Middle East Feast

A relatively uneventful Friday night started off with dinner at Arya, Podium. Neither of us have eaten here so we decided to try it out on a whim.

FOOD

The place was relatively empty and the quiet environment was so nice after a hectic week at the office. As seen on the right-hand side, the bar seemed to be a popular hangout spot for the servers while ignoring their diners. Not cool. Once they got around to minding us though, they answered our food queries quite well.

P: Look, it's not iced tea! Sharbateh Albaloo, it's called. The menu says it's made with a sour cherry concentrate. I got it half for the name and half because I like cherries. It's a pretty good alternative to iced tea.
D: I don't really like taking risks with my food so I got boring old iced tea. Was considering get a drink called "Dough" until the server told me it tasted slightly salty, very sour, with a fresh mint kick. Ummmnothanks.

Arya Maze Platter (top right, clockwise: sambuseh, falafel, salad shirazi, and hummus. The dipping sauce in the center is for the sambuseh -P265

D: I really liked this platter as a whole, especially the sambuseh (triangle bread pockets with mashed potatoes, cheese, and coriander) with what I think is tamarind sauce. The salad was also surprisingly excellent for such a simple dish! It had a very clean and refreshing taste.
P: I liked the falafel best. The crisp and crunchy exterior belied the soft chickpea center. Great with the tamarind sauce. I wouldn't usually order hummus in Persian restaurants but I enjoyed this one. I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't bland like others I've tried.

Falafel - Chick pea and herb patties

The yummy sambuseh

Pita for the hummus

Lamb biryani (Tender lamb shank stewed in spices served with fluffy biryani rice)
Large-P525, XL-P595, XXL-P625
D: For XL, the lamb serving felt more like an M. It was good but I'm not raving. At least the rice wasn't clumpy. They did deliver on their promise of "tender" and "fluffy" so points for that.
P: Agreed on the size bit. It was a bit of a letdown since this is what the waiter recommended as their best-seller. Well-cooked, no doubt, evidenced by the soft and juicy meat. Not as flavorful as a good Moroccan lamb stew though. They should maybe use more spices.

D: Dessert was probably the highlight of the night. Been craving for some Golden Spoon and I enjoyed every last bit of my NY Cheesecake serving topped with Andes Mint. I want more now!
P: I've always wanted to try the buttered pecan topping. It just looks so appealing in its goopy decadence! I paired it with the cake batter yogurt and it melted everything almost instantly, while making the consistency candy-like. Richy rich!

FASHION

Topman button-down and jeans, HM espadrilles, 3am sleepy face
Stole my little bro's shirt for casual Friday in the office. I like the utilitarian pockets and epaulets, the super soft fabric and the too-thin-to-see pencil stripes.
I got the jeans from the Topshop sale at half-off - nice! I had been looking for chinos but this is a great alternative. Fits wonderfully except for the length (which is always too long for me) but all the better to cuff with. Finished off the outfit with these blue-grey espadrilles I found in a pile in H&M.

F21 shirt, jeans and floral ring, HM sunglasses, Dior bag, SM "banig-weave" wedges, Eastwood bazaar earrings

Decked out in a ton of F21 that day. The jeans cost the same as the ring! Only P400+!
I needed a dark-wash, basic pair to wear to work on Fridays and these were such a steal.
The other literal "steal" of the day is this D-buckle suede belt from my dad. He bought it to wear to a beach wedding and refuses to wear it to any other setting. Good for me then.

These Parisian shoes are so comfy and in my opinion, look more expensive than what they actually cost.

Stay tuned for the rest of the weekend's escapades sometime this week. Don't get too wet out there! The erratic weather is such a hassle.