I’ll bet a cheesy sausage you’ve never tried this place.

Update on June 3, 2012: Drove past this restaurant and it was all broken down. I’m so shocked and sad. The oven blazes no more.

I think I did a boo boo last night. I told my aunt and uncle that their teenage son had tipped me off about this awesome Lebanese fattayer shop in Karama. Really? He never told us about that…wonder when he went there…maybe after tuitions?

DOOPS. I shamelessly ran away before poor teenage cousin could return home. And I have this dreaded feeling that I won’t be privy to any other school boy favored hookie joints any time soon.

My cousin is a sheer genius – all hereditary I say, he and his brother (who’s rescued me in a previous post) have sheer inspired foodism coursing through their blood. Foodie prodigies…the kinds who understand why buffets are everything of nothing in particular, or why tasting pigeon is priority when it shows up on the menu. Or why the ability to sniff out this tiny pastry-pumping Lebanese bakery in Karama is such an important skill to have.

Bakery might be an overstatement. Someone may as well have nudged off a few bricks in the wall, shoved in whatever they could of an oven, and decided to slap on a sign squeaking out Danat al Khaleej. For the ambitious who’d rather dine in than take out, you have your choice of any one of…

I’m glad that it was just Chirag and me at the bakery that afternoon. I’ve never been good about snatching a chair out from someone else, or launching myself into a seat before a more vicious seat-getter could snag it. I was never that bulky kid pumping her fists in the air and waving the prize around after she’d brutally bumped the last pigtailed girlie off of musical chairs. Nope, that wasn’t me. So I’m glad it was just the two of us, with a chair to spare as the ‘table’ for our Styrofoam container of stuffed fatayers.

Styrofoam box of hot pastries = 32 toothed-smile.

The menu has a total of 34 fatayers, 9 pizzas, and 16 Mushaltat…the last of which sounded so dang intriguing but no make at this location. Or you can throw the menu to the dogs and demand your own combo of ingredients.

My goal was to get a mountain of the tiny 2.5 dirham small fatayers…but then, the baker sweetly upsized our pastries to a hefty medium, even though medium was not on the menu. It was either 2.5 dirhams for a small, or 4 dirhams for a large. But then, with my sexy Canon camera doing glamour shots of Danat’s ovens and baked progeny, they couldn’t but help pamper us with customized medium fattayers fresh out their fiery ovens.

Look at mah babies bake.

Whatever we ordered came stuffed in this freshly baked boat, crusty on the outside, warm and soft and AAAH I WANT TO BITE YOU ARRRRRRR-RAAAR-RAAAAAAR on the inside.

That shimmering fattayer up there was a winner – kraft cheese running all ooey gooey over sausages. Imagine if you slid a sunny side up egg inside…close your eyes and IMAGINE. Yeaaaaaaaah. Breakfast on steroids.

This next mushroom and cheese fattayer was designed by Chirag in a moment of hungry inspiration. It isn’t on the menu, but after watching Chirag purr with satisfaction through mouthfuls of the pastry, I figure it really should be. (PS. If you’re wondering where the mushrooms are hiding in that vegetable garden, stop wondering. It was yummy, and yummy is blind.)

A mushy beans fattayer…which in Arabic, transliterates to foul fattayer. I’m not sure this one is making our styrofoam selection again…unless they throw in a couple of spices and make mushy beans more than just mushed beans…like super lemony cheesy mushy beans.

A chicken with mushroom fattayer, with strings of pulled chicken and veggies that I scarfed down with the same enthusiasm that I’d scarf down anything stuffed in warm fresh baked pastry. But had it been pumped up with some akkawi cheese and tomato sauce, this fattayer could have transformed from plainJanegood to trulymadlydeeplyaddictive.

Here’s the killer fatayer. A carby gondola of thick creamy lebneh and honey. Sail to mamma.

Chirag and I were like two fat stuffed toys by the end of lunch. I walked out with the tummy of a carb-loading marathon runner, and the limbs of a limp lazy slug…a slug that desperately needs its afternoon nap, but…but that can’t even drag its sluggish body over to the mattress…and so it plops down on the ground into a snoring lifeless sluggy pile…wobbling ever so slightly with every snore.

