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Austin South Asian | January 2020
Dubai Diary: Kulfilicious On Um Suqeim Street – An Unusual Ice Cream Parlor
By Sumaiya Malik
array of desserts!
For those who have any ties to South Asia, kulfi is a comfort food, a milky dessert available on street kiosks and also in grocery stores and “mithai ki dukaan”, (dessert shops). Like an apple pie, Kulfi needs no introduction to even a child.
There were four kinds on the table that night - malai Kulfi, Mango kulfi, saffron kulfi and the high-
cream rolls (which I suspect were his favorite) from a well known bakery. “Where is this delicious Kulfilicious?” I asked. “On Um Suqueim
A sign “Stick no bills,” is written on a whitewashed cobbled wall. Clearly, the parlor is thriving with great reviews.
By chance I had Kulfi from Kulfilicious in Dubai last year when I made a brief stop on the way back from winter break in Pakistan to visit my sister Huma and family.
The plan was to just have coffee and do ‘gup shup’, but for Anahita coffee clearly means coffee and an
By the time I got back home in Austin, TX, I had seen hundreds of pictures of the ice cream shop and its desserts on a website called Zomato (another Yelp, I assumed). I saw that the parlor looks like a truck stop from Pakistan and India… there is a rickshaw sticking out of a wall in one corner and tables and chairs for customers to enjoy the scene while eating.
Kulfi is not new to me either. I have grown up in Karachi regularly having this milky dessert. But I settled in the US where such desserts become occasional luxury not to be indulged in at all if one can hold one’s appetite.
That very evening we decided to walk over to visit our relatives and dear friends Anahita and Tariq who lived nearby.
kulfi on a stick because it reminded me of my childhood in Karachi.
The first main branch of Kulfilicious was set up in 2014. It was based on the Indian street concept. light, the long bar on a stick which I had only had in Karachi before.
Street!” he replied as if I would know.
Tariq told us of this quaint little place called Kulfilicious where Tariq had picked up the dessert for the evening along with a dozen
The Kulfi was mouth watering and neatly cut into cubes and we kept on trying flavor after flavor, my favorite being the traditional long bar
and opinions - Learn a new language
- Could be something minor like giving a speech if you’re a shy introvert - Meet new and different people, people you normally would not talk to - Take time for family and friends
“That’s why the tuk-tuk (local for rickshaw) and the sign to prevent graffiti,” explained Sharlaine, the manager on the phone. The owners are partners - two ladies, Savitha and Meghna - who are now running fifteen branches.
“There is one in Abu Dhabhi as well and a new one [opened] in Oman,” she added. The branches deliver through local affiliates. There is a large population of South Asians working and living in Dubai and looking from the flavors of back home. As I write this, I am making a mental note about having that kulfi again on my next trip to Dubai. With fifteen locations in such a small city, there is sure to be one near Huma’s house where we could go, but I am keen to go to the Kulfilicious on Um Suqeim Street for this is the one that will tie me to that fun evening with family and friends and the happy taste of being in Karachi while growing up even though we would be far from there and in Dubai. Kulfilicious – a kulfi ice cream parlor Umm Suqeim Street – Al Barsha 1, Dubai +97143460616 Instagram | @kulfilicious_uae Twitter | @kulfilicious
Some Ideas For New Year’s Resolutions (From A College Sophomore Who Hasn’t Completed Any To Date)
By Sameer Malik
Austin South Asian found an important advice for him in Good Housekeeping Magazine: “Try some of these lifestyle tweaks each day, and you’ll not only jumpstart a healthier body and mind - you’ll feel fantastic and so psyched to make 2020 your best year every.”
- Get in shape, physically and mentally - Treat people the way they wish would to be treated - Be mindful of people’s thoughts
- Pick up a new hobby - Do something wild and outside your comfort zone - Bungee jumping? - BASE jumping
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