If you are anything like me and use Tik-Tok to rest your mind after a long day, I am sure you have come across the viral food spots at Global Village. From the wide variety of burgers and mango-sticky rice, to an overwhelming number of desserts, it might seem daunting to choose which spot to try out. So, what does AD Foodie recommend?

If you were lucky enough to be a first-year student, a Weyak leader, or a good friend of a Weyak leader, you have had the opportunity to visit Global Village this past weekend. This fascinating spot is a large, multicultural festival park, which holds more than 90 country pavilions, alongside carnival rides, arcade games, and live performances. The Class Year Experience organised this trip as one of the final points of the Weyak curriculum which is an immersive, cultural experience every first-year student has to go through.

The groups met at 2 p.m. behind the A6 Bookstore, and after slowly boarding the buses, were on their way to Dubai! While the ride was excruciatingly long, as expected, I had the chance to catch up with one of my Weyak “kids” (members of my Weyak group) - a girl who used to be my best friend in high school! As we were wrapping up our calculus midterm discussions, back-home gossip, and overall catching up, our buses were parking at the Global Village parking lot. Once the tickets (which usually cost around 30 AED) were provided and passed around by the Weyak program, we entered the festival site.

To say we were positively overwhelmed is an understatement! As it was a Saturday, the site was already packed with people, but that just made the Village feel more alive. After visiting the Türkiye pavilion for some traditional Rahat Lokum Turkish delights and the UAE pavilion for some perfumes, the D2 lunch we ate prior to departure was fading - and we needed food. So, our first spot was Dip’d. The concept is simple - you choose what kind of burger you wanted, and which sauces and dips you wished to go with it. We opted for a classic cheeseburger, with the truffle sauce and parmesan cheese on the side as our dips. The price of the meal, just like most of the food at Global Village, was 40 AED, which is admittedly on the pricier side. In the true fashion of foodies, my friends and I decided to split every dish, so that we got a chance to try as many spots as we could.

While we were unsure of how well the food would taste, all the doubts went away with our first dip. The burger was a classic smashed-style burger with perfectly crispy beef in a soft, toasted bun. The dips were what blew us away – first dipping the burger into the runny, truffle sauce, followed by the parmesan cheese, gluing the sandwich together. The bite was heaven. Forget your average, Talabat, fast-food burger. The truffle sauce had an amazing, truffle-rich flavour, while the parmesan cheese offered the perfect kick. The price tag was absolutely worth it, for this finger-licking burger, and the sauce was so good that we ended up drinking it once we did not have anything to dip in it anymore.

After visiting some other pavilions like China and Korea, we decided to try out some dessert. Entering the Happiness Street section of Global Village was overwhelming, as all of the amazing food smells mixed as you walked the foodie street. My friend and I opted for a Dubai Chocolate croissant from Croffee, and while I admit the Dubai Chocolate trend is overhyped and overused, this croissant was truly the best one I have ever tasted. The croissant itself was crunchy on the outside, but fluffy on the inside, and was cut in half in order to hold the fillings. In classic Dubai Chocolate style, the croissant is filled with Nutella, pistachio cream, and the amazing Magnum ice cream. While unsure of how the mix would taste, after seeing the wide-eyes on my friend’s face following the first bite, I knew I was in for a treat. And, it did not disappoint, as the flakiness of the croissant, mixed with the rich flavours of the fill were the perfect combo.

Aware of the time running out, and wishing to try out just a couple more spots, we decided to divide and conquer - my Weyak kid and I decided to try out the traditional, Emirati luqaimat dessert, while my other friends decided to try out the pasta from a stall opposite of it. We did not regret our decisions.

The Luqaimat were amazing as always. The dough balls were fried to perfection, while the toppings we chose went perfectly with them. For one portion, we opted for Nutella as the topping, and for the other, we chose the cheese filling, covered in honey and sesame seeds. This was a perfect combo - one bite was savory, with the honey adding a light note to the cheese, while the other bite was chocolaty and sweet.

The Cheese Wheel pasta my friends chose was delicious as well. The pasta was made from big wheels of cheese, and you had a wide variety of toppings to choose from. My friends decided to try out the truffle chicken pasta, and it was really good. While I am not the biggest fan of pasta, this spot would make me want to order it again! The pasta was cooked nicely, and most importantly, covered thoroughly with the perfect amount of sauce.

After the pasta was eaten, we sadly had to end our night. The bus ride back to AD was much more relaxed and quiet, as everyone was visibly tired from a very fun, exciting, and overwhelming day at Global Village. I was pleasantly surprised with just how good all of the food we tried was, and would recommend anyone to visit, preferably in larger groups, so that you can try as many different options as possible. I will definitely be coming back for seconds!