aspects such as place, ambiance price x value, vibe…etc. For a better judgment, sometimes I re-order same dishes to see if I might change my opinion. I don’t consider myself as a gourmet yet!

* Depending on the visit, I might not cover all of the prescriptives below.

Ambience & Aura & Vibe:

  • Ambience is the feeling of the overall environment
  • Aura is the sense coming from costumers and staffs.
  • Vibe is the cluster where Ambience and Aura collide.

* the above definitions are completely made by me and up to me … for others the definitions might be completely different.

Location & Bounce & Returning:

  • Location is the physical location of a restaurant, is it good or not? is it surrounded by facilities or not (toilets, mosques, markets…etc ). Is the restaurant easily accessed, is there any parkings? are they free?
  • Returning means will I ever come back to this restaurant? If not I will justify.
  • Bounce means how long I can sit on the restaurant, dose the restaurant allows sitting?

* these above might or might not be affected by the “Ambience & Aura & Vibe”.

Digetising:

I write my personal experience on how my stomach handled the food. Different people react differently to different food! This definitely does not indicate whether the food tastes good or not.

Price x Value:

To put it simple, dose the amount paid for a certain meal justify the value received? The value may or may not include all of these different aspects (Taste, Serving, Presentation, Aroma…etc)

Hearts:

💝 Liked and Favorite
❤️ Liked
🧡 Neutral
💔 Didn’t Like

The Hamptons Cafe

I tried:

  • 💝 Eggs Benedict with Turkey Ham (medium/runny egg): This is one of the best Egg Benedict I had. Never disappoints me … with a juicy fresh eggs and perfect hollandaise sauce with a hefty slice of turkey ham and freshly baked buns … it is delicious. Good for sharing but I don’t recommend. Add freshly ground salt and pepper to enhance the dish.
  • 💝 Rose Croissant: A signature … well presented and tastes amazing. I don’t know why but Jumeriah branch offers bigger croissant compared to Jumeirah Islands branch. I usually prefer to slice it into half; because it is a bit sugary for me. Eating a whole rose croissant cause me a heated stomach and I believe it’s because of the glazing sugar.
  • 💝 Orange Créme Brûlée: just take a spoon and scratch the surface, feel the caramelized sugar, feel the creme beneath it. With lovely caramelized orange slices … it is one of the best créme brûlée I tried .
  • ❤️ Black Coffee (Americano): Simple and good.
  • ❤️ Ottoman Shakshouka: Delicious but stingy; the serving amount should be bigger.
  • 🧡 Grilled Chicken: I don’t like serving any kind of meat with bones in a really cosy and fine restaurant. Cutting trough bones is a mess and in my opinion it kills the experience in this beautiful restaurant . The chicken tasted good but not memorable. Will I order this dish again? I don’t think I cant handle the bones.
  • 🧡 Buttermilk Chicken: Just like the grilled chicken … bones kills the experience. I understand that this an original American dish but I’m not in Mandi restaurants to use my hands.

Ambience & Aura & Vibe

  • Both branches are located in very beautiful places. The Jumeirah Islands branch is a little far for me but the place definitely deserves it. The interior is cosy, bright, clean and antic … a mixture of relief and peace.
  • The staff are amazingly helpful, equipped with iPads which mostly describe the menu effectively.
  • Usually you will find people form different nationalities and cultures. Which is what I usually prefer.
  • Usually crowded in mornings but not in the evenings.
  • I usually prefer visiting the restaurant for breakfast and I forever believe that this restaurant is made for breakfasts time.
  • I tried to dine one time and honestly I fully regret it, maybe I ordered something wrong.

Digesting:

  • 💝 Safe and peacefully digested. Rose croissant made a heat in my stomach .

Price x Value:

  • 💝 The prices were justifiable with great value I got from the restaurant.

Pictures:

  • Ambience & vibe
  • Eggs Benedict with Turkey Ham
  • Orange Créme Brûlée
  • *not mine
  • The Entrance – Jumeirah Branch
  • Black Coffee Americano
  • *not mine
  • Grilled Chicken
  • Ambiance
  • Rose Croissant – Jumeirah Brach

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Katsuya Restaurant

I Tried:

  • 💝 Rice with Japanese Mushrooms and Special Soy Sauce: from the presentation to the serving till the eating, lovely and delicious. Probably one of its kind. Prepared in a hot pot mixed together with special soy sauce all in front of you. Good for sharing. You might consider that Japanese mushrooms are hard to digest.
  • 💝 Crispy Chicken Salad: Very tasty. I usually prefer bigger slices of chicken. Good for sharing.
  • 💝 Corn Crunch Roll : Shrimp Sushi with Avocados and Crispy Corn. The corns are crunchy with little spices on them. Dip in soy sauce from more deliciousness. Good for sharing.
  • 💝 Double Chocolate Lava Cake: indescribably delicious. Sharing might be a mess.
  • ❤️ Edamame: cooked very well and taste really good. The spices are really balanced. I think the edamame they offer is probably fresh. Good for sharing.
  • 🧡 Creamy Rock Shrimp: not close to my beloved PF Chang’s dynamite shrimps, but still it tastes good . Good for sharing but not enough.
  • 🧡 Crab Salad: good but not memorable.
  • 💔 Strawberry Virgin Mojito: I’m not a big fan of mojitos, tried it out to see if I will ever change my opinion and unfortunately it tastes like all other mojito…a flavored syrup with carbonated lemon drink.

Ambience & Aura & Vibe

  • The restaurant located in the amazing Al Naseem Hotel, Jumeirah, Dubai. It is well organized. The interior design is probably a modern Japanese style . The furniture was a little unbalanced.
  • “Irasshaimase” (いらっしゃいませ) is the first thing you will hear when you enter the restaurant, which is basically a welcoming phrase used in Japanese restaurants to pay a respect for costumers.The staff are amazingly helpful and know how to describe the menu. I would suggest you countering back the “Irasshaimase” with “Arigato Gozaimas” (ありがとうございます).
  • Usually you will find people form different nationalities and cultures. Which is what I usually prefer.
  • I prefer visiting the restaurant on the afternoons because the restaurant looks fresh and bright with opened windows. At night the restaurant is a little bit dark for me and usually crowded (depends on the season).

Digesting:

  • ❤️ Almost all of food that I tried was light on stomach, but the Japanese mushrooms were hard to digest. With all amazing spices and soy sauce from there to there you should expect a little bit smelly mouth; totally understandable and deserve it!

Price x Value:

  • 💝 The prices were justifiable with great value I got from the restaurant.

Pictures:

  • Crispy Chicken Salad
  • Edamame
  • Corn Crunch Roll
  • Double Chocolate Lava Cake
  • Rice with Japanese Mushrooms and Special Soy Sauce
  • Creamy Rock Shrimp

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