With 30 more fatayer options to try at Danat Al Khaleej, there are likely many more days of slugdom to follow for me. Mmm…30 more fattayers…that might be the only exciting thought that’d have me back up and moving…even running

…back to the pastry counter for more.

Danat Al Khaleej Pastry
Opposite Bur Juman, Bur Dubai (take three consecutive rights, right after the Pizza Hut opposite Bur Juman, and then one left. You will land up on road 4b. Drive down, and Danat al Khaleej will be on your left, across the street from Bikanerwala.)
Phone: + 9714-396-4111 / 397-6300

Author: InaFryingPan

With a family legacy of ingenious cooks, a nutritionist and chef-extraordinaire mother, and a father who introduced me to steak and caviar when I could barely reach the table, I had no choice but to acquire a keen awareness of food during my childhood years in Dubai. But it was only after I found myself on a college campus in Philadelphia – far away from home, too cheap as a student to spend on anything other than pizza, and with dorm rooms that had little rat-holes of kitchens if they even had them at all – when I developed a heightened appreciation of food. An appreciation of food that I once ate every night at the dinner table in Dubai, but that was now an entire ocean away. I lusted for the culinary treasures that lay outside the stale walls of my college dining hall, hijacked friends’ kitchens to try my hand at something, anything , remotely edible, and greedily raided different websites in search of highly-rated restaurants. With my move to New York to work for a consulting firm that secretly harbored self-professed foodies, my appreciation transformed into a passion, an addicition. I felt like everyone around me in New York was talking about food: where to get the best cupcakes, pizza slices, banh mi, kati rolls, pho, fried chicken, and every other food item out there that is just a plain old dish in some part of the world, but that’s become hyped to unforeseen proportions in New York. What fuelled my addiction over time was travel to different cities, both for work and play, which gave me unfettered access to the culinary havens of not only New York, but also of DC, Virginia, Chicago, Houston, Vegas, Austin, Seattle and even a little city called Bentonville (Arkansas!). After 9 years away from home, I’ve finally taken the leap to come back to Dubai – with not just an awareness, but genuine appreciation and passionate addiction for what I’d taken for granted as a child. Mom, I’m back to reclaim my seat at your dinner table, and to rediscover this city with its ever-expanding menu of international flavors.

30 thoughts on “I’ll bet a cheesy sausage you’ve never tried this place.

  1. accordingtodina says:

    Me want!!!!! They look delicious… Im soo jealous of Chirag!!!! :) have been in that area and never seen this place!!!! Just al reem for camel cheese :) Lovely pics and ur turning out to be quite the artist ;)

    Reply
  2. ninu says:

    Y U M
    so close to home as well.
    thank you arwa

    Thank You

    ( tears of joy )

    Reply
  3. nadia says:

    They look absolutely delicious! For those freshly-baked goodness, I won’t mind turning into a slug and plopping onto the ground dreaming of more fattayer!

    Reply
    1. InaFryingPan says:

      @accordingtodina – Al Reem for camel cheese?? TELL. ME. MORE.
      (Glad you liked the art. Will you support my fund for Artists Aspiring to Make a Living off of Fugly Doodles?)

      @ninu – *wipes tears*…hugs Ninu and sends her off to sea, sailing in a boat of honey lebneh…

      @nadia – I agree. Being super active is sometimes overrated. Slugs have hearts too (somewhere in their blobby bodies)

  4. elainegan says:

    Can’t help laughing at the photo of Chirag! You’re a true foodventurer babe, I now know what and is a fatayer pastry… Yums!

    Reply
  5. chirag says:

    Yowza, I actually look like a fat stuffed toy :(

    Good fatayers though, and I luuuuurv that image. How awesome looking is that blob!

    Reply
    1. InaFryingPan says:

      @Arwa – just a drive away lady, go NOW. ;)

      @elainegan – from one foodventurer to another, go get one hun, it’s totally up your alley!

      @chirag – fat stuffed toys are cuddly. and cuddly rocks. just like Blob the slug.

