Local House Restaurant – Dubai, UAE

Artisan burgers have become all the rage in the past few years. Fancy burger places have popped up around the world and they all seem to be in a race to one up the competition. Everything revolves around house made ingredients, freshly ground meats from all kinds of animals and custom made buns from local bakeries. It is becoming harder to find that basic old fashioned burger with all these options. Don’t get me wrong, some of these special burgers are damn good and I love trying them all. I’ve had just about all the different varieties of burgers out there – goat, lamb, bison, Kobe beef, regular beef, turkey, buffalo and pork. Thanks to the Local House Restaurant in Dubai, I can add a Camel Burger to that list.

I had read about the Camel Burger at Local House a few weeks before departing on my trip to Afghanistan. I would be spending a few days in Dubai on the backend of that trip so I made a point of getting over there to try this burger. Most reviews that I read didn’t really go into much detail about how good or bad the burger was, but instead just marveled at the fact that someone was making a burger from camel meat. That is what drew me in as well. Camel? Really? I have to try that. I was also intrigued by it being a healthy fat-free option to beef that allegedly has no cholesterol.

Local House is situated in the Bur Dubai area of Dubai on the banks of the Dubai Creek. It was difficult to find at first since the address is a little weird, but after wandering through the maze of narrow walkways in Old Bastakiya – Dubai’s old town – I finally found the non-descript restaurant. “Don’t miss yummy camel burger” was printed on a banner that hung in front of the restaurant, luring in curious customers. I made my way into the restaurant past gold framed photos of Sheikh Mohammed and friends and some wooden camels. It was brutally hot on the day I was here so I decided to sit in one of the air conditioned rooms instead of out in the covered courtyard on the comfy looking couches.

As I entered the room, I saw a guy eating a camel burger and asked how it was. He was a British fellow and turned out to be a reporter with the Khaleej Times in Dubai – reviewing the same burger that I was there to try out. The waiter stopped by my table and I put in my order for the Camel Burger with fries (35.00 Dinhar, about $9.50 US) and a lemon juice with mint. I passed on the glass of camel milk – I wasn’t ready for a double hump of camel today. The waiter walked my order back to the kitchen where a “no photography” sign was posted. I later learned that the restaurant has a secret way of tenderizing the tough farmed raised camel meat, so I suppose they wanted to protect that secret.

The burger a la camel emerged from the top secret kitchen shortly after I ordered it along with a tall bright green glass of lemon mint. The burger was presented on a square multi-colored plate and was accompanied with a side of slightly undercooked fries. The quarter pound burger came dressed with leaf lettuce, tomato, onion, a melted slice of what appeared to be pale American cheese, a ketchup-like sauce and mayo. All of this was in between two thin pieces of khameer, a yeasty local bread that was topped with sesame seeds.

I gave the camel a little sniff before the first bite. Hmmmm, odd smell – a little gamey. The first taste was mostly ketchup and bread with only a little bit of the meat since the bread dwarfed the patty. The meat had a little bit of a sweet tang to it and the bread was doughy. The meat wasn’t very juicy and had a peculiar color, sort of an orangish-brown. The burger suffered severe khameer collapse midway through my meal and it became a total mess. Maybe it was my imagination, but the meat seemed to get more and more gamey with each bite and the smell more pungent. I finally had to stop, the smell was becoming unappetizing. I moved onto the lemon and mint which was fantastic.

I didn’t have really high expectations for Local House’s burger, but I felt that I needed to give it a shot. I’m not a huge fan of gamey meats and unfortunately, camel is just a little too loud for my palette. It was an experience and I am glad I went but I am fairly certain that if I ever find myself in Dubai again, I won’t be indulging in anymore dishes with camel meat. I’d prefer to ride one instead of eating another. For those who are adventurous and like wild tasting meat, Local House has plans to open a second location in the new Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. A tip if you’re heading to Dubai – don’t go in the summer, it is unbearably hot.

RATING: 1

Local House Restaurant
House 51, Al Bastakiya
Near Al Fahidi Round About
Bur Dubai, Dubai UAE
+971 4 3540705

http://www.localhousedubai.com/

Hours:  Saturday – Thursday 11:00AM – 11:00PM
Friday 1:00PM – 11:00PM

Tagged as: burger, burger review, burgers, camel, camel burger, cheeseburger, hamburger, local house, photo, photographer, photography, photojournalism, photojournalist, UAE, United Arab Emirates