Did I mention that it’s peak barbecue season here in the UAE? The weather is in the delicious late twenties/early thirties. Not too hot to prevent you from venturing outdoors and not too cold to warrant pulling out winter wear from storage either.
Now when we Abu Dhabi folk hear the word ‘park’ what springs to mind is a small block of greenery usually nestled in the midst of busy highways. Barring a few exceptions, you can often walk from end to end of an Abu Dhabi park in under 15 minutes.
But at 1300 acres, the Mushrif Park in Dubai is an ecosystem in itself. Rolling sandy hills, a veritable forest of ghaf trees with shaded barbecue areas, children’s play areas, ball courts, prayer rooms, green areas, restaurants and even horse riding tossed in for good measure! This is the perfect venue for a large group barbecue and so that’s exactly what we did a few weeks ago.
Our group reached the park by around 1.30 pm and got the grill going. Thanks to the spell of rain and wind that we’d been having, the weather was relatively pleasant even at that time of the day. We had a lip-smacking lunch and then proceeded to get things ready for the dinner round as well.
With games, music and the company of a fun group, time flew and before we knew it, the park lights were going out for closing time. It was really late by the time we got back to Abu Dhabi and crawled into bed but it was worth every second.

Do you have any recommendations for good barbecue spots around the UAE?