First Suhoor Experience at Sofitel JBR

I almost cancelled an invitation for a Suhoor gathering last week thinking that it's going to be a very early morning event. I was glad I didn't because this suhoor invite was from 10 pm to 1 am only. It was my first and I was eager to know how a proper one is done.

For those who needs to know, Suhoor is the meal a person consumes every day before dawn during the holy month of Ramadan. According to Islamic traditions, it is a blessing as it holds the fasting person in his healthy state during the fasting hours. It is very important not to skip suhoor because skipping it only makes fasting even harder and more challenging.

The common practice is to have suhoor at home since it is a pre-dawn meal, say before 4 am in the morning. Many hotels in the UAE also serve suhoor and service is between 11:30 pm to 2 am mostly catering to hotel guest and companies hosting suhoor. Compared to most iftars I have tried here, here, and here which are mostly buffets, suhoor at Al Samar Sofitel JBR was a la carte.

This was SellAnyCar.com's hosted suhoor party and my friend Roselle graciously extended her invite. SellAnyCar.com is a company that offers car buying service without a fuss. They'll take care of the entire sales process of your used car. SellAnyCar.com is a call away and they'll do the rest for you, they also have branches in KSA and Turkey.

Al Samar Sofitel JBR was a casual dining scene made intimate by two pillars and three huge cylindrical sculptures dividing the restaurant giving each group of diners some privacy. The water fountain and a crystal chandelier at the middle gave the ambiance its natural feel.

We were ushered to a comfortable two seater sofa in one corner and were offered some fresh juices. There were a few photographers around, one of them was a familiar face since she is known in Dubai blogging scene. I was really glad to meet blogger/professional photographer Ms. Cristina Linaza of Tinayums.com.

To begin with we had jallab drink (a popular Middle Eastern drink made from carob, dates, grape molasses and rose water), and some warm roasted tomato soup, so smooth and soothingly good

A platter of appetizers of hot and cold mezze followed including falafel, pastry with cheese filling, moutabal, fatoush and humus.

Mixed grill of juicy chicken shish tawouk, aromatic meat kofta and tender lamb squares for the main dish.

It was about 12 am and we could not wait for dessert. We excused ourselves just after listening to the speech of SellAnyCar.com's owner and CEO before calling it a night.

While waiting for hubby to come and get me, I could not miss to take a few snaps of Sofitel JBRs lobby with stunning light installation of huge stars

This is another first, another memory to treasure, one more beautiful keepsake and another experience I am sharing with you. Till our next first.