Spirals
A lot of people are certainly surprised by my resolve to carry on with the discovery, and yes I am proving to the detractors and to the non believers, that with every Wednesday, we can find something new and something beautiful. This is one where curiosity does not kill the cat…well it may get the cat drunk, but lets save that for another day and another post.
But for now lets get down to what happened on Wednesday and whether Spirals made the cut. I really didn’t expect a huge number to turn up, but was hopefully looking for new faces. I certainly didn’t expect to stay out for more than one beer and probably even make it back by midnight, but truth is that we had such a ball of a time that yeah we ended up staying till closing time.
With the venue shifting this time round to Al Barsha, a lot of people couldn’t and didn’t make it. But there was Leon and Cyril as I walked through the door of the Grandeur Hotel. Now this place is certainly not very big and is not very well known by name as the cabbie hadn’t heard of it. But after a little brief as to where it could be, he knew where we had to be. My first impression of the place was that it just wasn’t frequented enough and that the three of us may just end up being the only ones sitting in Spirals. We had to walk through a very empty, restaurant No.1 to get to Spirals, and the décor of the place certainly didn’t flatter to deceive. The only thing spiral, were just the lamp holders dangling from the ceiling. High tables and bar stools with a total of maybe 4 tables, and one would have thought that this place could certainly have seen better days. But with Dwight on the table we were pretty confident that this could be one of those nights that could lead to a long post from me. Dwight once again has raised a lot of questions in many a mind and there has been a barrage of questions as to who he is. I have one lady from Sharjah who is hounding me for a photograph of Dwight. I am still sort of grappling with the settings of the blog and trying to see if we can have albums posted on it. If any one of you have any insights on this please do let me know.
With beers ordered and resting ourselves on those high stools, we looked around again hoping to see something of interest. Right in front of us was a pool table that looked like it was pretty new. Two gentlemen were already on it and having a game, so we waited our turn before we could hog it. A projector screen and two 32” plasma screens showing Ten Sports and ART Prime Sport sort of gave Spirals the licence to call itself a sports bar. A bunch of popular numbers in the background kind of set the mood for the evening.
Now something that is really worth mentioning is the staff. Each one of them had something that was very positive that was going through them. I don’t know what it was, and I tried to find out, but all that came across from these great guys was a smile and the question, “More beer, Sir…” It was as if there was a connect, as if they could read our mind, and we were hypnotized in just saying “Yes”. I told them they had to teach me how this thing works, so that I could try it on some woman someday if not everyday. Try to make them say YES to me. Maybe I should approach the woman with the beer question rather than talk to them of the days when I had hair…Definitely worth a shot the next time round.
As I was debating and imagining who I would be questioning in the future, the staff at the Spirals said something else that made them grow even greater in my eyes. The pool table was free…and when I say free, I not only mean that the first two gentlemen and left but that we could play as much as we wanted without having to pay for the frames. Now my friends, this is another discovery. This is for the books. As far as I know this could be the only bar in town that is not making at least five odd bucks on people torpedoing balls down a hole with a narrow stick. Now that got the three of us in the mood and we had nothing left to say but “YES”.
Now as we readied ourselves for a good game of pool, it wasn’t that we weren’t noticing the ladies that were walking in from the next door restaurant No. 2. Them with their blackberry phones in one hand and a cigarette in the other, they sat on the table behind where there were a bunch of men with blackberries as well. Fidgeting with their hyped phones they made conversation with one another and shot the occasional glance over to the pool table waiting when we would vacate it.
Now every time these well dressed Indian women, walked in through that door, there was the sound of loud music, a man on the mic and the smell of karaoke coming through. I had to see, I had to know, so I had to go. And I was right, a bright lit restaurant, with half the tables full and a karaoke machine. This was D’Fusion, the Indian restaurant with a twist. Well it was decided that once we were done with drinks that’s where we would be headed for dinner. Little did we know that later would mean 2 am.
As we played pool we met an interesting character who went by the name of Neil. Neil is from Delhi and was in Dubai for business. According Neil from Delhi, he manages small sportstars like Suresh Raina. He also sells Manchester United perfumes to duty frees all over the world and plays a good game of pool. Later we would also see that he loves to rap like Wyclef Jean and shake like Mithun Chakraboty. Being a slightly older character, these attributes seemed to make him quite endearing to the fairer younger sex. So all you men out there, there is still hope.
In addition to Neil, we came across a Dutch, by the name Cheppih. In Dubai on holiday with his nephews and daughter, he had a flight to catch to back home first thing in the morning, but he still chose to hang out with us boys and he also joined us for a bit of karaoke fun as well. Cheppih by the way is from Eindhoven and is involved in a lot of charity work. So Leon and he have promised to stay in touch so that they can work something out. Though he didn’t get to hear either Cyril or Leon sing, he and the whole lot of us present were quite taken aback by this lady who was belting out Hindi songs of the 70s so effortlessly and melodiously, that it just seemed unreal. But that’s not to take away from Cyril and Leon who with their singing prowess did manage to attract questioning glances as to who those shabby boys with the bass voices are? In fact this place had the most talented karaoke singers I have seen in Dubai under one roof. The songs ranged from Hindi classics to retro English, to love songs, to rock. There was the group that had Reshma and her friend, who chose to sing the most dramatically slow songs one could imagine. But they did sing it well. By the way did I mention that Reshma’s friend is Caucasian, pretty and loves beer too?
Now D’Fusion for an Indian place isn’t really a cheap option because a meal for three recommended by Joheb (another example of an excellent staff, who not only made sure that we were comfortable but also won worthy praise from our very own Leon, who at other times has a problem mincing the expletives), would easily cost you a good 200 odd bucks. They do serve the guests a complimentary welcome drink where you have the option of it being alcoholic or otherwise. The food too is quite good, a bit on the sweeter, blander side, that caters to people who want to experiment with the butter chicken. But it is fresh, and served hot. A beer there too costs about 30 bucks which is about the norm for hotels in and around the Barsha area, who believe that people who stay in and around the area don’t really care dishing out almost $10 for a beer. This must be the most expensive beer in the whole wide world. In fact this is the place where the most expensive beer is sold in bars…Damn…Spirals is a place that one would go to if there weren,t too many options, which isn’t the case these days. There is still a lot that needs to be done in terms of the interiors, which would make the place a little more attractive. As an afterthought, it does resemble a small storeroom that has been converted into a bar, with the entrance of the kitchen opening up into the bar area. And funnily enough it did seem that all the food for D’Fusion went through Spirals but they wouldn’t serve us the same food if we were seated in Spirals. Not too sure if that makes sense to anybody now?
But like always we guys managed to have a good time and come back happy. Would definitely recommend it to all the people who have recently moved to Discovery Gardens and the surrounding areas for a nice quiet evening. Do not miss the Karaoke nights that happen on Wednesday. And if you feel like a smoke over there, you can always step into Spirals which is a door away.
So my friends that’s another Wednesday, another discovery. Next week is the last Wednesday prior to Ramadan, and I have got a lot of hands up saying that they would like to give it a shot. I would love to see more new faces. If there are any suggestions, any recommendations in terms of bars or just simply about how long these write ups are, do drop me a line. Spread the word and tell your friends good things about discovery.
We are a good laugh and the Beer is a good drink. Don’t let anybody tell you otherwise.
Cheers
The Beerman
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