  6. Minna says:

    This is why Dubai is so lovely, there’s something for everyone and every budget. I can see that these fatayers are really value for money. Who needs the Time Out guide anymore, just start reading and following I live in a Frying Pan. I like your choice of places. Everytime I have the urge to try some casual style eateries, I now know whose posts to review before taking off. You should also try sometime this Bakery called Al Muhktar in Sharjah, it has really nice fatayers, pizza style, flat rounds, but much better. Warning, it’s not for weight watchers. 4 Dirhams for a fatayer!! who said that Dubai is expensive.

    Reply
  7. Sukaina says:

    You’re such a brilliant writer Arva. Your enthusiasm for these fattayers shine through :) And yes, I was looking for those mushrooms….or perhaps Chirag fished them all out first?!

    Reply
  8. Taniya says:

    Wow does that look good!!!

    Also, And I don’t mean to be rude or anthing, but i find it very frustrating that you have right click disabled because I wanted to open all the links in your post in a new tab so i could read them after I read this post but I couldn’t do so because right-click is disabled. I have been a long time reader of your blog and love it so much that I just want to be able to open multiple links on your blog in different tabs. Is there a way you can fix it so right click is only disabled on pictures? I mean, if I wanted to steal your images I could just take a print screen of them, regardless of right-click being disabled.

    Reply
    1. InaFryingPan says:

      @Minna – ahhhhh I am so flattered that even the blobby slug in me wants to get up and hug you, thank you! I can’t wait to try Al Muhktar, seems right up my cheap carby cheesy alley.
      [ps. I should make that my blog tagline: WARNING. NOT FOR WEIGHT WATCHERS…but honestly, a bit of indulgence every now and then is important, else your body forgets how to burn cheesy carbs. And THAT would be tragic.]

      @Sukaina – oh you guys are rockstars for all the blog love you’re giving me – right now, my ego is inflating up to the size of a big fat giant…fattayer. I’m not sure whether Chirag fished out those mushrooms…he may well have…I was too busy having a moment of truth with the cheesy sausage.

      @Taniya – First up, thank you for being a long time reader! Those words make my heart turn to mush, I swear they do. Just for you hun, I have re-enabled the right click, try it out now!
      [And to all those of you copyright infringers who have stolen photos and entire blog posts, and yes, print-screened photos where I would disabled the right click…you know who you are…BEWARE. I BITE.]

    2. InaFryingPan says:

      @Taniya – This is killing me, I can\’t get my right click back!! You can drag and select content on the site, but no right click. ARGH. WORDPRESS behind-the-scenes technical mumbo jumbo: Be nice to me, will ya…PLEASE? :(

  9. shumaila says:

    as an official lover of samosas, it’s only right that I adore this arabic cousin too…however, the food court variety always lets me down with its much too irony spinach filling….i’ll be picking some of these up Arva but i didn’t quite get the exact location?

    Reply
  10. Angie C says:

    Gorgeous photos, gorgeous food…am so hungry just looking at them…

    Reply
  11. Nash at Plateful says:

    So much enthusiasm! YOU are “sheer” awesome, my girl!! I truly wish I lived somewhere closer, I would be happy to learn a thing or two from you..esp the way you write and the passion behind each posts, ah. I’m huge on fatayer. My favorite is labbaneh with zatar… wait, I think chicken fatayer..or–confusion, confusion!

    Reply
  12. Anita Menon says:

    You make me crave for one such vegetarian and cheese combo right now. I thought it was usually me who felt liked a stuffed toy by the end of any eating out venture. Glad I have company

    Reply
    1. InaFryingPan says:

      @shumaila – eek. canned yuckies at the food court. don’t do that to yourself lady, you deserve better! Exact location – it’s on the street right behind pizza hut, opposite bur juman. Take a right after pizza hut, and then two more rights, and one left, which puts you onto street 4b. That’s the street with the bakery on it…drive over, order, and eeeeenjoy!

      @Angie C – maybe I will see a fattayer take on divalicious? ;)

      @Nash at Plateful – awwww thankeeeee. Wanna exchange my ability to nosh off at restaurants with your talent in the kitchen??? After that comment, I expect a beautifully photographed Plateful of homemade fattayers of all those stuffings you mentioned on your blog.

      @Anita Menon – Stuffed [Cuddly] Slug right here to give ya company girl, anytime you need it.

  13. Kulsum says:

    You inspire me to write another blog for little eating places in Kuwait! But u know what? I can’t write man.

