Boodle fight?! No it’s not a poodle fight, leave your dog at home! And it’s not a violent act either. Boodle Fight is a Filipino style of eating that originated from the Philippine army where long tables are filled with piles of food on top of banana leaves.
Soldiers ate with bare hands and grabbed as much as they could before other hungry soldiers took it or the food ran out. So you “fight” for your meal.
Nowadays it’s more a fun way of sharing food with friends and family, although you might still “fight” for that last piece of crab!
Ok, are you mentally prepared to eat with your bare hands? Don’t panic, plastic gloves are available! Let’s take the metro direction Karama ADCB station and find a place where they serve this feast.
Karama is an area where you have to take visitors or expats who think Dubai is only about massive shiny skyscrapers, hotels and fancy restaurants. Blindfold your guest at Burj Kalifa, take them to Karama and they will probably think they have been teleported to another country. That’s the fun thing about Dubai, you can experience so many different cultures in one city. And today we are going to experience a Filipino Boodle fight at Seafood In A Bucket!
Once you enter this funky place you will notice Filipino’s are cheerful and it works contagious! Expats sometimes joke about the “Good afternoon mam/sir!!” when you enter a restaurant but admit, it’s nice to be welcomed by someone who’s smiling. It’s also highly likely that your waiter/waitress is singing along with the background music. This general happy vibe is spread across the whole restaurant where you see a lot of groups and families laughing and having fun while enjoying their meal. There is a reason they say: it’s more fun in the Philippines.
Time to order! At Seafood in a bucket it’s quite easy: just order the Boodle Fight Menu. Expect a variety of seafood (mussels, crabs, fish, calamari, stuffed squid, shrimps, …), corn, sausages, sauces, unlimited rice and coolers included. All the coolers look super colorful, give the apple cucumber a try, it’s very refreshing.
It’s probably a good time to try to squeeze your hands in the plastic gloves so you are ready for the “fight”. The staff will put a paper/plastic protection on the table before the food is served. In some restaurants they will give you banana leaves but as they have to be imported it makes sense to use plastic here.
Look at the pile of yummy seafood in front of you and dig in. If you are not sure how to eat with your hands, just look around, observe and try it 😉 Enjoy your meal!
Where should I go? Al Attar, close to ADCB metro station. Checkout the rest of this micro mall as well, there are loads of other Filipino places you can try!
How much will it cost me? 130 AED for Boodle Fight enough for 2 to 3 people.
Interested to visit the Philippines? Checkout how I discovered the azure blue paradise in El Nido and how I spent my 14 hours in Manilla