La Yomall - JLT

"La Youmal" is an Arabic expression which means: "cannot be bored with". So, quite an interesting name for a cafe/restaurant that makes your mouth water from anticipation.

I tried "La Youmal" twice in the past 6 months. The first time was a disappointing Jordanian Mansaf which had nothing to do with the Mansaf other than the name.  I am not Jordanian and I was disappointed at the taste. My Jordanian friend really tried hard to give the dish a name and could not in the end.  He said it is an OK plate but it is not Mansaf.

The second time I tried "La Youmal"  was 2 days ago.  I said to myself, let me give it one more try. May be the Mansaf was a one off bad experience. I ordered beef shawerma sandwich (small sandwich AED 7) and believe me, I was searching for the meat while eating. It was a mix of tomatoes, onions and tahina sauce wrapped in Arabic bread and every now and then there is a tiny and very thinly slices piece (note the singular use of piece - not pieces) of meat.

I understand the business in JLT is not as good as cafe owners would like and I understand the community is not yet coming together as one to support businesses. Nevertheless, this kind of service/product delivery can do nothing but harm to the business.  It's a chicken and egg case. If more people come, the cafes will make more money and hence give better service and better quality products. But from the consumers' standpoint, we will only go to a place again and again if the quality of the product bought is good and the service is also good.

So, until somebody tells me "La Youmal"  has significantly raised its quality, I will not be placing orders anymore. If I really craved a shawerma sandwich from my community, I would be calling "Shawermaty" instead. But that is another post!