    Reply
  14. R1986 says:

    while this place looks like its going to be all sorts of amazing goodness that I am going to have to beg and plead with ppl to come with me…I do have a tried and tested solution to your breakfast on steroids scenario…go to B2B or call them…i prefer the latter and order a hot and egg manakish and ask them to put cheese on it. the cheese is ofcourse gonna cost a couple of AED but OMG it is SO worth it. its everything you ever wanted from a manakish and when its breakfast time…its the best thing EVER!

    if u do try it and LIKE it…u can thank my brother for the idea…

    Reply
  15. InaFryingPan says:

    @Kulsum – LIE. If http://www.journeykitchen.com ain’t sheer awesome blogging talent, then I don’t know what is!
    Now bring on the Kuwait teeny eateries blog…we’re waiting.

    @R1986 – no way, I love that B2B! I have even blogged about them in the past… .https://iliveinafryingpan.com/breakfast-to-breakfast-manakish-dubai/

    So I took your suggestion and ordered the cheese and egg manakish the very SAME night you left me this comment (the idea was too brilliant to not take action on it immediately). I would been wondering what hot and egg was…spicy egg manakish?…but guess what, I got them to throw some sausage on it as well…even before I would read your second comment. Hungry minds think alike! :) Sadly, I had a tummy upset so I couldn’t really indulge, but my friend almost cried in happiness over the thing…real fabulous discovery, your brother is a genius.

    Reply
  16. R1986 says:

    the hot dog and egg manakish with cheese is the most FANTASTIC breakfast thing they MAKE! I dont know why it is not on their menu…i think it wuld sell VERY WELL! and i hope u feel better soon so that u can try it! i will most likely be having that for breakfast on one of the days during this national day weekend.

    and I will tell him u enjoyed it. :)

    Reply
  17. VindalooQueen says:

    looks really yummy! This one will definitely be on my itinerary, great capture of the ’money shot’ too.
    Have you ever been to Germany? They have surprisingly authentic Arabic and Turkish bakeries there with all the ambience of Bur Dubai- these pics have brought back memories of my wild foodie past..

    Reply
    1. InaFryingPan says:

      @R1986 – you won’t believe it, but as of this afternoon, the doc has banned me from ’outside food’ for the next week – right over the long National Day weekend. Stupid stupid bug from my innocent three day trip to India. I should just go and bury myself right now.
      …eat for me my friend, eat one cheese-egg-hot dog for me.

      @VindalooQueen – Yep, you’ve gotta try it and tell me what you think about it! I have been to Germany, many many years ago…sadly, it was at the tender teenage age when a Mickey D’s burger seemed like the only exotic thing to have no matter what part of the world I was in, so I completely missed out on all the Arabic and Turkish eats. I have heard so much about them though…I should go back now that I’m wiser.

  18. saleem says:

    Umm water in my mouth and hungry now – please get some for me when you get time.Did Taher get into trouble ?

    Reply
    1. InaFryingPan says:

      @R1986 – keep them foodie secrets comin’ on my blog…and 3 cheers to your bro!

      @VindalooQueen – I have heard about the Turkish foodie areas in Germany, still gotta go there and do some exploring…in the meantime, Danat will be my cheesy shelter of warm buttery fatayers ;)

      @saleem – na-uh daddy, you’ve gotta eat it fresh right then and there…will take you soon. And it was the older bro who spilled the beans, Taher wasn’t behind this one :) foodie love pulses through both their bodies!

  19. Embla says:

    *whimper* I’m so sad this place closed! Do you have any recommendations for fatayer places? preferably done in a similar style to these :)

    Reply
    1. inafryingpan says:

      Hi @cd858d81df154b9caede783021e03547:disqus – I know, still broken-hearted about it :( There’s one on Murraggabat street, next to Sultan Al Falafel…but it doesn’t have nearly the same character nor flavour. I will continue the hunt though, there have got to be more places out there…

    2. Embla says:

      Woo hoo, thanks, I will try that one. Likewise, if I find a good fatayer place I will be sure to let you know! I was excited when I was told I could just get fatayer at Panda, but it was not good at all! more like a bland, soggy pizza. >_< So just a word of warning, don’t bother with the fatayer from Panda! :)

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