Emirati values shine as iftar meal shared with Londoners

Diners were treated to classic UAE meals as the fast was broken

The London branch of Al Fanar Restaurant & Cafe hosted an iftar for Emirati students in the UK. Al Fanar

As the end of Ramadan draws ever closer, members of London’s Emirati community gathered with British guests to explore UAE cuisine and hospitality.

At Al Fanar Restaurant & Cafe, in south-west London, diners were on Monday night treated to a belt-breaking three-course meal. From a warming lentil soup to main-course classics such as harees and doughnut-like dessert leqaimat, no one went hungry.

“This initiative mainly aims to bring the Emiratis and non-Emiratis to the same table,” said Butti Almheiri from Emirates Global Youth Council, which helped to organise the event.

It was held to enable Emirati people “to share their values, to share their culture and to talk about the UAE,” said Mr Almheiri, who is in the second year of a sustainable engineering degree at Queen Mary University of London.

Mr Almheiri and his team arrange activities for the roughly 2,000 Emirati students in the UK.

The latest iteration of the Dubai restaurant chain Al Fanar is adorned with reminders of its origins. At the entrance stand two UAE flags, and on its walls hang portraits of current and former leaders alongside photographs of the nation from as early as the 1960s.

Moving further inside are books chronicling the history of the UAE and its rulers in Arabic, French and English.

When asked what valued he wanted guests to remember most, Mr Almheiri said the UAE’s generosity and tolerance.

“We are bringing different people from different religions, from different backgrounds, from different nationalities and ages together, so tolerance is an important value which the Emirates is recognised for,” he said.

Mr Almheiri’s guest was Khadija Argous, a friend from university. Growing up in the UK, she admitted she knew little about the UAE other than “it’s hot and clean”. Through conversations with Mr Almheiri, who is from Dubai, she has learned more about Emirati customs and values, with generosity and friendship emphasised particularly strongly.

The friends were celebrating not only the end of the fast but also  finishing their exams.

“It can be tough sometimes, but, personally, I didn’t struggle as much as I thought I would,” said Ms Argous as she described revising during Ramadan.

“The only thing I struggled with a little bit was the fatigue … overall, the day goes so quickly you don’t even realise that you haven’t eaten until it’s 7 or 8pm.”